It was the first Canadian health insurance act to provide some public funding for medical services, and as such is considered to be an early step toward the provision of medicare in Canada.
The brief was presented by Albert Ernest Archer, an early supporter of public health care in Canada.
The legislation proposed to provide health care to the every province resident at an annual cost of $14.50 per person (Canadian Dollars).
Provincial government expenditure seems to be increasing and this may be attributed to the change in age distribution in Canada as this can cause a greater demand for more welfare in education and health care systems.
It established that "extra billing" was not permitted by physicians or dentists; this means they could not charge or collect money from a patient that was in addition to what the Minister covered.
This led to the establishment of Medical Services (Alberta), which was superseded by Canada's national medicare program in 1969.