Treatment coverage in your region

Prescription Drug Programs in Nunavut

In Nunavut, there are five main ways to get help with covering the costs of your prescription drugs. These include:

 1. Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB) 

• Covers the cost of many prescription drugs, including hepatitis C medications, if you’re a registered First Nation or recognized Inuit person. This means that you must live in Canada and be either: 

• a registered Indian according to the Indian Act
• an Inuk recognized by one of the Inuit Land Claim organizations
• an infant less than one year of age, whose parent is an eligible recipient. (Health Canada, 2009)

See below for more information about NIHB and how to become a beneficiary of your Inuit Land Claims Organization so that you can receive health benefits.

2. Extended Health Benefits (EHB)

• Provides drug coverage for non-Aboriginal individuals who have been diagnosed with a disease or condition and for people 65 and over

3. Indigent Health Benefits

• Provides prescription drug coverage for people on income support

4. Seniors’ Drug Program

• Pays for your prescriptions drugs if you’re 65 or older and live in Nunavut

5. Private health insurance

• You can pay a private company for health insurance that may cover the cost of your hepatitis C medications or you may get coverage through a plan at work

Getting My Hepatitis C Medications

If you get Non-Insured Health Benefits (NIHB), you will need to ask your doctor to send a letter to NIHB to see if they will cover the cost of your hepatitis C medications. NIHB will send a letter to you and your doctor telling you if they will cover the cost of your medications. If your request is approved, the cost of your medications will be covered for up to 48 weeks.

If you would like more information about the prescription drug programs listed above, you can visit the Department of Health and Social Services website.

For information about NIHB, you can visit their website or contact them by phone or mail at:

Non-Insured Health Benefits - Northwest Territories and Nunavut  Office
First Nations and Inuit Health
Health Canada
60 Queen Street, 14th floor
Postal Locator 3914A
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0K9
Toll-free: 1-888-332-9222

To become a beneficiary so that you can get health benefits from NIHB, you must first be registered with your Land Claims Organization. To register, you can contact the office of your Land Claims Agreement using the contact information below and ask for an application form. 

Once you are registered, your doctor or nurse will usually bill NIHB directly for any goods or services that you receive so that you don’t have to pay. However, if you are charged for any goods or services, you can ask for your money back by filling out an NIHB Client Reimbursement Request Form and sending it to the NWT and Nunavut NIHB office. You must send the request form to the office within one year from the date when you paid for the good or service in order to get your money back.

If, for some reason, you do not receive the money back from NIHB, you can challenge the decision and file an appeal. You can call the NWT and Nunavut NIHB office for more information on how to file an appeal.

Land Claims Organizations – Contact Information

Nunavut
Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI)
Enrolment Administrator 
Department of Human Resources
P.O. Box 280 Rankin Inlet, NU X0C 0G0 
Tel: (867) 645-5400
Toll-free: 1-888-236-5400 
Fax: (867) 645-3451 
Website: www.tunngavik.com

To register, you can also fill out the online application form for the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement (NCLA) and send it to the address above.

Quebec                                                                          
Makivik Corporation 

Makivic Head Office
P.O. Box 179
Kuujjuaq, Quebec J0M 1C0
Tel: (819) 964.2925
Toll-free: 1-877-625-4845
E-mail: info@makivik.org  
Website: http://www.makivik.org/

Inukjuak
J0M 1M0
Tel: (819) 254-1173
Fax: (819) 254-1040

Kuujjuaraapik
J0M 1G0
Tel: (819) 929-3925
Fax: (819) 929-3982

Montreal
1111 Dr. Frederik-Philips Blvd., 3rd Floor
St. Laurent, Quebec H4M 2X6
Tel: (514) 745-8880
Toll-free: 1-800-361-7052

Ottawa
75 Albert Street, Suite 1001
Ottawa, ON K1P 5E7
Tel: (613) 234-5530

Quebec City
555 Grande-Allée E.
Québec (Québec) G1R 2J5
Tel: (418) 522- 2224

Labrador
Nunatsiavut Government      
Nunatsiavut Government Office
12 Sandbanks Road
P.O. Box 70
Nain, NL  A0P 1L0      
Tel: (709) 922-2942
Fax: (709) 922-2931
E-mail: nainreception@nunatsiavut.com   
Website: www.nunatsiavut.com

Hopedale Office
General Delivery
Hopedale, NL  A0P 1G0  
Tel: (709) 933-3777
Fax: (709) 933-3746
E-mail: ehunter@nunatsiavut.com

Happy Valley-Goose Bay Office
1 A Hillcrest Road
P.O. Box 909, Station B
Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL  A0P 1E0 
Tel: (709) 896-8582
Fax: (709) 896-2610
E-mail: ataomie@nunatsiavut.com

Postville Office
General Delivery
Postville, NL  A0P 1N0 
Tel: (709) 479-9880
Fax: (709) 479-9891
Email: bcolbourne@nunatsiavut.com

St. John’s Office
95 LeMarchant Road, Suite 203
St. John’s, NL  A1C 2H1 
Tel: (709) 754-2587
Toll-free: 1-877-777-2589
Fax: (709) 754-2364
E-mail: psssp@nunatsiavut.com

Rigolet Office
General Delivery
Rigolet, NL  A0P 1P0 
Tel: (709) 947-3383
Fax: (709) 947-3371
E-mail: pmsheppard@nunatsiavut.com

Makkovik Office
General Delivery
Makkovik, NL  A0P 1J0
Tel: (709) 923-2365
Fax: (709) 923-2366
E-mail: cgear@nunatsiavut.com