BILL NO. 123
(as introduced)
3rd Session, 63rd General Assembly
Nova Scotia
70 Elizabeth II, 2021
Private Member's Bill
Pharmacare Policy Act
Susan Leblanc
Dartmouth North
First Reading: April 14, 2021
Second Reading:
Third Reading:
An Act to Establish a Pharmacare Policy
WHEREAS in 1964 the Royal Commission on Health Services, chaired by Justice Emmett Hall, contemplated the inclusion of the coverage of the cost of prescribed medications in Canada's medicare system;
AND WHEREAS all other nations that are part of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that have national, universal health care include coverage for prescribed medications;
AND WHEREAS the cost to Nova Scotian and other Canadian families of purchasing prescribed medications can be a significant burden, and a national pharmacare program would provide better health care and lower overall costs;
AND WHEREAS the June 2019 Final Report of the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare, established by the Government of Canada, pointed out that "approximately 20% of Canadians have inadequate drug coverage or no coverage at all", and the Nova Scotia Federation of Labour estimates that 26% of Nova Scotians do not take their medications as prescribed because they cannot afford to;
AND WHEREAS Bill C-213, introduced in the House of Commons on February 24, 2020, has offered a model for a Canada Pharmacare Act;
THEREFORE be it enacted by the Governor and Assembly as follows:
1 This Act may be cited as the Pharmacare Policy Act.
(a) "medicare" means Canada's publicly-funded health care system;
(b) "policy" means the policy referred to in Section 3.
3 The Provincial Government shall implement a policy to seek the establishment of a comprehensive drug insurance plan together with other provincial and territorial governments and the Government of Canada, and shall take active measures to advance the policy.
4 The guiding principles of the policy must be those of the Canada Health Act respecting medicare, namely, comprehensiveness, universality, accessibility, portability and public administration.
5 The Premier shall report to the House of Assembly on the progress of implementing the policy on September 1, 2021, or the next day the House sits if it is not then sitting, and every six months thereafter.
This page and its contents published by the Office of the Legislative Counsel, Nova Scotia House of Assembly, and © 2021 Crown in right of Nova Scotia. Created April 14, 2021. Send comments to legc.office@novascotia.ca.
