The United Nations has declared that access to essential medicines is a fundamental human right, yet more than one million Canadians do not have prescription drug coverage. This is a devastating problem, leading those without access to financial aid or employer benefits to have to make an impossible choice of prioritizing their health or keeping the lights on.
This week, GreenShield launched a first-of-its-kind program to provide essential medications to low income Canadians without public or private drug coverage. More than 97 per cent of Canadians have some form of coverage for essential medicines, which is why the GreenShield Cares Essential Medicines program is a solution designed to fill the gap for the one million without coverage.
The pilot program has started in Ontario in partnership with the Niagara Falls Community Health Centre and the Windsor Essex Community Health Centre, with other locations to follow.
Championing for better living is exactly the vision GreenShield was built on. Back in 1957, Windsor, Ontario pharmacist William Wilkinson saw his customers struggling to afford medications. He was struck by one particular mother who chose to fill her child’s prescription instead of her own because she could not afford to pay for both.
It was in response to this that Wilkinson founded GreenShield as a not-for-profit social enterprise with a mission to deliver “better health for all.” Through its social impact brand GreenShield Cares, GreenShield reinvests its earnings and deploys its wholly owned health services to underserved communities.
For this program, GreenShield Health’s digital pharmacy The Health Depot will dispense and deliver essential medicines at no cost.
To qualify for this program, individuals must be:
- A resident of Ontario with valid OHIP
- Currently employed
- Aged 25 to 64
- Have an income below Statistics Canada Low-Income Measure (LIM)
- Require prescription medications to treat a diagnosed medical condition
- Not enrolled in any private or employee drug plan
- Not enrolled in an Ontario public drug program, with the exception of the Trillium Drug Program
To learn more about GreenShield Care’s Essential Medicines program, visit www.greenshield.ca/en-ca/cares/essential-medicines.
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