Fighting for MSP Provincial Coverage for PR applicants in process

[schi124]

I have a further question related to this, and I'm sorry if it's obvious.

So, according to everything in this thread I should be eligible for MSP beginning April 1st. My wife and I tried to add me to her coverage this weekend, but we ran into some issues. When submitting the account change form to add a spouse, it asks for my personal health number. I do not have a personal health number, so can anyone offer guidance on how to proceed? Are we missing a step?

 

[BrookeTravels]

Well, we'll see what they say. I found this document from them (http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/health-drug-coverage/medical-services-plan/bc-residents/eligibility-and-enrolment/are-you-eligible/covering-a-spouse-or-child-who-is-an-applicant-for-permanent-resident-status-in-canada.pdf) to be quite vague. For instance:

"Certain non-permanent residents may be deemed residents and thus be considered eligible (e.g., many holders of study and work permits valid for six or more months and many applicants for permanent resident status who are the spouse or child of an eligible B.C. resident). Tourists and visitors to B.C. are not eligible for provincial health care benefits."

Well, if you're a spouse, and in Canada, and have applied outland, there's a good chance you're in Canada as a visitor. I remember I talked with them about this. In their view, if you're in Canada and have applied for a permanent residency, you're effectively a resident. But in the eyes of CIC, you're a visitor until they say otherwise.

Screw it. I'm going to apply and see what happens.

Hey - I thought I'd check in and see if you were successful in receiving MSP coverage while in process for your PR? After some delays, I need to finally apply for this myself.

 

[soblue3]

Hey all -

I'm looking for responses from people who have gone through this process themselves and have first hand experience to help with my unique situation.

Question: At what point am I able to apply for Provincial Health Coverage in BC?

Question 2: What kind of proof/documents will we need to present in order to successfully receive MSP coverage while waiting for final PR status approval? (I'm expecting this to take 8-10 months - Applying Outbound, US Citizen)

Details: I am currently in BC with legal status as a visitor, married to a Canadian citizen. We are applying for PR status this month.

I do not have a work or study permit at this time, and do not plan to have one until my PR is completed. Finding work as a Visitor seems nearly impossible.

So...... there we are! Thank you sincerely for your help!

I wonder if this is dependent on the province you live in. In British Columbia it seems that a person can apply for personal health number as soon as they land. The bc medicare requires the PR document in order to start processing. It takes 3 months from the time of landing. Only other way to go about it in bC is to get a private medical insurance. (I am in the process of adding my husband to my blue cross medical through my work but they are not able to add him to my plan until he has personal health number).

 

[profiler]

I wonder if this is dependent on the province you live in. In British Columbia it seems that a person can apply for personal health number as soon as they land. The bc medicare requires the PR document in order to start processing. It takes 3 months from the time of landing. Only other way to go about it in bC is to get a private medical insurance. (I am in the process of adding my husband to my blue cross medical through my work but they are not able to add him to my plan until he has personal health number).

Yes the medical insurance coverage rules vary between provinces.

Eg: ON only allows applications if either: a) you have Approval in Principal (inland); or b) you have a work permit with an employers endorsement letter.

Tighter rules make sense in some areas, as newcomers tend to land in key areas (Eg: Toronto is real popular, but ON continues to be the place where the highest percentage of those immigrating seem to land). Having free and easy access to health care could cause a real strain...

 

[skyzee]

This thread is of particular interest to me given I'm going to attempt to enroll in MSP for my American spouse who is living with me in Vancouver. We submitted an Outland application in December.

Just for everyone's reference, I just got off the phone with a MSP enrolment specialist and was told that I'll need to wait for SA (when eCAS shows "in process") before I can submit the paperwork to MSP. It seems like people have been told differently by various reps and can submit once status shows received, but I'll just go along with it since she sounded very confident about her answers.

Has anyone had success with enrolling their spouse in MSP with an Outland application?

 

[BrookeTravels]

This thread is of particular interest to me given I'm going to attempt to enroll in MSP for my American spouse who is living with me in Vancouver. We submitted an Outland application in December.

Just for everyone's reference, I just got off the phone with a MSP enrolment specialist and was told that I'll need to wait for SA (when eCAS shows "in process") before I can submit the paperwork to MSP. It seems like people have been told differently by various reps and can submit once status shows received, but I'll just go along with it since she sounded very confident about her answers.

Has anyone had success with enrolling their spouse in MSP with an Outland application?

Hey! We are on Van Island, and have sponsor approval. We spoke with someone locally that said we could now 'get the ball rolling' with MSP but didn't tell us what paperwork we needed to fill out and submit, and/or if any medical costs will be backdated to the sponsor approval date.

I unfortunately had to go to the ER a few days before Christmas... that bill has not been fun.

I'm American, my sponsor is my married Canadian spouse. I'd love to keep up with you and see if we can help each other in this process.

 

[skyzee]

Hey! We are on Van Island, and have sponsor approval. We spoke with someone locally that said we could now 'get the ball rolling' with MSP but didn't tell us what paperwork we needed to fill out and submit, and/or if any medical costs will be backdated to the sponsor approval date.

I unfortunately had to go to the ER a few days before Christmas... that bill has not been fun.

I'm American, my sponsor is my married Canadian spouse. I'd love to keep up with you and see if we can help each other in this process.

Hi! Ugh, sorry to hear about your ER incident. Hope you're doing ok now. My wife also ended up in ER as well back in November and well, all I can say is thank goodness we had health insurance. They really give you the non-resident special mark-up, not to mention everyone running around with their heads cut off because they don't know how to handle anyone who isn't covered by MSP!

