Free Healthcare Services

A long-awaited decision

On January 25, 2021, an important step was taken toward improving access to first-line healthcare services for everyone across Québec: all citizens of Québec* can now gain access, free of charge, to healthcare services offered by their pharmacist, and the list grows longer!

In the past few years, owner pharmacists have ramped up their efforts to convince the government that removing barriers to access healthcare services in pharmacies would benefit both patients and the healthcare system.

A patient who wanted to access a healthcare service from their pharmacist used to be charged fees by the government (through deductible and co-insurance fees), even though he could get the same exact service free of charge if he turned to another healthcare professional. Fortunately, as of today, and thanks to the repeated requests of neighborhood pharmacists, that is no longer the case.

A few examples

You can now call on your family pharmacist for a wide range of healthcare services provided free of charge. For instance, you could ask your pharmacist to…

• Extend your prescription when it runs out, for a period that could exceed 30 days;
• Prescribe a medication for some conditions such as a urinary tract infection, mouth ulcers, shingles, etc.
• Prescribe emergency oral contraception;
• Administer a vaccine;
• Etc.

The smart choice

The government’s decision to abolish deductible and co-insurance fees on clinical pharmacy services reinforces the notion of choosing “the right professional at the right time and place” and allows pharmacists to play a central role in front-line care. This is excellent news for all Québec patients as well as for the entire healthcare system and its invaluable resources. To view the complete list of healthcare services available in neighborhood pharmacy, click here.