Don't get too excited about pharmacare

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh describes it as “historic.” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks about “moving forward with national, single-payer pharmacare.”

- ALTHIA RAJ

Health Minister Mark Holland speaks to the media about the new pharmacare plan last month in Ottawa.

But for those who view the Liberals’ new legislation as the baby steps toward a plan that covers all — regardless of income or status — with life-saving medicines, the bill should come with a warning label: “Don’t get your hopes up.”

This is not a pharmacare plan. It’s an experiment. Framed another way, the government might call it a pilot. A pilot program whose results are unlikely to be known before the next federal election campaign, and may be quickly shelved after, if Pierre Poilievre becomes prime minister.

It’s not that Health Minister Mark Holland hasn’t been clear. “Don Davies, the NDP health critic, really got caught on single payer, universal as the only way to go. And I am a little bit — I’m a lot more open,” Holland told me on the Star’s “It’s Political” podcast. Holland wants to see all Canadians covered for the medicine they need, but said he’s also concerned with being “really prudent and careful with taxpayers dollars, and taking the most efficient route to get there.”

If you hear that sound, it’s a sigh of relief from those in the pharmaceutical industry, the health insurance industry, and even local pharmacists who fear a single-payer system will significantly impact their bottom lines.

What the Liberals and NDP crafted last week is a political compromise, one that gives Singh some form of cover to support the Grits’ upcoming budget next month.