NDP says pharmacare talks with Liberals are now focused on who pays for what

The future of the NDP's supply-and-confidence deal with the Liberals could hinge on competing proposals for pharmacare legislation the parties exchanged over the weekend, NDP health critic Don Davies said Tuesday.

Davies said that one of the last issues still outstanding in the bipartisan negotiations on pharmacare has to do with who pays for the medication — private and public insurers or the federal government as the sole price negotiator and buyer.

The New Democrats are pressing for a single-payer pharmacare system, which they argue would get better results because as sole purchaser, the federal government could use bulk-buying to push down drug prices.

New Democrats say the Liberals have balked at adopting the single-payer model because of the cost, which could amount to billions of dollars.

«Up to now, they've not wanted to commit to single-payer,» Davies said. «Of course, we've drawn a red line in the sand that we have to build on that system.»

The introduction of pharmacare legislation was a condition the NDP set when it joined the federal Liberals in the supply-and-confidence agreement. The agreement sees New Democrats support the minority government on key votes in the House of Commons to stave off an early election, in exchange for movement on NDP policy priorities.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh told reporters Tuesday that if the Liberals «break the agreement» over pharmacare, New Democrats will be negotiating key votes individually with the government going forward.

«If they break the agreement, they walk away from the agreement, there is nothing that they can expect from us then,» he said. «We will negotiate every vote at a time.»

The federal government has agreed to table pharmacare legislation by March 1.

Davies said he