When you're looking at a national program, you're talking about bulk purchasing, which, to me, makes sense. You negotiate lower prices across the board, and perhaps you don't run into the same issues with different prices from pharmacy to pharmacy. Also, we should be looking at the fact that we currently have a patchwork of systems that provide coverage for different pieces of diabetes care.
I moved from B.C. to Ontario to study. When I moved here, I was shocked, to be frank, at the systems in Ontario, at the amount of paperwork and the different programs that are available for coverage. We have the Trillium drug program, which covers diabetes test strips and insulin. Then we have the assistive devices program, which covers insulin pumps and pump supplies. Those are different systems, so you have to apply for each of them individually.
This is, again, to the point about putting a burden on people who are already dealing with a chronic condition. The amount of time that I spent on the phone and filling out paperwork to deal with these programs was.... These patchwork systems need to come together and become more cohesive.