Premier Stephen McNeil and the Council of Atlantic Premiers have agreed to explore new and innovative ways to work together, to make publicly funded drug plans stronger in our region.

In light of the possibility of a new Atlantic approach, planned consultations on Nova Scotia’s Seniors Pharmacare program will wait for that collaborative work to take place. Also, there will be no change to the program in 2018-19.

It was previously announced that the Seniors Pharmacare program won’t change in 2017-18.

“We always want to look for new ways to make our programs stronger and more affordable for citizens and government,” said Premier McNeil.

“My Atlantic colleagues and I feel there are opportunities to improve these important programs by working together, for everyone’s benefit.”

Nova Scotia, like other Atlantic Canadian provinces, has an aging population that relies on publicly funded drug plans to reduce its medication costs.

“This is an exciting opportunity to work with our Atlantic counterparts to look at how we can keep prescription drug costs low for those enrolled in our pharmacare programs,” said Health and Wellness Minister Leo Glavine.

“We committed to consulting with Nova Scotians before making any changes to our Seniors Pharmacare program and that commitment remains. However, we first need to fully explore all potential collaborative options and it will take some time.”

The communique from the Council of Atlantic Premiers can be found here: www.cap-cpma.ca .

Source: Release