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February 12th, 2020

People Need Help Now, Let’s Implement Pharmacare Coverage for All

VANCOUVER – Today, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh welcomed workers in the healthcare field and people who have struggled with the costs of medication to hear their stories and discuss the need for medication coverage for all. New Democrats will soon table their first piece of legislation which will be a bill to implement pharmacare coverage for everyone.

“No one should have to scrape by in order to get the prescription medicine they need. But that’s the reality for many Canadian families. While the Liberals have promised help on pharmacare at election time for more than 20 years, they’ve never delivered,” said Singh. “New Democrats are different. If the Liberals work with us, we can give people help right now and make prescription drugs available with your health card, not your credit card.”

At today’s roundtable, people shared their knowledge and their experiences on the need for medication coverage for all. A proper pharmacare plan would be free for Canadians, make emergency wait times shorter, free-up more hospital beds for those who need them, and save governments, businesses and families.

“In the past 4 years, Trudeau’s Liberals chose to protect the profits of big pharma and insurance companies – meeting with them more than 875 times – instead of delivering free prescription drugs for all. They’ve shown they’ll put their well-connected friends above people. People can’t afford to wait for medication coverage,” added Singh. “Like we heard today, a universal pharmacare program will make a difference in people’s lives. New Democrats are ready to get it done.”