VICTORIA — British Columbia has announced plans to eliminate or reduce prescription-drug deductibles for low-income earners.
Health Minister Adrian Dix says single people and families with a net household income under $45,000 will benefit from changes to the Fair PharmaCare plan starting Jan. 1, 2019.
Families earning between $15,000 and $30,000 will no longer pay any deductibles for medication.
Dix says people with a net annual income of $15,000 have paid deductibles of $300, and those earnings $30,000 have had to shell out $900 a year.
He says the cost means people have sometimes not filled prescriptions in order to pay for other essentials such as groceries.
Green party spokeswoman Sonia Furstenau says the $105-million investment in Fair PharmaCare will improve the health of families facing an affordability crisis.
