Health Card for Baby born overseas: Ontario

[CarmenR]

Hello all,

My husband and I are confused on how to get coverage for my daughter. My husband and I are both canadian citizens and our baby was born overseas. She just got her temporary travel document and we are arriving in Markham, Ontario on May 23rd.

Her proof of citizenship certificate has already been requested but no idea how long it will take. We are worried about my daughter - we want to find a pediatrician for her and we also want to make sure she has OHIP coverage to make sure she has access to the doctors/walk in clinics in case she gets sick.

I looked online but cannot seem to understand what exactly we have to do to make sure she is covered, from what I understand we have to wait till she gets her proof of citizenship certificate before she can apply but that may take another 6 months!

Is there anything we are missing here? Can someone please shed some light on this topic....thanks much!

 

[Leon]

You have to discuss her coverage with OHIP. It may well be that they will cover her before you get the citizenship certificate if you explain that you have applied for it and that you are citizens and are covered.

 

[margobear96]

Even if your daughter's certificate arrived tomorrow, you know all three of you have a 3-month wait period before OHIP kicks in.... For that period you can purchase separate insurance (welcome plan?). After the 3 months if your daughter still hasn't received her certificate, it doesn't mean she can't access care. It just means you may have to pay for it out of pocket. Talk to OHIP like Leon said. If they're not accommodating, talk to the doctors about the situation and they may just bill you what OHIP would usually pay them. But once you get the certificate, I'm sure you can argue that coverage should be back dated to the expiry of the 3 month period and you should be reimbursed for what you had to pay out of pocket, if anything.