Federal budget falls short on pharmacare and savings: experts
By Google News Personal Finance ·
The budget bets on medium-term growth, but benefits and pension leaders say it sidesteps key issues plan sponsors need addressed
The federal government’s latest 2026 budget, released on Thursday and the second under Prime Minister Mark Carney, bears the He-Man-esque title “Masters of our Destiny”. But for the pensions and benefits industry, the budget largely misses out on that theme.
The budget's biggest issue, according to one benefits consultant, is the continued silence on national pharmacare. David White, vice president of benefits consulting at HUB International in Vancouver, said plan sponsors are being forced to make decisions without knowing where the program is headed.
“You're putting people that run plans into trying to make decisions in a vacuum,” said White. “There’s only three entities that can pay for prescription drug costs. It’s coming from employers. It’s coming from the government or it’s coming out of someone’s pocket.”
As it stands currently, pharmacare is active in only four provinces and the expert committee's report has drawn no response from the current government.
At minimum, he wants to see either new funding or a commitment to extend the program beyond its initial five-year window. Without that, the $1.5 billion already committed will run its course and the program will quietly expire, he noted.
“It’s a very limited and basically temporary program that’s in effect right now, which is nowhere close to what the intentions seem to have been at the time that the legislation passed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Alex Mazer, CEO and co-founder of Toronto-based Common Wealth, argued the government’s own priorities - affordability, small business competitiveness, fiscal discipline - all point toward retirement savings incentives it chose not to…
Originally published by Google News Personal Finance
