Child birth without OHIP

[KMKBALAMURUGAN]

Hi all, I'm a homemaker, living in Toronto with my husband. I'm on a tourist VISA and my PR is in process (AOR received). I'm 33 weeks pregnant (landed in Toronto a week ago) and do not have OHIP coverage. If we pay out of pocket for the delivery expense in St. Michael's hospital, downtown Toronto (place where we live) it would cost us more than $20,000. Please suggest on how could we bring down the delivery expense ? Is there a way to get it covered by any type of insurance ?

Is it possible to pay the cost and reimburse it after getting my PR/OHIP ?
Is it possible to get midwife service for a hospitalized delivery ?
NOTE: I've approached 3 different midwife organisations and they turned down my request.
Is there a way to get OHIP based on compassionate grounds ? Since my PR has crossed AOR stage ?
NOTE: My husband's employer declined coverage in his Insurance policy

 

[scylla]

Hi all, I'm a homemaker, living in Toronto with my husband. I'm on a tourist VISA and my PR is in process (AOR received). I'm 33 weeks pregnant (landed in Toronto a week ago) and do not have OHIP coverage. If we pay out of pocket for the delivery expense in St. Michael's hospital, downtown Toronto (place where we live) it would cost us more than $20,000. Please suggest on how could we bring down the delivery expense ? Is there a way to get it covered by any type of insurance ?

Is it possible to pay the cost and reimburse it after getting my PR/OHIP ?
Is it possible to get midwife service for a hospitalized delivery ?
NOTE: I've approached 3 different midwife organisations and they turned down my request.
Is there a way to get OHIP based on compassionate grounds ? Since my PR has crossed AOR stage ?
NOTE: My husband's employer declined coverage in his Insurance policy

- OHIP will not reimburse the costs after you get PR. No, OHIP will not consider coverage on compassionate grounds.
- Yes, having a home birth with a midwife will significantly reduce costs. This is your best bet to lower costs. However they are in very short supply and difficult to find.
- Private insurance will not cover the birth. You can only purchase coverage before you actually get pregnant. Too late now unfortunately in your case.
- It makes sense that your husband' employer decline coverage. Workplace coverage is dependent on you having OHIP first.

 

[canuck78]

If you don’t have the funds you still have the option of returning home to deliver in your home country. I am surprised CBSA did not ask you to prove that you have the funds before allowing you into Canada. Don’t want to be rude but didn’t you research this before planning your trip? It is very clear based on a quick google search that you wouldn’t have OHIP. Your husband could have called the midwives and realized that there would be no openings. Women with OHIP are turned away due to too much demand. Your husband could have verified whether you could get insurance through his employer before your arrival. Your husband could have spoken to the hospitals to gage how expensive the delivery would be. Based on your ability to pay you could have made an educated decision. Now you will have to decide to return home or figure out how to pay your bill. Most require a partial deposit in advance plus you have to pay regular check-ups until delivery. It just boggles my mind that people end up in the situations when the information is very easy to get in advance.

 

[KMKBALAMURUGAN]

- OHIP will not reimburse the costs after you get PR. No, OHIP will not consider coverage on compassionate grounds.
- Yes, having a home birth with a midwife will significantly reduce costs. This is your best bet to lower costs. However they are in very short supply and difficult to find.
- Private insurance will not cover the birth. You can only purchase coverage before you actually get pregnant. Too late now unfortunately in your case.
- It makes sense that your husband' employer decline coverage. Workplace coverage is dependent on you having OHIP first.

Thanks Scylla for your input.

 

[KMKBALAMURUGAN]

If you don’t have the funds you still have the option of returning home to deliver in your home country. I am surprised CBSA did not ask you to prove that you have the funds before allowing you into Canada. Don’t want to be rude but didn’t you research this before planning your trip? It is very clear based on a quick google search that you wouldn’t have OHIP. Your husband could have called the midwives and realized that there would be no openings. Women with OHIP are turned away due to too much demand. Your husband could have verified whether you could get insurance through his employer before your arrival. Your husband could have spoken to the hospitals to gage how expensive the delivery would be. Based on your ability to pay you could have made an educated decision. Now you will have to decide to return home or figure out how to pay your bill. Most require a partial deposit in advance plus you have to pay regular check-ups until delivery. It just boggles my mind that people end up in the situations when the information is very easy to get in advance.

Thanks canuck, for your input.

 

[canuck78]

Just discovered you are studying to be a doctor. You actually know what kind of complications can regularly happen in childbirth especially for a 1st birth. Hopefully you won’t have an unattended home delivery instead of returning home because you don’t have the money.

