I'd like to thank the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for this opportunity to present on behalf of Canadian Doctors for Medicare.
My name is Dr. Richard Klasa. I'm a medical oncologist at the BC Cancer Agency in Vancouver and a clinical research scientist at the research institute associated with that, and a professor of medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Canadian Doctors for Medicare has an abiding interest in the evolution of the federal role in health care. As medical professionals, we are firmly committed to evidence-based health care policy reform. We advocate for innovations in treatment and prevention services to improve the quality, sustainability, and equity of our health system. We believe our health care system can and should be improved, and we hope today's hearing will play an important role in providing more equitable high-quality and sustainable health care from coast to coast to coast.
As practising physicians, CDM members see first-hand the disparity in care experienced by Canada's marginalized and multi-barriered residents. CDM believes that improving the care experience of our most vulnerable communities is both necessary and achievable.
We advocate for action in three specific areas: first, in upholding the Canada Health Act; second, in developing a new health accord; and third, in improving access to prescription drugs through a national pharmacare program. These have all been outlined in the five-page brief that was circulated beforehand.
Each of these reforms begins with strong, accountable federal leadership to enforce standards across the country and to improve the care of our most vulnerable population.
As part of its commitment to the Canada Health Act, the federal government must recognize that new forms of privatization, including user fees and extra billing, have emerged since the act was passed in 1984. Some of these take advantage of legislative loopholes while clearly violating the spirit of the act. These loopholes must be closed, and violations must be penalized. An accountability framework that requires provinces to proactively regulate or investigate clinics for compliance with these laws is clearly needed to ensure the CHA is upheld.
Another area in which the federal government must demonstrate leadership is in establishing a new health accord. The absence of such a guiding document exacerbates current provincial disparities in health care, again with the greatest impacts experienced by vulnerable populations. Improving equity in care requires establishing a new 2015 health accord with improved measures for accountability and especially standardization of care across the country.
We also must take some starting steps towards a national pharmacare program. Canada currently pays at least 30% more than the OECD average for prescription drugs. By offering first-dollar coverage, a universal pharmacare program would generate savings of between 10% and 41% on various prescription drugs, representing total savings of up to $11.4 billion per year in Canada. Moreover, a national pharmacare strategy would improve the health and quality of life of our most vulnerable residents.
While one in ten Canadians can't afford their prescriptions, among those without any supplementary health insurance that number increases to one in four. Inability to access medically necessary prescriptions results in decreased quality of life for patients while increasing demand on our hospital resources as their untreated conditions eventually lead to hospitalizations.
At the provincial and territorial health ministers' meeting recently in Banff, the ministers agreed to work together to reduce the cost of some 53 commonly prescribed drugs. This decision will result in over $260 million in combined savings annually.