Saskatchewan 2016 Election Campaign

The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network is once again asking questions of the parties and candidates during the 2016 Saskatchewan election campaign; their responses can be found in this section.

We hope that this information will help you when you direct your concerns to your provincial representatives.

To become involved in CCSN’s political advocacy campaigns, please contact jmanthorne@survivornet.ca

Questions:

Over 197,000 Canadians are diagnosed with cancer every year, including 5,500 people in Saskatchewan, with approximately 2,400 dying of cancer each year. Clearly, this life-threatening illness affects entire communities, especially families, friends and co-workers.

The government of Saskatchewan has an important role to play in making sure that everyone diagnosed with cancer has timely access to cancer care and essential medical services as well as access to emergency rooms and the treatment and medications they need.

We invite parties and candidates to respond to the following questions related to cancer care and healthcare in Saskatchewan. Your responses will be circulated to cancer patients and survivors in Saskatchewan and posted on our website, www.survivornet.ca and on our social media.

Question 1

The Canadian Medical Association Journal published research in 2012 that showed one in ten Canadians report they skip doses or decide not to fill prescriptions because of cost.[i]

If elected to government, what will your party do to make prescription medications more affordable?

Question 2

A key element of ensuring timely treatment for a cancer patient is ensuring they have access to the medications they need at the time they need them. Unfortunately, this is not always the case in Saskatchewan. 

If elected to government, will you commit to ensuring that all cancer patients in Saskatchewan receive timely access to medications at the time they need it?

Question 3

A new study[ii] released in July 2015 makes a compelling case for expanding our universal public health care system to include the cost of prescription medicines. In addition, a recent poll by the Angus Reid Institute[iii] found that more than 90 per cent of Canadians back the concept of pharmacare.

a)       What is your party’s position on the creation of a national pharmacare program?

b)       How will your party ensure that a national pharmacare program will not reduce the number of prescription medicines available to patients?

c)       Will your party support a new federal equalization payment for national pharmacare so that all provinces are able to cover the same comprehensive range of prescription drugs, with timely new additions on a regular basis?

We thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Yours sincerely,

Jackie Manthorne
President and Chief Executive Officer
Canadian Cancer Survivor Network

 

[ii] The Future of Drug Coverage in Canada, Pharmacare 2020, July 15, 2015

[iii] Prescription drug access and affordability an issue for nearly a quarter of all Canadian households, http://angusreid.org/prescription-drugs-canada/

Question 1 response: 

The Green Party supports a universal pharmacare program based upon evidence from independent investigators  – for example, the BC Therapeutics Initiative supported by the provincial government.

While it may be necessary for a provincial government to take the lead, we believe that such a program should be national.

Question 2 response:

We would entirely agree that cancer patients should have timely access to medications and treatment. As a physician, when first in practice, many of my patients received their treatments under community supervision in our local hospital. Somewhere in the 1990’s centralization occurred, I believe, to the inconvenience and often downright neglect of the patient.

I personally feel strongly that some aspects of centralization have been very negative – family physicians are not informed in a timely manner of their patients’ treatment and progress, one of my patients felt that she was blamed by the oncologist for progress of her cancer because inclement weather was blamed prevented her from attending her appointment. It is also evident to me that patients are not given an opportunity to fully discuss their options for treatment or non-treatment because many of my patients who made the weekly or twice monthly drive to the cancer clinic told me that they felt that they had enrolled in an “experiment”.

Question 3 response:

As mentioned above, the Green party supports the creation of a national pharmacare program.

Will we ensure that the national program will not reduce the number of prescription medicines available to patients? We would not promise to “reduce the number” because there is ample evidence that too many prescriptions are written where other modalities of treatment show better results and that many drugs prescribed show no actual benefit. As mentioned above, we would support the establishment of a federal initiative that examined the evidence for the use of a medication before supporting its inclusion on the prescription drug list. An “exceptional drug status” could be argued for drugs that patients or physicians wish to use in the absence of proof of efficacy.

An equalization would be an essential part of a national pharmacare program. The Green party would not only support timely additions to the list of medications covered by the program but also appropriate deletions as medications become obsolete or supplanted by newer and more efficacious pharmaceuticals.

