Manitoba 1st province to strike pharmacare deal with federal government
Province will receive $219M to cover medications for diabetes, birth control and other conditions
Manitoba has become the first province to sign a pharmacare agreement with the federal government.
The province will be getting $219 million over four years for universal coverage for diabetes medication, contraceptives and other medical supplies.
Manitoba already covers prescription birth control, so coverage for the new remaining products will begin in June, the province said.
The agreement will help close gaps in the health-care system, federal Health Minister Mark Holland said Thursday during the announcement at the Women's Health Clinic in Winnipeg.
"I want 100 years from now people to look back at this moment and say, 'This is where it started,' the journey of making sure everybody got the medication that they needed," he said.
The federal government passed legislation setting the basis for a universal pharmacare plan in October, committing $1.5 billion for birth control and diabetes medications as it looked to strike deals with provinces and territories on coverage.
Manitoba started covering birth control for those with a prescription in the fall.
WATCH | Minister defends timeline of Manitoba pharmacare deal:
Provincial Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the new funding will free up the government to expand coverage to hormone replacement therapy.
"Women and those who need access to menopause drugs and those medications will now have access, which is a huge game-changer," Asagwara said.
The pharmacare program was part of a supply-and-confidence deal between the Liberals and federal NDP that kept the minority government in power starting in March 2022.
Holland said aiming for implementation in June — which will likely be after a federal election because the agreement with the NDP has collapsed — was necessary to "get things right" so the plan doesn't have flaws opponents can use to criticize it and dismantle it.
Minister defends timeline
When asked, Holland acknowledged he was opening himself up to accusations the government was delaying the implementation of the deal for political gain.
"The reality is there are restraints," he said. "There are restraints on money, there are restraints on the ability to deliver, and so that's reflected in how fast we can go. But look, as fast as we can go, we'll go."
In a statement, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh congratulated the province for signing the agreement, but called on the Liberal government to move faster to get the rest of the deals inked.
The federal government has the necessary legislation and the funding in hand to sign agreements with the other 12 provinces and territories, Singh said in the statement.
"Every day the Liberals drag their feet is another day that Canadians are pulling out their wallets and paying for prescriptions that the law says should be free now," he said.
Dr. Stephen Ellis, health critic for the Conservatives, repeated calls to reopen Parliament to discuss the matter, while also taking swipes at Liberal leadership front-runner Mark Carney.
"Sneaky Mark Carney still needs to clarify why he supports kicking 21 million Canadians off their current workplace plans and what taxes he intends to raise in order to pay for it," the MP for Cumberland-Colchester said in a statement.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce said the deal would force Manitobans to rely on a restrictive list of treatments.
Liam MacDonald, director of policy and government relations for the chamber, said in a statement those with private coverage will see options "drastically narrow" because of the national plan, leading to worse health-care outcomes while public spending dramatically increases.
Diabetes Canada hoping for more deals
The Manitoba government said while the majority of the costs of diabetes medications are already covered under provincial pharmacare, the new deal means patients will no longer be subject to deductibles, resulting in a "fully universally covered first-payer program" for the drugs.
Diabetes Canada CEO Laura Syron said she's excited about the deal but is waiting to hear more details about what will actually be covered.
She said Manitoba has already led the fight against diabetes in Canada by doing things like extending coverage for advance glucose monitors, and allocating $500,000 for initiatives related to screening and prevention of the disease in its 2024 budget.
"I really hope that this sort of kicks off across the country," Syron said in an interview with the CBC's Up to Speed.
"We're hoping that other provinces see, 'OK, let's make a deal with the federal government. There's money on the table here.'"
LISTEN | Diabetes Canada CEO on new pharmacare deal:
The federal government said it will also provide $48 million as part of its plan to improve access to diagnosis, screening and medication for rare diseases.
The money will cover five drugs, including three treatments for different types of lymphoma (Poteligeo, Epkinly and Yescarta) and two treatments for rare genetic disorders (Oxlumo for primary hyperoxaluria type 1, and Welireg for von Hippel-Lindau disease).
A list of medications covered by the pharmacare deal will be released in the coming weeks, the federal government said.
Marci Ien, federal minister for women and gender equality, announced at Thursday's event the government will also provide $10 million to renovate the Women's Health Clinic in Winnipeg.
With files from Ian Froese and Up to Speed