People in British Columbia going through menopause will soon have access to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to treat the sometimes debilitating symptoms at no cost to them.
BC Health Minister Adrian Dix made the announcement alongside Canada’s Health Minister Mark Holland at BC Women’s Hospital Thursday.
Dix explained that it’s part of a memorandum of understanding the two governments are working on regarding the implementation of national universal pharmacare. The changes won’t be implemented right away, but they are the intended outcome of formal negotiations on Canada’s new pharmacare coverage.
BC already made contraception, including birth control pills and IUDs, free for patients in 2023. The federal government admired BC’s plan and is expanding free contraception country-wide.
There was about $30 to $40 million in federal funding allocated to BC for free contraception, but since BC already fronts the cost for contraception, the province decided to instead use that money to fund HRT for those going through menopause.
Dix expects the HRT funding to save patients about $400 per year. About 40,000 people in BC are currently on HRT for their menopausal symptoms.
The memorandum of understanding also mentions coverage for diabetes medications, including insulin and metformin. Dix has lived with Type 1 Diabetes his entire life and estimates he’s spent $120,000 of his own money to manage the condition.
Going forward, these medications will come at zero cost to patients.
“Insulin, in particular, is Canada’s drug,” Dix said. “Banting and Best is something we all learned in school … and millions of people are alive, including me, because we had brilliant scientists in Canada giving access to this.”
The politicians described the bilateral agreement as an important step for Canadians that, when completed, will make life more affordable and allow residents to have better health outcomes.