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Hot off the Press

Atlantic Canada premiers need to urgently opt in to pharmacare

Dr. Catherine Cervin writes about Nova Scotia’s alarming poverty rate—the highest in Canada—and explains how universal coverage for diabetes medications and devices in Atlantic Canada could ease financial hardship, reduce suffering, and lower health care costs from complications like kidney failure, heart disease, and amputations.
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Pharmacare’s future

April 14, 2025 - CDM Past-Chair Dr. Danyaal Raza writes that Mark Carney’s stance on the future of national pharmacare will be a telling indicator of whether he supports public solutions or entrenched private interests.
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New Canada Health Act interpretation letter misses the mark on virtual care

February 12, 2025 – Drs. Bernard Ho, Monika Dutt, and Chaten Jessel published an op-ed highlighting how private insurance companies are pressuring governments at all levels to exclude employer-funded virtual care from public funding, ensuring that these companies continue to profit from selling or administering plans that include this benefit.
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We need virtual care that cares for everyone

January 21, 2025 - Our Past-Chair, Dr. Danyaal Raza, and CDM Member Dr. Sheryl Spithoff published an article on the Healthy Debate highlighting the importance of virtual care in modernizing Medicare. They warn that inaction risks deepening the primary care crisis, growing opportunities for private-pay virtual care in a regulatory and legislative vacuum, and a negative feedback loop that increases costs and worsens quality.
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Dr. Danyaal Raza on non-physician professionals billing the public system

January 21, 2025 - Check out this episode of the Redeye, where CDM Past-Chair Dr. Danyaal Raza discusses the Canada Health Act Interpretation Letter. He highlights the historic inclusion of nurse practitioners, midwives, and pharmacists under the Act, while addressing the unresolved issue of virtual care.
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Ottawa opens up health plans to pay for necessary care by nurse practitioners, pharmacists and midwives

January 10, 2025 - CDM's Chair, Dr. Melanie Bechar is interviewed by Kenyon Wallace from the Toronto Star on the release of the Canada Health Act Interpretation Letter. While progress was made in expanding public coverage and eliminating patient charges, virtual care remains unaddressed, leaving patients to pay out-of-pocket or rely on private insurance for online services.
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All I want for Christmas is publicly funded health care

December 18, 2024 – CDM’s Vice-Chair, Dr. Bernard Ho, and Policy Advisor, Karen Palmer, published this op-ed emphasizing that we must not let corporations and insurance companies stand in the way of fair access for everyone, including those without employer-funded insurance.
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Don’t have private insurance? You’re still paying for others who do — you deserve better care

November 22, 2024 - Dr. Danyaal Raza published this op-ed highlighting how private workplace insurance is extensively subsidized by the federal government, and all provincial governments except Quebec. He stresses the importance of releasing the Canada Health Act interpretation letter, and ending the billions of dollars in public subsidies for private insurance companies.
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A publicly funded virtual care system would benefit us all

October 21, 2024 - Dr. Bernard Ho wrote about how publicly funded virtual care can improve access for all Canadians. Notably, he addresses and debunks the myth that the 10 million Canadians who can access virtual care through their workplace are at risk of losing it.
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Insurance and business groups urge health minister to protect employer-paid virtual care

Toronto Star, August 16, 2024 – Dr. Melanie Bechard emphasized that if the Canada Health Act interpretation letter brings virtual or nurse practitioner care under the public umbrella, patients would benefit from improved access and coverage, while only private insurance companies would be negatively impacted.
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The cost of U.S-based cancer treatment for British Columbians

(July 8th, 2024): Dr. Devon Mitchell was recently interviewed by Katie DeRosa from CBC News. In the interview, he emphasized the importance of patients receiving care through the public system rather than paying out-of-pocket as British Columbia works to build up its capacity.
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