DCHP-2
pharmacare PharmaCare, Pharmacare DCHP-2 (July 2016)
n. — Administration
a provincial government program created to subsidize the cost of prescription drugs.
Type: 1. Origin — Pharmacare is not a national program; each province manages its own prescription drug service, and many are simply called by other names, e.g. "New Brunswick Prescription Drug Program". Among the provinces and territories that currently use pharmacare are British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the Yukon.
Pharmacare is a portmanteau of "pharmaceutical" and "care", and was likely coined in analogy to medicare, a term used as early as 1960 to denote a national medical health insurance plan. According to internet domain searches in Chart 1, the term is most prevalent in Canada.
See also Gage-5, s.v. "pharmacare" and COD-2, s.v. "pharmacare", which mark the term "Cdn".
