So, what's the hold up?
Deep-pocketed interests that already profit generously from the current dysfunctional patchwork of private-public drug plans and considerable out-of-pocket pharmaceutical costs have been revving up their anti-pharmacare campaign since the federal government expressed interest in studying the issue. In our
on the issue, we call them the"Big Money Club," made up of pharmaceutical and insurance giants and domestic and foreign billionaires.Prescription drug policy in Canada ought to be decided in the interest of Canadians, not based on the power of industry sector lobbies. This is why nursesand continue to lobby for national pharmacare based on the principles of universality, accessibility, comprehensiveness, with portable coverage and with public and single-payer administration.
It was no surprise our report found that the pharmaceutical and insurance sectors currently enjoy a business environment that is immensely profitable to them — and costly to the rest of us. To protect these profits, the pharmaceutical and insurance lobbies have engaged in a methodical and well-financed campaign with the goal of convincing the federal government not to pursue a common-sense, single-payer pharmacare plan.