Yukon's Pharmacare and extended health benefits help registered seniors 65 or older, and spouses 60 to 64, with prescription drugs, dental and eye care. A separate program helps with chronic disease and disability costs, and your doctor applies for you.
Applies in: Yukon
Yukon Pharmacare is the seniors part of a pair of programs: Pharmacare and extended health benefits for people 65 or older registered with the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan. The Government of Yukon health care card page notes that a senior eligible for extended health benefits and Pharmacare has a card that shows PHARMACARE ASSURANCE-MEDICAMENTS on the bottom, which is how pharmacies and providers can see the coverage.
A second, separate program sits beside it: the Chronic Disease and Disability Benefits Program, for Yukon residents of any age with a listed chronic disease or a serious disability. The application routes differ. For seniors Pharmacare, the form comes to you or you apply alongside your health care registration. For chronic disease benefits, your doctor applies for you. This guide covers both routes and gives no advice on eligibility in an individual case.
The two programs run together and assist registered seniors with the cost of:
You must be registered with the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan (YHCIP) and be a Yukon resident age 65 or older. A younger spouse can also be eligible: a Yukon resident registered with YHCIP, aged between 60 and 64, who is married to a Yukon resident who is 65 years of age or older.
Step 1: Be registered with YHCIP first. Pharmacare sits on top of health care registration. If you are not registered, start there.
Step 2: Watch for the form in the month you turn 65. If you are registered with YHCIP, you receive a Pharmacare program application form in the month you turn 65. Contact the office if you have not received your form.
Step 3: New residents apply for both at once. If you are a new Yukon resident, it takes 3 months for your YHCIP coverage and seniors benefits to begin. Apply for the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan, and apply for Pharmacare and extended health benefits at the same time as when you apply for the health care plan.
Step 4: Use the Whitehorse office if you need in-person help. The office is on the 4th floor, 204 Lambert Street, Whitehorse, open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for health care registration matters.
Step 5: Keep your residence position clear. Benefits stop if you are away from Yukon for more than 183 consecutive days, and they stop on the date you permanently move out of the territory.
This program is not limited to seniors. The Government of Yukon states that if you have a chronic disease or a disability, you may be able to get help with some of your costs through this program.
You may be able to get help paying for prescription drugs, medical surgical supplies, medical equipment, food supplements and prostheses. The test the page sets out is that the item helps you manage your chronic disease or disability and a health practitioner recommends it. Medical surgical supplies named on the page include bandages for chronic and recurrent conditions, body supports, dressings, hand inhalers and nebulizers, ostomy supplies, oxygen supply, prosthetic garments, and syringes and glucose test kits. Medical equipment named includes commodes, glucometers, grab bars and support rails, manually operated hospital beds, manually operated wheelchairs, respiratory equipment and walking aids. The program also helps with the purchase and repair of hearing aids for children under the age of 16 who have permanent hearing loss.
A chronic disease, in the program's terms, is a health condition or disease that goes on for a long time or often recurs. A disability is a serious impairment such as amputation, brain damage, intellectual disabilities, or partial or complete paralysis. The page states that it does not include sensory impairment such as poor vision. The covered diseases and conditions list on the page runs from ADHD, adrenal disease and asthma through cancer, diabetes, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and ulcerative colitis, and it includes alcohol use disorder.
Step 1: Ask your doctor to apply. Your doctor must apply to the program for you. They should apply before you make a purchase.
Step 2: Use a community health nurse where there is no resident doctor. If you live in a community without a resident doctor, a community health nurse can apply for you.
Step 3: Handle out-of-Yukon purchases by the program's rules. If you buy anything outside Yukon, you must already have approval from the program, or pay for it yourself and then apply for reimbursement, and submit your reimbursement claim within 1 year of the purchase.
Contact for this program: email yukon.healthcare@yukon.ca, or phone 867-667-5092, toll free in Yukon 1-800-661-0408. The office is on the 4th floor, Financial Plaza at 204 Lambert Street in Whitehorse, open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
If you have health benefit coverage through your employer or a private or group insurance agency, you must submit claims to those insurers first. You can only get help from this program for things not paid for by other coverage: the program is the payer of last resort, and there is an annual deductible. The program will not cover the cost of medical equipment if you can borrow it from a hospital or the Canadian Red Cross. It cannot cover installing or setting up medical equipment, fitting prostheses, or fitting appliances. The only professional service charges it covers are dispensing fees for prescription drugs. If you normally receive funding under the program, you are no longer eligible if you are absent from Yukon for more than 183 consecutive days. If you are away for no more than 210 days, you must then prove that Yukon is your only permanent residence.
Yukon also runs the Yukon National Pharmacare Program, launched April 15, 2026, which provides first-dollar coverage for eligible contraception and diabetes medications for eligible Yukon residents. The Government of Yukon states that no application is required for that program and eligible residents are automatically enrolled, with Pacific Blue Cross administering claims. It is a different program from seniors Pharmacare, and this guide does not merge the two.
The Yukon pages opened for this guide state who the seniors programs are for, the form arriving in the month you turn 65, the 3-month start for new residents, and the chronic disease program's application route through your doctor. They do not state a dollar amount for the chronic disease program's annual deductible on the page read here, and they do not state seniors Pharmacare drug, dental or eye care dollar limits, so this guide gives none of those figures. They also do not state a processing time for a seniors Pharmacare application, so this guide gives none.
| Pharmacare and extended health benefits, seniors | Yukon resident age 65 or older registered with the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan; a spouse age 60 to 64 of a covered senior is also eligible |
|---|---|
| Application form timing for existing plan members | Sent in the month you turn 65 if you are registered with the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan |
| New Yukon residents | Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan coverage and seniors benefits begin after 3 months; apply for both at the same time |
| Chronic Disease and Disability Benefits Program | Your doctor applies for you before you buy; a community health nurse can apply if your community has no resident doctor |
Pharmacare and extended health benefits assist with prescription drugs, medical-surgical supplies and equipment, dental care and eye care. Benefits stop if you are away from Yukon for more than 183 consecutive days.
You must be registered with the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan and be a Yukon resident age 65 or older. You are also eligible if you are a Yukon resident registered with the plan, aged 60 to 64, and married to a Yukon resident who is 65 or older.
If you are registered with the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan, you receive a Pharmacare program application form in the month you turn 65. Contact the office if you have not received your form. New Yukon residents apply for Pharmacare and extended health benefits at the same time as they apply for the Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan.
The programs assist registered seniors with the cost of prescription drugs, medical-surgical supplies and equipment, dental care and eye care. Your Yukon health care card shows PHARMACARE ASSURANCE-MEDICAMENTS on the bottom when you are covered for these programs.
For a new Yukon resident, it takes 3 months for Yukon Health Care Insurance Plan coverage and seniors benefits to begin. Apply for the health care plan and for Pharmacare and extended health benefits at the same time. The Whitehorse office is on the 4th floor at 204 Lambert Street.
It is a separate Yukon program that helps with costs linked to a chronic disease or a disability: prescription drugs, medical surgical supplies, medical equipment, food supplements and prostheses, where they help you manage the condition and a health practitioner recommends them. Hearing aids for children under 16 with permanent hearing loss are also covered under this program.
Your doctor must apply to the program for you, and they should apply before you make a purchase. If you live in a community without a resident doctor, a community health nurse can apply for you. Phone 867-667-5092, or toll free in Yukon 1-800-661-0408, with questions about applying.