Financial Assistance Drug Program
PEI Pharmacare
Covers approved medication for Islanders on social assistance. Verbatim: "All costs of approved prescription and non-prescription medications are covered by the program." There is no separate application - "Your application will be submitted by the Social Assistance Program."
The catch: Two limits that cost real money. It pays second, not first: "You or your pharmacy must submit all claims to your private insurer first. The remaining out-of-pocket eligible expense can then be submitted to PEI Pharmacare for assessment." And there is no reaching backwards - verbatim, "Coverage is not retroactive, you will not be reimbursed for medications you have already purchased", which makes the gap between applying for social assistance and being approved a gap you pay for. Coverage also ends the day you leave PEI to live elsewhere. A drug outside the PEI Pharmacare Formulary is not covered at all, though a physician can request special authorization for some.
Do these first
Social Assistance Program
required Automatic, not merely permitted: "When you receive Social Assistance, you are automatically enrolled in the following support programs: Financial Assistance Drug Program, Provincial Dental Care Program." The drug programme has no application of its own - the Social Assistance Program submits it.
Who can get it
-
Have a PEI Health Card; and have been approved under the Social Assistance Act. Your application will be submitted by the Social Assistance Program. automatic
At a glance
- Worth
- Not a cash amount
- Effort
- Instant
- Time to money
- Not recorded
- How it arrives
- In kind
- How often
- Standing
- Proof needed
- None
- Where
- Prince Edward Island
- Last checked
- 15 August 2026