(April 27, 2017)<\/p>\n
By: Rob Ferguson, Queen’s Park Bureau<\/p>\n
Prescription medicines will be free for Ontario residents 24 and under starting in January as the provincial budget extends the same drug coverage given to 3.9 million seniors and people on social assistance.<\/p>\n
The groundbreaking measure, the first of its kind in Canada, is called OHIP+ and comes at a $465-million annual cost to taxpayers.<\/p>\n
There will be 4,400 medications, including expensive ones for cancer treatment, available to 4 million young Ontarians.<\/p>\n
The new OHIP+ plan will double pharmacare coverage in the province.<\/p>\n
Finance Minister Charles Sousa said Thursday the financial help is aimed at the growing number of parents who don\u2019t have benefit plans, recent grads looking for their first big jobs, contract workers and others scrambling to make ends meet who are in precarious positions.<\/p>\n
More on the 2017 Ontario budget<\/p>\n
He described it as a step to a broader pharmacare plan for all citizens, which the province has been pressing the federal government and other provinces to support.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat better place to start than the most vulnerable at a young age?\u201d Sousa told reporters before delivering his budget speech.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting prescriptions filled can be a challenge for families with children requiring medication, for young people just entering the workforce,\u201d he added in the Legislature.<\/p>\n
The cost of medications can cause \u201creal hardships for some,\u201d Sousa said, noting one in 10 Ontarians cannot afford their prescriptions.<\/p>\n
New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath, who has proposed a pharmacare program that would cover 125 basic medications for all ages under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, quickly called Sousa\u2019s proposal a \u201chalf measure\u201d that leaves millions of adults on their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody should go to a doctor, get a prescription and then leave that doctor\u2019s office holding that prescription knowing that there\u2019s no way they\u2019re going to fill that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/p>\n
*Ontario Liberals unveil balanced budget that features free youth pharmacare plan<\/p>\n
*A pre-pre-election budget to bolster Liberal fortunes: Cohn<\/p>\n
*One-handed applause for youth pharmacare plan: Walkom<\/p>\n
*Highlights from the 2017 Ontario budget<\/p>\n
*Winners and losers from the 2017 Ontario budget<\/p>\n
Horwath defended the vastly lower number of drugs that would be covered under an NDP plan, which wouldn\u2019t take effect until 2020. She said the 125 medications would be the most common prescriptions for the most common ailments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where you get the biggest bang for the buck.\u201d<\/p>\n
Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said the NDP plan\u2019s budget of $475 million is vastly underestimated and insisted the Liberal government\u2019s child and youth pharmacare plan should apply a means test to exclude Ontarians who can afford their own drugs or have private plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, everyone wants greater drug coverage . . . . I want to make sure those precious taxpayer dollars are going to the people that really need it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got a millionaire family that has no problem with drug access and you\u2019ve got kids that desperately need drug treatment that can\u2019t get it . . . . That doesn\u2019t seem right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ontario Health Coalition, Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and the Unifor labour union applauded the youth pharmacare program as a catalyst for national pharmacare.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re pushing the country on this issue and it\u2019s vital. How does it make sense that you can get your diagnosis publicly covered, but you can\u2019t get your treatment publicly covered?\u201d said Natalie Mehra, executive director of the Ontario Health Coalition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the NDP did last week and what the government has done this week is really make the dream of pharmacare in Canada one giant step closer to reality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under the Liberal government plan, starting Jan. 1, parents, teens and young adults would simply present their OHIP cards with their prescriptions from a doctor and no cash will exchange hands at the pharmacy counter, officials said. There are no co-payments or deductibles.<\/p>\n
The eligible drugs, listed on the Ministry of Health website under the Ontario Drug Benefit formulary, are for treating most acute conditions, common chronic conditions, childhood cancers and other diseases, according to budget documents.<\/p>\n
Parents whose children have cancer, for example, and have had to rely on the Trillium catastrophic drug plan, will save thousands of dollars under OHIP+, given that the Trillium deductible requires them to pay 4 per cent of their gross income.<\/p>\n
In addition, doctors can apply under the ministry\u2019s \u201cexceptional access program\u201d to have other drugs they deem necessary covered by OHIP Plus, officials told the Toronto Star.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, parents with drug plans of their own could cover prescription medications not available under the Ontario Drug Benefit plan.<\/p>\n