The Liberal Party of Canada’s Proposal for Nationwide Universal Pharmacare: Informing the Path Forward Via International Comparison

In 2019, the Liberal Party of Canada (LPC) tabled the most recent proposal (Hoskins Report) for nationwide Pharmacare. It made sixty recommendations on how to achieve universal drug coverage in Canada. Since the 1943 draft proposal for public health insurance, several periodic proposals for nationwide Pharmacare have been put forward at the federal level. A narrative review of these proposals established nationwide Pharmacare is once againon the table federally. To inform the path forward, this study compared the Canadian approach to prescription drug coverage with that of the United Kingdom (UK). Canada and the UK were compared in three clusters: (a) the levels and sources of expenditures on prescription drugs; (b) the levels and distribution of pharmaceutical insurance associated with prescription drug spending; and (c) the health outcomes “produced.” Recommendations were then provided for implementation of nationwide Pharmacare. I argue that a rapidapproach is needed by the federal governmentto implement the service. The steps taken towardsa Pharmacare inclusive Medicare systemmust be fast-tracked. This type of system is observed to be the norm in high income countries. Several findings indicated poor trends in health system performance and production of health inequalities under the current system for prescription drug coverage. The Hoskins Report concretely places Pharmacare on the political agenda, creating a window of opportunity for the federal government to employ a rapidapproach.