Medicare (Canada)
Medicare () is an unofficial designation used to refer to the publicly funded, single-payer health care system of Canada. Canada does not have a unified national health care system; instead, the system consists of 13 provincial and territorial health insurance plans that provides universal health care coverage to Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and certain temporary residents. These systems are individually administered on a provincial or territorial basis, within guidelines set by the federal government. The formal terminology for the insurance system is provided by the "Canada Health Act" and the health insurance legislation of the individual provinces and territories.
Refugee health care in Canada
The Canadian government introduced a series of changes in April 2012, which came into effect on June 30, 2012. As of June 30, 2012, IFHP divides asylum seekers into three categories with differing levels of health coverage depending upon the person's country of origin. There are now three baskets of services: (1) expanded health care coverage, (2) health care coverage, and (3) public health or public safety health care coverage. If the refugee claimant is from a designated country of origin, they will receive “very limited” health coverage. Some of the provinces have stepped in to cover services and medication no longer provided under the IFHP.