Medicare is the name given to Canada's national health insurance program, designed to ensure comprehensive medical care to all Canadians. A combination of federal and provincial responsibility, Medicare is financed on a cost sharing basis through general taxes and compulsory health-insurance premiums. Although Medicare refers specifically to the medical insurance plan introduced by the Saskatchewan government in 1962, the term is commonly used to refer to any health insurance plan sponsored by the federal government. 
In response to public pressure for a nationwide program, a national hospital-insurance plan was passed in 1961. The Medical Care Act, a national medical care program pushed through by PM Lester Pearson, has been in place since 1966. The Canadian Medicare system has become a source of pride for Canadians as a distinctively "Canadian" feature, tied to the political philosophy of increased government responsibility for individual well being.