Ottawa –
Health Minister Mark Holland said he was open to adding more medicines to the list of drugs covered by the Government's proposed Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Holland made the remarks at a parliamentary committee considering the Liberal Party's health care bill.
Conservative health critic Stephen Ellis asked the minister why semaglutide, a type of diabetes medication, was not included in the list of drugs covered by the bill.
The bill, introduced in February, lays the path to a universal drug benefits plan that would cover contraceptives and diabetes medications and supplies.
This does not include Ozempic, a newer semaglutide diabetes drug that is used off-label as a weight loss drug.
Holland said the current list represents the “absolute minimum” and the government is open to adding to the list based on negotiations with provinces and the commission's recommendations.
“If there's anything that you think should be on that list, I'd actually be very interested in having that conversation, and hopefully that means you'd support the bill,” Holland told Ellis.
Mr Ellis responded: “Well, it's a bad law and I don't think we need to worry about it.”
It was one of the few tense exchanges between Holland and Ellis, in which Ellis grilled the minister on issues including Canadians' access to primary care and how long it takes for drugs to be approved in Canada.
Holland asked Ellis what steps the party plans to take going forward: “Can you tell me what your plans are to ensure that people who don't have medicines have access to them?”
Mr Ellis responded: “You will have an opportunity to ask me questions at some point when you are sitting in Opposition.”
The committee also heard from insurance industry representatives, who said the bill could disrupt Canadians' existing private insurance systems.
Stephen Frank, president and CEO of the Canadian Life Insurance Association, said Holland said Canadians with existing drug insurance plans would be able to continue to have access to them, but that the bill's language is “ambiguous.”
“The bill reiterates its call for a universal single-payer pharmaceutical health care system in Canada, but says nothing about workplace benefits systems,” he said.
“When read in its entirety, this bill could create practical and even legal barriers to the provision of pharmaceutical benefits currently enjoyed by Canadians.”
