Wynne touts new drug plan

By Joel Wittnebel/The Oshawa Express

Gathering inside what will soon become the front lines of Ontario’s new drug plan, Durham’s trio of Liberal MPPs praised the new initiative that will make thousands of prescription drugs free for those under 25.

Speaking at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Ajax, MPPs Granville Anderson (Durham), Joe Dickson (Ajax-Pickering) and Tracy MacCharles (Pickering-Scarborough East) took their turns putting their support behind the new plan announced as part of the provincial budget, labelled as OHIP+

“We are taking the lead with this initiative,” MacCharles says, noting the program, expected to cost $465 million a year, will help families who, until now, have been forced to make difficult decisions when it comes to medicine.

Currently, the Ontario Drug Plan (ODP), provides coverage for nearly 1 million families on social assistance, along with three million seniors.

“I think it’s a big win for the community,” says Anuj Bhalla, the drug store’s owner. “Not just this community, but all over.”

For Anderson, he says the move will not only assist parents with young children, but also post-secondary students who may no longer receive coverage from their parents and have yet to find steady employment after school.

“This will also bridge the gap until you find a job,” he says. “It’s a good thing for our young folks.”

If approved, the new plan would start at the beginning of 2018 and cover approximately 4,400 different prescription drugs for the nearly four million children and young adults in the province.

“This is a good first step,” Dickson says. “We are very happy with this budget, there was something in it for everybody.”

During a campaign-style visit to Lakeridge Health on Tuesday, Premier Kathleen Wynne also took the time to tout the province’s new health care plan and balanced budget.

“This is important not as an end in itself, but it’s important because of what it means in terms of how we can now, as a government, have the freedom and flexibility to step-up government’s role in creating that fairer province and security in people’s lives that we know is necessary for people to be able to thrive,” Wynne said.

The new program is the first of its kind in Canada, she adds.

“We knew that we wanted to address the concerns of those who worry about falling behind in that changing economy that we’re living in,” Wynne says. “So these measures are about producing that security and that compassion in our system.”

Along with OHIP+, the budget also brings with it approximately $1.3 billion to help hospitals reduce wait times.