{"id":5137,"date":"2017-04-24T15:42:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-24T19:42:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?p=5137"},"modified":"2020-05-15T14:41:06","modified_gmt":"2020-05-15T18:41:06","slug":"ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: <\/FONT>ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All"},"content":{"rendered":"

(April 24, 2017)<\/p>\n

The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million Ontarians. Just as public health care, or \u201cmedicare\u201d, covers hospitals and doctors, public pharmacare would be a public insurance program covering medicines. \u00a0It would improve the current patchwork of private insurance plans, the Ontario Drug Benefits program and the Trillium Drug Plan.<\/p>\n

The ONDP plan is a welcome first step towards the ultimate goal of a comprehensive national public pharmacare program for all Canadians. The coalition strongly supports that the ONDP\u2019s plan is universal, meaning that all Ontarians would be covered. \u00a0The ONDP proposal would cover a list of 125 \u201cessential\u201d medications by 2020. This varies from the Health Coalition\u2019s policy which advocates for a comprehensive program \u2013 covering all needed drugs and leaving no one in medical need uncovered. The coalition looks forward to having some dialogue with the NDP about the principles and scope of the program that they are proposing.<\/p>\n

Ontario\u2019s Liberal government, too, has advocated for the federal government to make a priority of pharmacare.\u00a0 The Trudeau government has not responded favourably, despite the work of Ontario\u2019s government, and despite a motion passed at the federal Liberal convention last May advocating a universal public drug program as a priority. In addition, the Trudeau government has abrogated its commitment to renew a National Health Accord and has forced through side deals that reduce the federal share of funding for the existing public health care program.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlmost 1 in 10 Ontarians do not fill their prescriptions because of cost. Ontarians with cancer, HIV, Crohn\u2019s disease, arthritis and a host of other illnesses face high costs for drugs and inadequate coverage,\u201d noted Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition. \u201cThe NDP\u2019s promotion of a public drug program will help to highlight the hardship and suffering that are a result of the gaps in private and government drug coverage programs today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that the ONDP\u2019s announcement will be a first step in expanding the principles of the Canada Health Act\u00a0 to provide comprehensive public insurance for needed medicines for all Canadians,\u201d she concluded.<\/p>\n

Any pharmacare program must deal with drug pricing and safety. \u00a0Evidence from the Canadian Institute for Health Information shows that Canadians pay the second highest prices in the world for drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look forward to hearing some more details on this proposal,\u201d added Adrienne Silnicki, national coordinator of the Canadian Health Coalition. \u201cDrug safety is a priority issue for us, as are user fees including co-payments and deductibles for patients. We welcome the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement as a means of furthering the national discussion on a comprehensive public drug program for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

For background information on Ontarians and access to needed mediations, see the\u00a0Ontario Health Coalition’s Submission to the Parliamentary Committee on Trade.<\/p>\n

Click here for Printable Version<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(April 24, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million Ontarians. Just as public health care, or \u201cmedicare\u201d, covers hospitals and doctors, public pharmacare would be a public insurance program covering medicines. \u00a0It would improve the current patchwork of private insurance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-whats-new"],"yoast_head":"\nUPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All - Ontario Health Coalition<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"(April 24, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All - Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(April 24, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ontario Health Coalition\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-04-24T19:42:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-15T18:41:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\"},\"headline\":\"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-24T19:42:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-15T18:41:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":494,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":{\"1\":\"What's New\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\\\/\",\"name\":\"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All - Ontario Health Coalition\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-04-24T19:42:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-15T18:41:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"(April 24, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/index.php\\\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\",\"description\":\"Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/logo_ohc_new-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/logo_ohc_new-1.png\",\"width\":478,\"height\":240,\"caption\":\"Ontario Health Coalition\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/ontariohealth?fref=ts\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/OntarioHealthC\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/ontariohealthcoalition\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@ontariohealthc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCPy4Erf4xGLZV6CY23xdokw\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4\",\"name\":\"admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All - Ontario Health Coalition","description":"(April 24, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All - Ontario Health Coalition","og_description":"(April 24, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/","og_site_name":"Ontario Health Coalition","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","article_published_time":"2017-04-24T19:42:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-15T18:41:06+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4"},"headline":"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All","datePublished":"2017-04-24T19:42:12+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-15T18:41:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/"},"wordCount":494,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"articleSection":{"1":"What's New"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/","name":"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All - Ontario Health Coalition","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-04-24T19:42:12+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-15T18:41:06+00:00","description":"(April 24, 2017) The Ontario Health Coalition welcomes the Ontario NDP\u2019s announcement today of a proposed drug program to expand coverage to 2.2 million","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/ondp-pharmacare-plan-a-welcome-step-toward-comprehensive-drug-coverage-for-all\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UPDATE: ONDP Pharmacare Plan: A Welcome Step Toward Comprehensive Drug Coverage for All"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/","name":"Ontario Health Coalition","description":"Our primary goal is to protect and improve our public health care system","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#organization","name":"Ontario Health Coalition","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo_ohc_new-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/logo_ohc_new-1.png","width":478,"height":240,"caption":"Ontario Health Coalition"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ontariohealth?fref=ts","https:\/\/x.com\/OntarioHealthC","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ontariohealthcoalition","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@ontariohealthc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCPy4Erf4xGLZV6CY23xdokw"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/3bee6583f445dde27b35a7bba61b06b4","name":"admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5137"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12156,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5137\/revisions\/12156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ontariohealthcoalition.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}