Prescription Drugs Covered – Exceptions

The Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan administered by the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec covers, under certain conditions, exception drugs listed in the "Exceptional Medications" section of the List of Medications.

For treatment of a serious medical condition, the exception patient measure may cover, on an exceptional basis, drugs not appearing on the List of Medications. However, in such cases certain criteria must be fulfilled.

Doctors and pharmacists can provide information to the public about exception drugs and about the exception patient measure.

What to do

The prescriber is usually the one who fill out and sends the Régie an application for a payment authorization for an exception drug or for coverage under the exception patient measure.

Once a payment authorization is granted, the exception drug is automatically covered. The person concerned can then obtain the drug by presenting his/her prescription to the pharmacist and paying the required contribution (deductible and co-insurance), just as when purchasing any other drug covered by the public plan.

Remember that the only drugs covered by the Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan are those appearing on the List of Medications, obtained on prescription and dispensed by a pharmacist.