[Editor’s note: The federal government didn’t deliver a national pharmacare plan in last month’s budget, despite announcing an advisory council to advise on implementing a national program in the 2018 budget.
Why? Sharon Batt, an adjunct professor at Dalhousie University, looked at the reasons in a report for the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions.
Batt found powerful players — including insurance and drug companies — profit from the current system. And that they had unleashed a major, expensive lobbying, PR and public campaign to fight a national pharmacare program.
Though seemingly diverse, virtually all the opposition to pharmacare can be traced back to a network of well-funded interests exerting their influence largely in secret. This Big Money Club — made up of pharmaceutical companies, the health insurance industry, and both Canadian and foreign free-market billionaires — are the only players who stand to lose from pharmacare. For the rest of Canadians, pharmacare would be a substantial gain.
With deep pockets and considerable resources, the Big Money Club is employing an expansive strategy to stop the delivery of pharmacare to Canadians.