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New OHIP+ to pay for prescription meds for kids

Plans will ensure that all children and youth get access to the medications they need
20170428 OHIPPlus ro
Guelph MPP and Treasury Board President Liz Sandals promoted the new OHIP+ program at the Rexall Pharma Plus on Eramosa Road Friday morning. She was joined by Rexall officials, from left, Mike Gatto, regional director of operations, Rola Barakat, regional director of pharmacies, and Mustafa Kurdi, the manager of the pharmacy. Rob O'Flanagan/GuelphToday

First thing Friday morning, the day after provincial budget day, Treasury Board President and Guelph MPP Liz Sandals was back in Guelph promoting what she called the budget’s most significant measure.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa’s budget, the first balanced one in nearly ten years, included $465 million annually for OHIP+: Children and Youth Pharmacare Program. It makes prescription medication free for all young people in the province 24-years-old and under.

Sandals visited the Rexall Pharma Plus on Eramosa Road, where pharmacy officials joined her as she talked about the new drug plan.

Sandals said OHIP+ has been in the works for some time, and is the right thing to do for families who may not be able to afford costly medications for their children.

OHIP+ will have to be approved in June when the budget is voted on, and is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2018. It will cover the cost of 4,400 different medications, including drugs to treat cancers and rare diseases.

In a Friday press release, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne called the new plan “a watershed moment for healthcare in Ontario,” and said it makes the province the first in Canada to introduce universal pharmacare for children and youth.

Sandals said the provinces and territories have been frustrated for many years by a lack of federal government action on a pharmacare plan for youth and children.

A national program, she said, would help lower drug prices in the country, since it would be the government negotiating with drug companies for better prices. Ontario decided the time was right for such a plan of its own.

With growth in provincial revenues from a growing economy, the government now has the ability to make new investments, Sandals said Friday morning.

“Where we’ve really focused this year is on healthcare,” she said. “The biggest investment is in what we are calling OHIP+, which is a universal pharmacare plan for children and youth.”

Provincially funded drug plans in the province currently only cover the cost of drugs for seniors, and those on Ontario Works or Ontario Disability Support Program.  

“So the average Ontario family doesn’t get any support with drugs, unless they are lucky enough to work for an employer who has a drug benefit program,” she said.

She said many families in the province are prescribed medications for their sick child but are unable to afford to pay for them.

“That child is going to go untreated,” she said. “Pharmacare is expensive, so when we thought about where to start, we said let’s make sure that all the children in the province are covered. So that if a child gets sick, their parents will be able to afford it.”

She added that the United Nations defines children and youth as anyone 24 or under. The government used that definition as its guide.

Rola Barakat, Rexall’s regional director of pharmacies, called the plan “great news for every person in Ontario.”

Sandals suggested that OHIP+ may lead to reduced premiums on the drug plans employers in the province offer their employees, given that drugs for children and youth will be covered by the province.

She said once the plan is in place it is unlikely it would be discontinued. It is not the sort of plan that another political party would promise to get rid of during an election campaign, she indicated.


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Rob O'Flanagan

About the Author: Rob O'Flanagan

Rob O’Flanagan has been a newspaper reporter, photojournalist and columnist for over twenty years. He has won numerous Ontario Newspaper Awards and a National Newspaper Award.
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