Negotiations for pharmacare legislation with funding demands

The Liberal government and NDP are negotiating pharmacare legislation, with a March 1 deadline. The NDP demands full funding for diabetes and contraceptive medications. The cost of supplying diabetes drugs alone is estimated at $1 billion annually. Canada is the only country with universal health care but no universal pharmacare. The estimated cost of a universal pharmacare program is $15.3 billion to $38.9 billion annually. The NDP has been advocating for public coverage of contraception for almost two years.