Insurance industry association tapped former senior government official to lobby province against pharmacare [video]

The health insurance sector has upped its lobbying efforts in New Brunswick in opposition to universal pharmacare, government records show.

A national business association representing major insurance companies enlarged its roster of lobbyists in New Brunswick in early 2024, starting with the provincial government’s former head of communications.

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association says its goal is to “protect” private drug coverage that already exists. A pharmacare campaigner says that amounts to “scaremongering” from an industry more concerned about profits than public health.

The Pharmacare Act, which became law in October 2024, lays the groundwork for a national universal pharmacare program, with the first phase covering contraceptives and diabetes treatments. So far, only three provinces and one territory — B.C., Manitoba, P.E.I., and Yukon — have signed up.

The Department of Health says pharmacare talks are ongoing with the feds, and that the province is especially interested in a deal that would fulfill the provincial Liberal Party’s campaign promise of free contraceptives.

Yet the provincial government remains silent on whether it will opt into a plan that would cover diabetes treatments. Meanwhile, new analysis by the NB Health Council says that diabetes ranks as one of the top causes of potentially avoidable deaths in New Brunswick.

The reluctance of the government to join may reflect successful lobbying efforts, as industry talking points appear to be mirrored in communications from New Brunswick’s Department of Health.

The number of lobbyists working for the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association increased in early 2024, just as the federal Liberal government introduced the Pharmacare Act as part of an agreement with the NDP.

At the time, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association — whose members include major industry players like Manulife, Sun Life and Canada Life — had just three lobbyists registered in New Brunswick. That number multiplied within a few months, government records show.

Industry taps former GNB communications director

The government of then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tabled the Pharmacare Act on Feb. 29, 2024. One week later, Tyler Campbell of the consulting firm Porter O’Brien was registered to lobby in New Brunswick on behalf of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association.

Campbell spent 12 years as Director of Communications and Senior Director of Communications for the Government of New Brunswick, according to his LinkedIn profile. In Jan. 2024, he joined Porter O’Brien, where he is now Government Relations Lead. Porter O’Brien didn’t respond to an interview request by publication time.

The lobbyist registry indicates that Campbell’s role was to lobby the Premier, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Finance, and various senior officials. “Focus of efforts are related to the federal pharmacare bill and the impact it could have on New Brunswickers,” the registry states. He remained registered to lobby on behalf of the insurance association until June 2025.

Unlike the federal registry, the provincial system doesn’t require lobbyists to publicly report details about their communications with decision-makers. However, the provincial registry provides some insight, including who is registered to lobby decision makers, when they registered, and an outline of their advocacy.

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association appears to have multiplied its efforts as the Pharmacare Act made its way through the House of Commons, registering a dozen lobbyists on May 1, 2024, just before the bill went to second reading, records show.

Of that number, seven remain registered as active lobbyists in New Brunswick. Their role, as described in the registry, is to advocate to the Premier and other Cabinet ministers for a “strong role for private insurers in prescription drug coverage for New Brunswickers.”

A spokesperson for the association declined an interview request but provided a statement by email. “We are an advocacy organization and we register our staff with federal and all provincial governments,” said Karen Leiva, AVP, Strategic Communications & Public Affairs.

“We meet with governments on a wide range of issues from pensions to insurance legislation reform and healthcare — these are all issues that we have discussed with the government in New Brunswick.”

‘Industry talking points’ repeated by Health Minister

The pattern of lobbyist activity was identified by Nikolas Barry-Shaw, lead campaigner on pharmacare for the Council of Canadians. He’s also been monitoring lobbyist activity in Ottawa, which spiked ahead of the 2025 federal budget.

The federal austerity budget contained no new funds for pharmacare, an apparent reversal of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s campaign pledge to provide “dental care and pharmacare for everyone who needs it.”

“We’ve seen too many situations where governments promise a policy… and corporate interests are, after the fact, able to distort it or even turn it back by influencing policymakers behind the scenes,” Barry-Shaw said in an interview.

He noted that provincial Health Minister John Dornan has “repeated a lot of industry talking points.” On pharmacare, the Minister has stated that Ottawa should build on “the strengths of our existing system” instead of replacing it with a “one-size-fits all model.”

Those remarks mirror language from the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, which has argued that a “one-size-fits-all approach would not account for the robust pharmacare models that already exist in some provinces.”

READ MORE: Health Minister says pharmacare would cost ‘more than we have’ as drug coverage deal stalls

New Brunswick currently provides limited drug coverage through a means-tested system that involves various premiums and co-payments. Diabetes patients and public health advocates have reported widespread hardship among low-income people forced to choose between groceries, rent, and medicine.

