Health insurance and coverage in Canada

Hey everyone,

I'm so glad I found this forum, I've really been trying to find
help on some simple health insurance questions, and I hope
this is the place to find out.

I'm a born and raised Canadian citizen, my wife is an american
citizen, who is also pregnant 3 months. We are in the process
of applying her for a permanant residence status, so that she
will be eligable for ohip( canadian health insurance).

For those of you who don't already know, I heard that
having a baby can be very expensive, some people have
told me that it can cost up to 10,000 dollars.

Were anticipating a slow turn around for her residency, and
we definately need health coverage.

I was wondering if anyone could anser these following questions
from either knowing the facts or have experienced a similar
situation.

1. Does my wife get any health coverage with the fact that I am
her husband a canadian citizen even though she is not?

2. Are there any good private health insurance companies that will insure
my wife and her pregnancy?

3. What is the fasted way to get OHIP coverage for my wife?

Any advice on this would be super great, I can't seem to find
any information on coverage dealing with the birth of a child
in Canada for a none resident.

Thank you so much.

Will

Hi Will,

If your wife is still living in the USA (or in Canada as a visitor) she cannot access the Canadian Health Insurance until she is lawfully entitled to be or to remain in Canada. Once she immigrate to Canada there is an initial three-month waiting period to establish eligibility for and entitlement to insured health services. So I doubt she will be entitled to this (unless you have time to apply and get her visa, she than have to move to Canada and wait 3 months but she will probably have her baby before that???)

If she goes to Canada to have her baby she will have to pay the full price (just a visit to the doctor can cost a few hundred dollars, to have her baby will probably be a few thousands).

If you are still in Canada only you is entitled to the Canadian Health system, if you live in the USA then you are not entitled yourself if you have been out of the country for more than 3 months (you have to go back for 3 months before you are eligible again).

So to your questions:
1- No
2- Not sure, it will have to be an insurance that you buy from the USA for travelling (but not sure they will want to cover her pregnancy because they obviously will guess that she could have the baby when visiting Canada)
3-There is no faster way, she has to become a legal resident and wait for 3 months

More info here :
http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/medi-ass ... faq_e.html

My husband is british and was visiting me in Canada.He wanted to stay longer then originally planned. He had a kidney transplant and needed medication so he went to see a doctor to have a prescription for all his tablets but it was cheaper for him to fly back to England (to get his tablets)and come back. It was costing more to see a doctor (and after he needed to see a specialist and it was like 300 dollars just for him to write the prescription) and the (full) price of the tablets.

Hope this helps

Joanne

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Hey guys,

I had the same problem, i was trying to bring my pregnant wife and 5 year old over, and while i was waiting for the 3 months for PR she would not be covered by anything. I searched and searched but could not find any coverage that would cover any part of her pregnancy.

I got the regular health coverage (Tripcover.ca) just to cover her for emergencies and stuff. But we happened to get lucky and she gave birth about 3 weeks into her OHIP coverage.

Best of luck everyone

Jake

Health insurance plans cost money, but not having one can be more costly in the long term. Now that you've decided to get the best health insurance plan for you, here are some tips on how you can get one. One of the most important things you should do before choosing a policy is to learn about the coverage. It is not a good idea to go with the first affordable insurance that you will encounter. You need to find more information about the different types of companies, plans are available and how each will affect your finances.

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