Ontario NDP promise coverage for cancer drug prescriptions if elected

TORONTO – NDP Leader Andrea Horwath is promising universal access to take-home cancer drugs if her party wins the spring election.

Horwath says an NDP government would spend $42 million each year to cover patients whose health insurance plans don’t currently cover those types of drugs.

In Ontario, cancer drugs administered in hospitals are free but take-home drugs often have a cost.

LISTEN: NDP Leader Andrea Horwath on the party’s cancer drug plan

Horwath says the majority of new cancer treatments being released are of the take-home variety, which means the fees for those medications can be substantial, putting necessary drugs out of reach for some people.

She says the NDP would cut down on the stress cancer patients are already experiencing.

The promise is on top of the NDP’s pledge to spend $1.2 billion to increase base hospital funding.