Establishing a universal program for prescription medications would amount to about $4.2 billion in savings annually in Canada, the parliamentary budget officer says in a new report. Canada is the only industrialized country with universal medicare that does not provide universal coverage for prescription medications. Parliamentary Budget Officer Jean-Denis Frechette estimates savings of about $4.2 billion from a national pharmacare program. The Liberal government previously said it is committed to lowering the cost of medications, but not to universal pharmacare. The House standing committee on health is studying the development of a national pharmacare program as an insured service for Canadians under the Canada Health Act.

Source: CBC News September 28, 2017 17:32 UTC