THUNDER BAY – BUSINESS – According to the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, local businesses want an approach to national pharmacare that fills the gaps in the existing system by providing coverage for the 10% of Canadians who actually need the help: the uninsured and the underinsured.
Most Canadians are covered under an existing private or group plan and are satisfied with the coverage and affordability provided. The Chamber say it is not fiscally responsible to increase public sector debt to pay for a costly single-payer system when the existing system is working for most Canadians.
“A national pharmacare program should focus on leveraging the strengths of the existing system to raise the bar for Canadians and improve health outcomes. It should not reduce the coverage enjoyed by most Canadians under the existing system or result in coverage falling to the lowest common denominator,” said Charla Robinson, President of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce.
“National pharmacare must give Canadians an advantage over what the system currently offers. A filling-in-the-gaps approach can identify ways to improve today’s patchwork of prescription drug coverages and implement pragmatic solutions to address the needs of employees and patients. National pharmacare should provide the most appropriate coverage to those who need it.”
The Chamber says that the “Business community is in strong agreement that national pharmacare will provide the greatest value to Canadians by focusing on those who do not have coverage and those who are underinsured. Instead of throwing out a system that is working for most Canadians, the federal government should use a national pharmacare program to ensure no Canadian lacks access to the medicines he or she needs.”
