We need universal Pharmacare now

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Dear [recipient name and position will go here]:

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Before the COVID-19 pandemic, more than three million people living in Canada were already dealing with inadequate prescription drug coverage, or no coverage at all, and struggling to pay for their medication.

Today, mass layoffs triggered by the pandemic have left millions of additional people without workplace drug benefits and they cannot afford medications for themselves and their families.

Canada is the only country in the world with universal health care that doesn’t also have universal pharmacare. Instead, we pay some of the highest prescription drug prices in the world. As a result, one million Canadians report cutting back on food and heat to afford their prescriptions, while other families remortgage their homes to cover the costs of expensive life-saving drugs.

Our current patchwork system is grossly inequitable and punishes the poor, part-time workers, contract workers and many others who cannot afford the medications they desperately need.

In June 2019, the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare called on the federal and provincial governments to enact a universal, comprehensive, accessible, portable and public pharmacare program.

The Advisory Council concluded that a universal public pharmacare program would guarantee access to prescription medicines for every Canadian. Further, once fully implemented, universal public pharmacare would save Canadians $5 billion in the first year alone by having a single entity—the government—negotiating with drug companies. Plus, we would save billions in health care costs through fewer visits to emergency rooms and fewer hospitalizations per year.

I urge you to work together and implement the recommendations from the Advisory Council which provide a blueprint for creating a universal public pharmacare program in Canada.

Even before the pandemic, the case for a universal public pharmacare program was strong. Indeed, if a universal public pharmacare program was in place prior to the pandemic, the hardships faced by millions of people losing their workplace drug benefits due to the pandemic would not be an issue today.

Sincerely,

[your name will go here]
[your location will go here]

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