As it turns out, I can answer all three of your questions all at once with reference to our exact platform on this issue. We actually intend on enacting a universal pharmacare program, tho obviously, at our level it would only cover Saskatchewan. Hopefully it would encourage wider interest and eventual adoption across the country, but for now, our plan is to cover the entire drug formulary, cover all citizens regardless of age or income, and to limit the user portion to only $15. This would make all prescriptions affordable, would reduce wait times by reducing the most common barrier, and would hopefully inspire the rest of the country to follow suit. If it did become a national program, it only seems fair that all citizens of this country would have equal access to the program.

I hope that answers your questions. Thank you for contacting me.

Lisa Grant
Green Party
Lloydminster

The Green Party of Saskatchewan believes your numbers on these issues. One of the main things on our campaign platform is a universal prescription drug plan. Please go to saskgreen.ca and you will see our entire Real Change 2016 Election Platform.

The Green Party of Saskatchewan also believes strongly that far too many cancers are preventable. We believe that we must strive to create a society where the incidences of cancer are prevented. Prevention is always cheaper than treatment but until we reach that point we must look after our citizens and ensure they receive the treatment they deserve. There are very few citizens who are not affected by cancer unfortunately.

Question 1 response:
If elected to government our party would institute a province wide pharmacare program to provide coverage for everyone in Saskatchewan and lower the deductible for medications from $20.00 to $15.00.
Question 2 response:
Under our pharmacare program all people in Saskatchewan would have timely access to medications, including cancer patients.  That is the commitment of the Saskatchewan Green Party to everyone in the province if elected.
Question 3) response:
a)No discussion has been done on being part of a national pharmacare plan within our party but I can’t see our party being adverse to this since we would already be creating our own provincial pharmacare plan.
b)If part of a national pharmacare program we would make sure that any overlap or lack of coverage of a medication would be discussed with the federal government and the best means of providing coverage would be reviewed.
c)If involved in a national pharmacare program our government would discuss and implement the best possible means of providing coverage for medication.  if federal equalization proved to be the most advantageous our government would pursue such a solution for the people of Saskatchewan.
I hope these answers help to make the position of the Saskatchewan Green Party clear when it comes to the coverage of medications for the people of Saskatchewan.

Dear Ms. Manthorne,

Thank you for your email of  March 14, 2016 and the attached questionnaire on issues
important to The Canadian Cancer Survivor Network. I appreciate the opportunity to relay the Saskatchewan Party position on the questions you have submitted:

Question 1 response: 

Since 2007, the Saskatchewan Party government has worked hard to keep prescriptions affordable. Shortly after being elected, we introduced the Children's Drug Plan, which caps prescription medications at $20 for children 14 years and under. In 2013, Premier Brad Wall announced that Saskatchewan residents, private insurers, and provincial government would save $10 million through bulk-buying six commonly used generic prescription drugs. Since then, fourteen generic prescription drugs are now on the Value Price Initiative.

Question 2 response:

Since 2007, our party has been committed to improving health care in Saskatchewan. Part of that includes providing one of the most comprehensive coverage plans for cancer patients. This past year, our government also added 15 new cancer drugs to the formulary, including drugs to treat melanoma, breast, and prostate cancer. We are committed to continuing to improve access for all patients in Saskatchewan.

Question 3 response:

a) Our government would continue to participate in any Federal-Provincial meetings or negotiations on any pan-Canadian health topic, including any discussions on a national pharmacare program. Our Saskatchewan Party government health ministers have been strong voices on the national level since 2007.

b) That would be one of the concerns from the Saskatchewan Party. Currently, Saskatchewan provides comprehensive drug coverage for cancer patients compared to other provinces, and maintaining that coverage is critical to us. If we are re-elected, we would not agree to any pharmacare program that reduces coverage for any patients, compared to now.

c) As stated previously, our government would participate in any Federal-Provincial discussions on pharmacare, including how to fund any potential program.

Thank you for taking the time to write and pose your questions to our party.

Sincerely,
Graham Stewart
Director of Research
Saskatchewan Party Campaign