A new Statistics Canada study confirms people with private or employer-sponsored drug coverage are more likely to stick with their prescriptions for financial reasons than people who are on a government-sponsored plan or have no coverage at all. Prescription drugs are seen on shelves at a pharmacy in Montreal on March 11, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz
OTTAWA – A new Statistics Canada study confirms that financial limitations are keeping people without private or employer-sponsored drug coverage from following through with their prescriptions.
It’s true for both those who have no coverage at all but also people who have some coverage through provincial or existing federal prescription programs.
The results of the study come as the New Democrats and the government negotiate the broad principles that will shape a federal pharmacare program.
The government is expected to enshrine those principles in legislation as part of a political pact with the NDP to secure support on key votes.
Statistics Canada says 79 per cent of Canadians already have some form of coverage for prescription medications, though the level of coverage can vary significantly depending on what kind of plan people have access to.
The New Democrats have said they want the government to commit to a single-payer, universal program with the latest deadline to table the legislation now scheduled for March.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2023.
