Canada’s prescription drugs plan likely won’t impact budget, minister says

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s Liberal government on Thursday introduced broad outlines of a national scheme to cover the cost of prescription drugs and said it will not mean a lot of extra spending in the upcoming budget year, the health minister said.

Health Minister Mark Holland said the cost of the first areas to be covered by the plan – birth control and insulin – will likely have a cost of about C$1.5 billion per year once the plan is fully implemented.

(Reporting by Steve Scherer and Ismail Shakil)