Winners of this year’s Health Care Divisional Council are:
Fern Crawford, Local 497
Jackie Gibbons, Local 346
Adriana Thompson, Local 214
Come see us at the HCDC table to see about your prize.
Every Commission that has looked into health care delivery in Canada has recommended bringing prescription drugs under the Medicare umbrella. As modern health care has evolved, drug therapies have become increasingly important. If you can’t afford the drugs, you are effectively denied access to care. In many cases, patients who cannot afford their medications get sicker and cost the public system much more. Momentum is building for a public universal Pharmacare program in Canada. Coverage for all users would dramatically reduce overall costs, make access more equitable, and slow the rate of growth in drug spending. All that is missing is the political will. Learn more by taking our short (and somewhat fun) quiz.
For those attending the OPSEU Convention, you can fill out this quiz and enter it at the Health Care Divisional Council table by 2 pm. Three winners will be selected to win $100 in OPSEU clothing. Winners will be posted here shortly after 2 pm along with the answers.
1. Pharmacare is…
A) Care for farmers and their animals
B) A private health plan for Pharmacists and their assistants
C) Public health insurance for prescription drugs
D) The care criminal drug dealers have for their clients
2. The Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) program is one of the most generous public drug benefit programs in Canada. You would be eligible for coverage if…
A) You are a senior over the age of 65
B) You live in a long term care home, home for
special care, are enrolled in a home care program or are on social assistance
C) The cost of your drugs is high relative to your
income
D) All of the above.
3. Every developed country with universal health coverage also provides universal Pharmacare except for
A) Canada
B) Blefuscu
C) Duchy of Grand Fenwick
D) Mordor
4. How many Canadians cannot afford the drugs their doctor prescribes?
A) One in 20
B) One in 10
C) One in five
D) One
5. The absence of universal public Pharmacare costs us all more because…
A) one in ten visits to hospital ERs are related to non-compliance with a doctor’s prescription
B) administrative costs are much higher for private drug plans versus public Medicare
C) A single government plan would have much greater leverage in negotiating volume drug prices
D) All of the above
6. Out of $25 billion spent annually on drugs in Canada (both public and private), how much could we save if we spent the same amount per capita on pharmaceuticals as citizens in the United Kingdom?
A) $1 billion
B) $5 billion
C) $8 billion
D) $14 billion
7. Even with insurance coverage, how little a co-pay has been proven to discourage Canadians from filling a doctor’s prescription?
A) $10
B) $8
C) $5
D) $2
8. Countries with universal Pharmacare…
A) Experience slower growth in drug costs and therefore have greater health care sustainability
B) Don’t have Don Cherry, nor do they want him.
C) Are further from the United States than us.
D) Have more interesting national foods.
9. Given all the advantages of public Pharmacare, we as activists should..
A) Get the message out and promote public Pharmacare
B) Call our Moms
C) Invest in Big-Pharma
D) What were we talking about?
Bonus Question: In question three all but one of the countries are from well-known works of fiction. Can you name the three books they came from?
Answers:
1 (C) 2 (D) 3 (A) 4 (B) 5 (D) 6 (D) 7 (D) 8 (A) 9 (A)
Bonus Question:
Blefuscu: Gulliver’s Travels
Duchy of Grand Fenwick: The Mouse That Roared
Mordor: Lord Of The Rings / The Hobbit
OPSEU Diablogue 