ANALYSIS: Pharmacare Hopes Shadowed by Track Record of Other Universal Care Plans

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says the national pharmacare legislation his party negotiated with the Liberal government is a shift similar to the advent of universal health care in the 1960s. But pharmacare hopes are tempered by the current dire state of Canada’s health care, as well as ballooning costs of national programs. It’s not the time to roll out a new program, some provinces say. Alberta and Quebec have said they will opt out, but they expect their share of the money to help their health care systems as needed. The bumpy roll-out of two other big-ticket federal programs—$10/day child care and dental care—also doesn’t bode well for pharmacare....