Trudeau touts ‘real progress’ on pharmacare, calls on premiers to start cutting deals

By Sarah Ritchie and Laura Osman, The Canadian Press on October 11, 2024.

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on provinces and territories to start negotiating pharmacare deals as soon as possible.

Trudeau spoke to reporters this morning as he wrapped a visit to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Laos, where he touted the “real progress” made in Ottawa after the Senate passed the pharmacare bill.

That legislation was central to the political pact between the Liberals and the NDP, who pushed hard for the bill to be introduced.

Now that it is law, the pharmacare legislation allows the provinces and territories to cut deals with the federal government to begin providing certain diabetes and birth control medications to patients for free.

So far B.C. has signed a memorandum of understanding to provide coverage.

The federal health minister has said he hopes to have all provinces and territories on board by next spring.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.

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