The province and the federal government have officially signed an agreement to make diabetes medication and hormone replacement therapy for menopause free within the next year.
Federal Health Minister Mark Holland was in Victoria Thursday (March 6) for the announcement, along with his provincial counterpart Health Minister Josie Osborne. The two signed the Pharmacare agreement that would be for more than $670 million over four years to provide access to the medications for B.C. residents.
A release from the federal government says British Columbians will receive public coverage for a range diabetes medications and hormone replacement therapy to treat menopausal symptoms for all residents at little to no cost, as well as improve access to diabetes devices and supplies.
B.C. residents are expected to begin receiving coverage for that by March 2026.
Osborne said nearly 550,000 people 鈥� about 10 per cent 鈥� of British Columbians are living with diabetes, making it the fourth-most prevalent chronic disease in the province. She said the cost for medication for a person living with Type 1 diabetes can be as high as $18,300 a year, and for those with Type 2 diabetes it can be as much as $10,000 a year.
Holland was in B.C. in September 2024 to announce a memorandum of understanding for the planned pharmacare deal with then-health minister Adrian Dix. At the time, Holland said the bill, C-64, was awaiting Royal Assent through the Senate, but once that's complete the two levels of government would enter formal negotiations on the program and he expected agreements to be signed by April 1, 2025.
"The memorandum of understanding, the idea was a broad outline to give people a sense of what the deal might look like. At that point it was non-binding, but it was the two governments entering into a common understanding of what we wanted to do."
Now, he said, it's a signed deal.
"This is happening. This is real."
Asked if a potential change in government in the next year could change this agreement, he said it's "madness that this is even a debate." He added there is a long-standing practice that a new government honours agreements the previous government signed.
