Health Canada Fees for Natural Health Products: Patient action requested
Though Health Canada’s deadline for public comment on its Proposed Fees for Natural Health Products (NHPs) has passed (August 10, 2023), I encourage you to continue to reach out to our Members of Parliament as this issue will be a topic of discussion when the House of Commons returns this fall. The fees are being proposed as part of regulatory activities to recover costs of the NNHPD‘s regulatory activities.
Though we all benefit from regulatory oversight that ensures high quality natural health products, increasing fees on Natural Health Products is expected to significantly increase the cost of NHPs for the consumer. It’s very possible that these increased costs will put our smaller suppliers out of business entirely (while the larger manufacturers and distributors like Nestle, remain).
We know that high costs already prevent many people from accessing natural and integrative healthcare approaches. And in communities that lack access to family physicians and walk-in clinics – where Naturopathic Doctors are sometimes the only primary healthcare providers available – restricting access further may have devastating impact: Naturopathic Doctors help keep patients out of the hospital and from unnecessarily accessing an overburdened public healthcare system. Our government can’t afford to increase the cost of NHPs for patients when skilled use of NHPs means health prevention.
Please let our government know that these proposed changes are not acceptable. The Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors (CAND) has shared a template letter that you’re welcome to use and personalize. Please submit your letter to our honourable MP Mark Gerretsen:
Hello (tag your local MP),
I’d like to express concern regarding Health Canada’s proposed fees for natural health products. I am concerned that the proposed fees will result in significant price increases, limiting access to the therapeutics my naturopathic doctor (ND) uses safely and effectively every day, negatively impacting the naturopathic medical care NDs provide for hundreds of thousands of patients.
As the patient of a naturopathic doctor, I already pay out of pocket for #NHPs as neither the publicly funded health care system nor third-party insurers cover them. These proposed fees will have the inadvertent result of pricing the products I rely on to manage my health out of reach.
I thank you for your attention and ask that you request Health Canada suspend the proposed fees discussion until the Self-Care Framework has been completed and the NNHPD has cleared its current backlog.
