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I'm lucky enough to not be on regular medication anymore, but some of my as-needed meds cost $140 without insurance. It's pretty steep.
Layoffs are a thing. Do people just die if they can't afford their meds? I know several people who are staying in their soul crushing jobs because of the benefits. Precarious contract work and part time workers don't get benefits.
We need pharmacare for all.
Do people just die if they can't afford their meds?
I think, in America, people just go without. It's disheartening.
As a relatively young person who is fortunate enough to have no health issues requiring medication, I can understand this. Pharmacare doesn't really ring my bell where I am in life right now. However, I am getting to an age where that could change. And when considering the political implications, I think one must take age cohorts into account. I imagine the senior cohort considers this a much higher priority than the 18-35 demographic. And that demo also tends to vote at a much higher rate. So while this might not be the #1 priority nationwide, it might punch above it's weight with more reliable voting blocs.
Seniors do have special drug benefits in most provinces, I'm pretty sure, although some provinces have additional low income requirements. So, seniors might not be a united front on this issue. My 66 y/o mum surprised me when I asked her if she was in favour of universal pharmacare: "No, sounds expensive for the gov't and I'm already covered on pharmacare anyway as a senior."
Seniors are one of the groups most helped by a pharmacare bill. The other group? Regular poor people.
The group most likely to let their bipolar meds lapse? Poors. Schizo meds that make life bearable and jobs attainable? Poors won't make enough to pay the costs unless the pharmacare bill pushes the prices down.
You know the difference between a poor guy with a medically-dependent mental attribute and that guy shouting at cars in the street? Regular meds so he doesn't lose what he has over and over and over. And luck, but also uninterrupted meds.
We don't need pharmacare so I can get my ADHD or blood pressure pills; we need equal pharma access in our constitution so good and resilient people dont fall into a crack, lose their world and end up raging in the street at the frustration of daily existence in the rainy nights.
To be fair, there are more factors in medication relapse for things like schizophrenia, bipolar, etc, than for even ADHD meds or blood pressure pills. Apparently the side effects can be awful even when they’re working.
Life happens fast. You can be 31 and relatively healthy, then 33 and staring down $1000/month meds with the promise of rapid degeneration if you don’t take them, oh and please book a day off work to make all the phone calls and deal with the paperwork to even apply for pharmacare, because your work plan refuses to touch that amount if you haven’t applied for Fair Pharmacare first….