Health care insurance  
Premiums
Health care funding
Your health dollar
Funding Sources

Health care insurance

• Registered Albertans receive full coverage for medically necessary physician and hospital services, as well as specific oral surgical services provided by oral and maxillofacial surgeons, through the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan.
• The Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan also provides limited coverage for services provided by allied health practitioners, such a podiatrists and chiropractors.
• Alberta provides and funds many services in addition to those required by the Canada Health Act, including palliative care, physical therapy, immunization programs and air ambulance services.
• As of March 1, 2004, approximately 3.1 million Albertans were covered by the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan.

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Premiums

• With the exception of seniors, premiums are charged to people registered with the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan. All residents of Alberta and their dependents are eligible to join the Plan; no eligible Albertan is denied coverage.
• Monthly health care insurance premiums are $44 per person and $88 for a family. Premiums for lower income Albertans are protected through higher subsidy thresholds.  Families with children will not pay full premiums until their taxable income exceeds $39,250.
• Premiums account for one out of every 11 dollars we spend on health care.  This year $882 million in premiums will go towards health care.

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Health care funding

• Funding for Health and Wellness is up $707 million (8.6 per cent) for a total of $8.98 billion. That’s more than one third of all government spending $24 million a day, or $1 million every hour.
• funding information

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Your Health Dollar

For 2006-07, each dollar spent on health care in Alberta is allocated in this way:

•  58 cents to health authorities for hospitals, continuing care facilities, home care, public health, community rehabilitation, mental health, cancer care and highly specialized province-wide services such as major organ transplants, heart surgeries, hip replacements and psycho geriatric services.
• 18 cents to physician services.  This includes compensation to physicians for the services they provide to their patients both inside and outside of a hospital setting, increasing access to primary care and the 24/7 access to appropriate care and physician automation.
• 9 cents to other programs like blood services, out-of-province health care, health research, AADAC (Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission) and allied health practitioners such as optometrists and chiropractors. 
• 7 cents for non group health benefits - government- sponsored drugs and supplementary health benefits.
• 1 cent to health promotion and protection for immunization programs, education and public health programs. 
• 1 cent to ministry support, to administer the public health system. 

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Funding sources

Of every dollar in health funding:

• 09 cents come from premiums,
• 18 cents come from federal transfer payments,
• 68 cents come from Alberta’s general revenues; and
• 05 cents come from lottery and other revenues.

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