SFL celebrates Labour Day by calling for Pharmacare and fairness for Saskatchewan people
Released September 4, 2017
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2017
SFL celebrates Labour Day by calling for Pharmacare and fairness for Saskatchewan people
Saskatchewan’s labour movement is joining with the Canadian Labour Congress on Labour Day to urge provincial and federal governments for a national Pharmacare plan to ensure all Saskatchewan people and Canadians have access to life-saving medications, and to bring down the costs of the current system.
“Canada’s piece-meal multi-payer drug system is expensive, inefficient, and doesn’t ensure people receive the life-saving prescriptions they need,” said Larry Hubich, president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour (SFL), “Canadians – including those right here in Saskatchewan – are spending millions a year on this patchwork of multi-payer funding, paying among the highest prices worldwide for prescription, squandering money that’s needed for other healthcare investments.”
The high costs of the current system are also felt by individuals and families. Canadians and Saskatchewanians who rely on prescription drugs simply don’t have the money to cover costs, and instead are splitting pills, skipping dosages, sharing medicines, or going into debt. Almost 1 in 10 Canadians are going without life-saving prescriptions because they can’t afford them. “When people skip medications or ignore doctors’ orders because of costs, additional burdens to the healthcare system cost everyone more,” said Hubich.
By adopting a single-payer program, Canadians would benefit from bulk purchasing power, giving them the power to obtain competitively priced prescription drugs. A single-payer universal prescription drug program could save Canadians approximately $7.3 billion a year based on an additional $1 billion in public spending.
Hubich also called on the Sask. Party government to use Labour Day as an opportunity to do what’s right – and fair – for Saskatchewan people.
“I hope the provincial government will use this opportunity to do what’s right: finally commit to protecting Crown corporations by rescinding Bill 40, cancel their harsh and unfair cuts to public services, and actually invest in communities across Saskatchewan,” said Hubich.
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The SFL represents over 100,000 working people across the province in 37 affiliated unions.
For additional information, contact:
Kent Peterson
Strategic Advisor, Saskatchewan Federation of Labour
