Pharmacare is a great example, because many people lost their coverage when they lost their jobs. They couldn't afford their medicine because they didn't have money and they didn't have coverage. Universal pharmacare would make sure they were always covered, whether or not they had a job. That's called an automatic stabilizer, something that reduces the impact of recessions on individuals and companies. It makes it easier for companies, because they don't have to provide that benefit to employees. It's cheaper. Companies would save a lot of money if we could do it in the same way we do with universal medicare. It would be a group insurance type of program. That would provide cost savings to the whole system and stabilize people's income. That's also really important in terms of inequality, because it tends to be the lowest-income people who never have access to that.
On February 25th, 2021. See this statement in context.