Alberta Adult Health Benefit

In certain circumstances, people who leave Income Support or AISH are eligible for the Alberta Adult Health Benefit, administered by Alberta Human Resources and Employment.

The Alberta Adult Health Benefit provides the same coverage to individuals and their dependants as Income Support or AISH, including:

• Dental care
• Optical
• Prescription drugs
• Essential diabetic supplies
• Emergency ambulance services
• Enrollment in the Alberta Health Care Insurance premium-free group

People who leave Income Support in the following situations are eligible to receive health benefits through the Adult Health Benefit if they are living in Alberta, and their health benefits are not covered by the Federal Government or fully covered by an employer plan:

• People assessed as Expected to Work who leave Income Support for a job
    
• People assessed as Not Expected to Work who leave Income Support for a job
    
• People with a severely handicapped adult in the household who leave Income Support due to an increase in their federal Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) payments.

People who leave AISH* in the following situations are eligible to receive health benefits through the Alberta Adult Health Benefit if they are living in Alberta:

• People who leave AISH for work.
• People who leave AISH because of an increase in their federal Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPP-D) benefits (see "People leaving AISH due to increased CPP-D keep health benefits")

Other low-income families may be eligible to receive free health benefits for their children through the Alberta Child Health Benefit.

Elegibility for the Alberta Adult Health Benefit, based on the family's financial situation is reviewed each September.

Table 1: Maximum Qualifying Levels for AAHB Renewal for Expected to Work and Not Expected to Work clients who left Income Support for employment.

*Income for the AAHB is defined as either: current income for this fiscal year minus ongoing health costs, or last year's net income according to the Canada Revenue Agency's Notice of Assessment plus non-taxable child support payments.

Table 2: Maximum Qualifying Levels for AAHB Renewal for previous AISH clients who left AISH for work or because of an increase in federal CPP-D benefits. These qualifying levels also apply to previous Not Expected to Work clients who were receiving the handicap benefit and left Income Support for employment.

*Income for the AAHB is defined as either: current income for this fiscal year minus ongoing health costs, or last year's net income according to the Canada Revenue Agency's Notice of Assessment plus non-taxable child support payments.

For more information about the Adult Health Benefit and to confirm eligibility, Income Support and AISH recipients should contact their Alberta Human Resources and Employment worker.