A 2015 government report indicates that about 150,000 people in New Brunswick — 20 per cent of the population — have no prescription drug coverage. This week, the NB Health Council published a report indicating that diabetes is the fifth greatest cause of potentially avoidable deaths in New Brunswick, killing an average of 102 people per year between 2018 and 2022.

The analysis states that diabetes was the fifth leading cause of avoidable deaths, one “equally influenced by both prevention and treatment efforts.”

The report indicates that about half of all registered diabetes patients in New Brunswick were in the “optimal range of glycemic control” in the last fiscal year, a figure that varied across the provincial health zones. Only 42.7 per cent of patients were in the optimal range in the Miramichi area.

Free contraception promise hinges on federal pharmacare funding

The provincial Liberal Party’s election platform didn’t mention diabetes treatments but promised free contraceptives — a pledge that would be funded by federal pharmacare. A disclosure statement filed by the party with Elections New Brunswick stated that the promise will “not have financial implications for the Province.”

“Opting into the federal pharmacare program will result in coverage of contraception for New Brunswickers,” the document states.

On Friday, the Department of Health said that pharmacare talks are ongoing. “We continue to discuss the matter of pharmacare with our federal counterparts,” said the statement attributed to Health Minister John Dornan.

“In particular, we are interested in and have made repeated calls to secure federal funding to support our commitment to provide free contraceptives. We remain dedicated to working toward a pharmacare solution that reflects the needs of our province and builds on the strengths of our existing system.”

The Department of Health didn’t respond to questions about coverage for diabetes treatments or the nature of lobbying by insurance and pharmaceutical interests — Innovative Medicine Canada, whose members include big pharma companies such as Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, and Merck, currently has three lobbyists registered in New Brunswick. The province didn’t make anyone available for an interview.

Barry-Shaw said companies are pushing back on universal pharmacare because they stand to lose revenue. For insurance companies, he said: “As a public plan expands, it will mean you’ll need less private coverage and it will mean less premiums.” He added that national pharmacare plans tend to drive down overall drug prices while also reducing hospitalizations.

Governments with universal pharmacare “have this buying power that they can wield against the very large pharmaceutical companies,” he said. “It’s the same principle as why things are cheaper at Costco.”

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association has stated that it aims to “protect” the private insurance coverage that already exists.

“Twenty-seven million Canadians already have access to medications through employer-sponsored health benefits,” said Leiva, the industry association spokesperson. “That’s a foundation we must protect.”

“Every Canadian, regardless of income or employment, should be able to get the medications they need.” The industry association stated that can be best achieved by “preserving these existing plans and ensuring any new government coverage is directed to those who lack access… not duplicating coverage.”

Barry-Shaw called those remarks “scare tactics.” He pointed to the four jurisdictions that have already joined the pharmacare program.

“There are no stories coming out saying, ‘Oh my God, I lost my workplace insurance because the government created this program’… I think it’s completely empty, scaremongering.”

Insurance companies won’t cut Ozempic coverage, says industry association

In September, Health Minister John Dornan told public health advocates that the health insurance industry may respond to universal pharmacare in New Brunswick by eliminating private coverage for Ozempic, as previously reported by the NB Media Co-op. Ozempic is commonly used to help lower blood sugar levels for people with Type-2 diabetes.

At the time, Dornan said the loss of that private coverage could leave the province with a multi-million dollar gap in coverage, since Ottawa doesn’t currently cover that medication, according to three people who were present at the meeting. The Minister has never addressed the issue publicly.

On Friday, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association said “there may have been a misunderstanding” and that its members intend to continue providing private coverage for GLP-1 drugs — a category that includes Ozempic — “in all provinces and territories, including those with federal pharmacare.”

“The Pharmacare Act is clear that insurers cannot cover any drugs that are covered by single-payer government pharmacare,” Leiva said.

“However, in provinces that have signed deals with the Federal government to date, GLP-1 drugs are not covered by pharmacare. As such, insurers will continue to cover these drugs in all provinces and territories, including those with federal pharmacare.” (You can read the full statement here.)

Meanwhile, about 60 per cent of pharmacare funds have been committed to the four jurisdictions that have signed up. Even with no new funding in the federal budget, advocates say that leaves more than enough for New Brunswick to join the program — an initiative that would save lives.

Still, the Government of New Brunswick is tight-lipped about the pharmacare question, and what goes on behind closed doors in Fredericton remains opaque.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, via the Local Journalism Initiative.