I called earlier last month and they sent me a doc with the list of documents that they want to see, which is also referenced on their website here, so I hope that helps: http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/eligibility-and-enrolment/are-you-eligible/applicants-for-permanent-resident-status

- a photocopy of any immigration document he/she may hold
- any relevant letters issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
- proof that the application fee for permanent resident status has been paid to CIC online or through a financial institution
- the identity page of the spouse/child’s passport and any other pages stamped by CIC or the Canada Border Services Agency
- a copy of the spouse/child’s birth certificate if he/she is a United States citizen.
- pages one and two from the CIC e-Client Applications Status website showing the receipt date of the application and when the application was accepted for processing.

As for backdating costs already paid... I sincerely doubt it unfortunately They have a blurb in there somewhere about getting private insurance during the 2-3 month waiting period for MSP since they're not responsible for costs incurred during it.

 

[samahmedpk2000]

Well, I was in Van Island. I am Canadian citizen my husband was international student. Initially we didn't knew the process and we were paying 70$/person every month. But i was not working, then i submit last year tax-return paper copy +with my passport copy+ MSP premium form then they paid me back all amount and my husband was covered too as i am citizen. And it is same in Alberta even now my husband has 3-year post-grade work-permit and PR is in-process but he is eligible for medical coverage as i am citizen. Hope it will help you. If you any other query you can inbox me.

But keep in mind medical is not free in BC, citizen need to show last year income tax return and they charge according to that. There is a limit for every income bound. Less <30,000 it is free.
In BC international student also need to pay MSP it is not covered in university fee, only extended coverage is covered which u can only avail once you have MSP.

Hey all -

I'm looking for responses from people who have gone through this process themselves and have first hand experience to help with my unique situation.

Question: At what point am I able to apply for Provincial Health Coverage in BC?

Question 2: What kind of proof/documents will we need to present in order to successfully receive MSP coverage while waiting for final PR status approval? (I'm expecting this to take 8-10 months - Applying Outbound, US Citizen)

Details: I am currently in BC with legal status as a visitor, married to a Canadian citizen. We are applying for PR status this month.

I do not have a work or study permit at this time, and do not plan to have one until my PR is completed. Finding work as a Visitor seems nearly impossible.

So...... there we are! Thank you sincerely for your help!

 

[pyros1]

I sponsored my wife through outland sponsorship and got her on BC MSP as she was here wi th me.

I had to talk to a lot of call agents to get it processed.
Their timeline is 2 weeks for the information to be scanned into their computers than another 4 weeks to "go through it".
I essentially called every week first to confirm they received the documents then to what they had processed and to argue that my wife was eligible..

One of the issues I had was they would not accept the application date but when my portion(Sponsorship) was completed.

You will have to wait the remainder of the MSP application month + 2 mores before your MSP becomes effective.

The backdating will only work if the BC MSP was supposed to be effective prior to that trip.
Unfortunately all you can do is keep calling them getting your MP involved if they keep denying you.

 

[skyzee]

I sponsored my wife through outland sponsorship and got her on BC MSP as she was here wi th me.

I had to talk to a lot of call agents to get it processed.
Their timeline is 2 weeks for the information to be scanned into their computers than another 4 weeks to "go through it".
I essentially called every week first to confirm they received the documents then to what they had processed and to argue that my wife was eligible..

One of the issues I had was they would not accept the application date but when my portion(Sponsorship) was completed.

You will have to wait the remainder of the MSP application month + 2 mores before your MSP becomes effective.

The backdating will only work if the BC MSP was supposed to be effective prior to that trip.
Unfortunately all you can do is keep calling them getting your MP involved if they keep denying you.

Very useful information, thanks! Did you get transferred to an enrollment specialist each time you called, or did you ask for someone / specific department? Just wondering how they were able to track which documents they had received so readily from you.

Thanks!

 

[pyros1]

My method of sending documents was with fax as it takes longer to mail it to them.
They use the same "2 weeks' processing time from when they receive it in either method.

When I fax, I have my machine print out a confirmation form. Just so I can have backup that I faxed it to them.

When I called after the first and second week, I would ask, how many pages do you currently see in the system from me. I just explained that they lost my documents previously.

They will be able to access it.
After they had it and it was in processing, I only talked to the enrollment specialist. (you have to have them transfer you)
They may try to convince you that they are right and that your spouse is not eligible.
But press them for it and explain the law.
The person you talk to is not the person who processes it. They will be able to tell you who made the decision as well.

If their supervisor and everything fails to get you any progress, do involve your MP.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

If their supervisor and everything fails to get you any progress, do involve your MP.

MPs are federal; they are good for dealing with federal agencies such IRCC but are not the representative to use when dealing with provincial authorities.

If you have issues with MSP, go straight to the BC Minster of Health. My partner was granted MSP coverage about 5 hours after I emailed my complaint letter to the Minister's office.

 

[skyzee]

MPs are federal; they are good for dealing with federal agencies such IRCC but are not the representative to use when dealing with provincial authorities.

If you have issues with MSP, go straight to the BC Minster of Health. My partner was granted MSP coverage about 5 hours after I emailed my complaint letter to the Minister's office.

Thanks for your input as well. Will definitely do that if it comes down to it.

Did either of you guys do it through your employer instead of with MSP directly? I'm on my work's MSP plan.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks for your input as well. Will definitely do that if it comes down to it.

Did either of you guys do it through your employer instead of with MSP directly? I'm on my work's MSP plan.

Doesn't make a difference if you are on a group MSP plan. The requirements are still the same.

 

[yvr1234]

Thanks for your input as well. Will definitely do that if it comes down to it.

Did either of you guys do it through your employer instead of with MSP directly? I'm on my work's MSP plan.

You will need to ask HR or your employer to add your spouse to the plan. I didn't deal with MSP directly. I think back then, I got it after AIP but we continue with private insurance until my husband got his CORP because we didn't want to risk for a large medical bill (inland application).