Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Percy Hatfield is calling on the province to reverse planned changes to the Ontario Drug Benefit program he says will make life more expensive for seniors.
In the 2016 provincial budget, the Liberal government laid out a plan to scrap the deductible on prescription drugs for low-income seniors. However, the NDP member says the plan only covers about 10% of seniors in Ontario.
"There area another million seniors out there who will have their drugs costs practically doubled," says Hatfield. "Hundreds of dollars, really, a year. The thing is they're living on a fixed income — so if they're paying more for their drugs, they're spending less money on food."
Hatfield says seniors are getting hit from both sides.
"You know it's the upper cut from the private insurers who are dropping the number of drugs that they cover and then the right cross from the Liberals who are going to double the cost for many seniors in Ontario for their prescriptions," says Hatfield.
The changes are set to take affect on August 1, 2016.
