Table 1: Summary of characteristics of publicly funded medication plans across Canadian provinces*.

Province	No. of plans	Common target populations and whether coverage is subject to a premium			Government first payer
		General population	Older adults†	Social assistance/low-income
British Columbia	10	Yes	Born before 1939	Yes	Yes
Alberta	10	Premiums	Yes	Yes	Yes
Saskatchewan	11	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manitoba	5	Yes	Same as general population	Yes	No
Ontario	7	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Quebec‡	1	Premiums	Premiums	Yes	Yes
New Brunswick	13	Premiums	Low-income/premiums for others	Yes	No
Nova Scotia	5	Yes	Premiums	Yes	No
Prince Edward Island	27	Combination of plans§	Yes	Yes	Unclear
Newfoundland and Labrador	5	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

*All provinces have generic payment rules.

†Aged 65 years or more unless otherwise noted.

‡All residents are mandated to have insurance (private or public).

§Has a variety of disease- and medication-based plans for those under 65 years of age.