On another note. Getting licensed as a doctor in Canada is incredibly difficult and almost impossible for a specialist. There are so few residency spots left for IMGs and Canadian students who didn’t match. This year spots that went unmatched we’re 33 spots in family medicine and 19 are other. Honestly Canadian foreign-educated students and Canadian students that didn’t match often get priority. There is also a few programs for training family doctors who will agree to work in underserviced areas. There are not a huge amount of spots and only a few provinces run these programs believe BC, MB and SK. Given your lack or research about coverage for birth I wasn’t sure how much research you had done into whether IMGs can get licensed in Canada.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-number-of-canadian-medical-graduates-denied-residency-placements/

 

[Copingwithlife]

Hi all, I'm a homemaker, living in Toronto with my husband. I'm on a tourist VISA and my PR is in process (AOR received). I'm 33 weeks pregnant (landed in Toronto a week ago) and do not have OHIP coverage. If we pay out of pocket for the delivery expense in St. Michael's hospital, downtown Toronto (place where we live) it would cost us more than $20,000. Please suggest on how could we bring down the delivery expense ? Is there a way to get it covered by any type of insurance ?

Is it possible to pay the cost and reimburse it after getting my PR/OHIP ?
Is it possible to get midwife service for a hospitalized delivery ?
NOTE: I've approached 3 different midwife organisations and they turned down my request.
Is there a way to get OHIP based on compassionate grounds ? Since my PR has crossed AOR stage ?
NOTE: My husband's employer declined coverage in his Insurance policy

I’m never ceased to be amazed . And secondly why would OHIP offer a compassionate plan when it was your choice to move here at this stage of your pregnancy? That’s why OHIP has a waiting period for cases such as these
Believe me , the way things are going in Ontario , there’s a no “ Pay now , get reimbursed later “ plan under OHIP

 

[KMKBALAMURUGAN]

Just discovered you are studying to be a doctor. You actually know what kind of complications can regularly happen in childbirth especially for a 1st birth. Hopefully you won’t have an unattended home delivery instead of returning home because you don’t have the money.

On another note. Getting licensed as a doctor in Canada is incredibly difficult and almost impossible for a specialist. There are so few residency spots left for IMGs and Canadian students who didn’t match. This year spots that went unmatched we’re 33 spots in family medicine and 19 are other. Honestly Canadian foreign-educated students and Canadian students that didn’t match often get priority. There is also a few programs for training family doctors who will agree to work in underserviced areas. There are not a huge amount of spots and only a few provinces run these programs believe BC, MB and SK. Given your lack or research about coverage for birth I wasn’t sure how much research you had done into whether IMGs can get licensed in Canada.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-number-of-canadian-medical-graduates-denied-residency-placements/

Thanks canuck for the additional information.

 

[KMKBALAMURUGAN]

I’m never ceased to be amazed . And secondly why would OHIP offer a compassionate plan when it was your choice to move here at this stage of your pregnancy? That’s why OHIP has a waiting period for cases such as these
Believe me , the way things are going in Ontario , there’s a no “ Pay now , get reimbursed later “ plan under OHIP

Thanks for your input.

 

[JJS]

After everything included and if you have to stay for a couple of days. it can go 30K+. Happened to one of our friends and nothing was covered. Well you're a doctor so you probably know much better about the health risks so i wouldn't comment on that but cost wise, an extra day of stay, neonatal ICU, specialist visit, post delivery follow ups, they would all add up. Please stay safe!

 

[zardoz]

After everything included and if you have to stay for a couple of days. it can go 30K+. Happened to one of our friends and nothing was covered. Well you're a doctor so you probably know much better about the health risks so i wouldn't comment on that but cost wise, an extra day of stay, neonatal ICU, specialist visit, post delivery follow ups, they would all add up. Please stay safe!

If there are serious complications, the cost can go over a million...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/australian-couple-faces-1-million-hospital-bill-after-baby-born-in-bc/article4096233/

 

[canuck_in_uk]

If there are serious complications, the cost can go over a million...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/australian-couple-faces-1-million-hospital-bill-after-baby-born-in-bc/article4096233/

In this case, it wouldn't come close to that high of an amount because the baby would have OHIP coverage right away and therefore no NICU costs. It would be the actual birth cost and any potential complications for the mother, which would cost much less than the NICU.

 

[KMKBALAMURUGAN]

After everything included and if you have to stay for a couple of days. it can go 30K+. Happened to one of our friends and nothing was covered. Well you're a doctor so you probably know much better about the health risks so i wouldn't comment on that but cost wise, an extra day of stay, neonatal ICU, specialist visit, post delivery follow ups, they would all add up. Please stay safe!

Thank you for the input. As suggested by many people, it’s better to go with midwife services.

 

[KMKBALAMURUGAN]

If there are serious complications, the cost can go over a million...

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/australian-couple-faces-1-million-hospital-bill-after-baby-born-in-bc/article4096233/

Thanks Zardoz for your input. I’ll take your advice.

 

[scylla]

Thank you for the input. As suggested by many people, it’s better to go with midwife services.

Have you found a midwife yet? They are in extremely short supply and you don't have much time.