The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association (CLHIA) has issued a statement regarding the single-payer pharmacare agreement announced by the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba.
Stephen Frank, president and CEO of CLHIA, said that the agreement between the two governments was “disappointing” and “jeopardizes access to medications that Manitobans rely on through their employer-provided benefits.”
Manitoba became the first province to officially join Ottawa’s pharmacare program, giving it access to federal funding to cover the cost of birth control and diabetes medications, as well as hormone replacement therapy for menopause.
The deal will see the federal government spend $219 million on pharmacare coverage for Manitoba over four years.
The association said that Canada’s life and health insurers support access to contraceptives and diabetes medications for all Manitobans. In 2023, insurers provided health benefit coverage to 910,000 Manitobans and paid out more than $1.2 billion in claims, the CLHIA added.
“We continue to believe that the best way to provide sustainable access that meets the needs of all Canadians, including Manitobans, is to provide coverage to those without access to workplace health benefit plans,” the CLHIA said in a statement. “With today’s economic uncertainty, spending tax dollars to have government take over services that are already being successfully delivered should be an easy page to turn.”
CLHIA said that public resources should be directed towards individuals without existing coverage rather than replacing services already in place.
The association has criticized the proposal since it was introduced by Minister of Health Mark Holland, saying that the legislation will make the government program “more burdensome and expensive over time.”
“[I]t will put at risk the workplace benefit plans that 27 million Canadians count on, making life less affordable for millions of families,” Frank said then. “Private insurance plans offer coverage for nearly twice as many drugs as even the best public plan. Canadians don’t want the federal government picking and choosing which drugs get covered and which don’t.”
