Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.
We are pleased to be here today to discuss our analysis of Bill C-64, an act respecting pharmacare.
With me today I have Lisa Barkova, our lead analyst on pharmacare.
If memory serves, this is the first time that I'm appearing before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health as a parliamentary budget officer, but this is not the first time that the office has responded to requests from the committee regarding pharmacare. In fact, in response to requests from this committee, in September 2017 my predecessor produced an estimate of the cost to the federal government of implementing a national pharmacare program.
Furthermore, following requests from parliamentarians, my office prepared an updated cost estimate of a single-payer universal drug program in October 2023.
Recently, on May 15, 2024, we published a cost estimate for Bill C‑64, which you're studying today.
As the first phase of a national universal pharmacare program, Bill C‑64 proposes to provide universal first‑dollar coverage for a variety of contraceptive drugs and for the treatment of diabetes.
The purpose of the program is to enhance and expand the coverage provided by provincial and territorial plans, not to replace it.
We estimate that, if implemented, Bill C‑64 would increase government spending by $1.9 billion over five years. This estimate assumes that any medications that are currently covered by provincial and territorial governments, as well as private insurance providers, will remain covered on the same terms.
Ms. Barkova and I look forward to answering all your questions regarding our analysis of Bill C‑64 or other work done by my office.
Thank you.