Weight-loss medication helps mom manage her obesity. Quebec won’t pay for any of it
Global News
Quebec's health insurance board currently doesn't cover Ozempic and similar weight-loss medication unless they are prescribed for patients who are diagnosed with diabetes.
Tamra Canty-Currie used to struggle to go for walks, climb flights of stairs and play with her young son after years of living with obesity.
She tried a long list of ways to improve her health when her doctor gave her a life-changing prescription for Ozempic, a semaglutide medication for diabetes that has been used off-label as a weight-loss drug.
“At first, I was really afraid and I didn’t really want to go on it because there was so much shame — in the media, in popular culture,” Canty-Currie said in a recent interview. “So I didn’t want to do it. I was scared.
“But finally he told me that it’s not only that you’re going to be losing weight, but you’ll also lower your risk of obesity-related diseases.”
The mother from Île-Perrot, Que., has since lost 22 pounds in 30 weeks. The medication has made everyday tasks easier, such as being able to sit on the floor in positions that were once difficult during playtime with her son.
Canty-Currie is thrilled with the results, but not with the hefty price tag: Ozempic costs nearly $500 per month — and all of it is out of pocket.
Quebec’s health insurance board, known as RAMQ, currently doesn’t cover Ozempic and similar weight-loss medication unless they are prescribed for patients who are diagnosed with diabetes. The province also remains one of the few jurisdictions that doesn’t recognize obesity as a chronic illness.
Canty-Currie doesn’t have diabetes so she has to pay hundreds of dollars every month to get her prescription.
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