Ottawa inks $35M deal with P.E.I. to help pay prescription drug costs

The federal government is pledging $35 million to help Islanders pay the cost of prescription drugs.

The province will receive the funding over the next four years to add new drugs to the list of those coveredby the provinceandlower out-of-pocket costs for drugs already covered.

Ottawa says the list of drugs currently being covered by the province is less comprehensive than those in the rest of Atlantic Canada.

"P.E.I. has one of the most complicated landscapes in terms of public plans and a lot of complexity in how people are accessing drugs," said federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu, who was in the province to announce the agreement.

"This will enable P.E.I. to have the money and the commitment to continue to have the reforms it needs to make sure ... people aren't denied access to medication."

The pledge comes amid mounting speculationthe Liberals will call an election this fall.

In a news release, the federal government called it "the first agreement to accelerate the implementation of national universal pharmacare."

The federal government will use the deal with P.E.I. to inform pharmacare implementation in the rest of Canada, the release said.

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