Issue With a Friend. Fracture Costs

[Copingwithlife]

She has started the process EI sick benefits

What you mean by claimant have to repay the benefits?

She has asked for overseas treatment cover, however, he employer said Insurance is in addition to OHIP. Its not replacement of OHIP.

I'll tell her to contact local MPP. This is preposterous, that for simple surgery she has to wait for so long and given she has been paying taxes since May 2017 for 2.5 years. She is already spending on Vitamin D injections and Calcium, Protein Capsules every 2 weeks. I don't understand it was said healthcare is free (there should be caveat only for emergency), do simple surgery wait times are 16 weeks!

What about EI benefits after 15 weeks?

I shall be taking Vitamin D and Calcium and Protein capsules for her from India

She can call her MPP and express her disappointment with the wait times , but that’s not going to bump her up to the top of the que
Scylla is right , the story is a bit confusing. If it’s a big 5 bank , they have LTD policies . As well, the employee has to avail themselves to these benefits before EI benefits . The reason being is that the government benefits get paid after the private sector bennies, and private sector benefits pay more then EI sick benefits . But as mentioned before you gave to contact your provider
And you mentioned after the 15 weeks EI benefits ? That’s all the benefits allowed
Are you new to Canada as well? Waiting in the que for non urgent medical treatment is as Canadian as maple syrup & beavers
FYI , urgent life threatening situations are dealt with immediately. I’ve paid taxes for 40 ( FORTY plus years), and one waits for non emergency

 

[21Goose]

Do you think they have it and just not aware, her full time agreement says this " You will be able to participate in the Company's Medical, Dental and Vision Plans as described in the Company Benefit Summary upon completion of 60 days of full time employment" she has completed 60 days on Nov 1

She needs to talk to HR. All big companies have benefits plans that would cover something like this. It sounds like your friend is not using the resources available to her.

 

[canuck78]

She needs to talk to HR. All big companies have benefits plans that would cover something like this. It sounds like your friend is not using the resources available to her.

This is just her extended benefit plan which certainly won’t cover airfare and surgery in India. She will need to contact her HR to determine if she has access to short term medical leave. I love that someone who has paid 2-3 years of taxes is demanding they be seen earlier because they are a tax payer. Have waited a lot longer and paid 40 years of taxes. Nobody said healthcare in Canada is fully funded. It is 70% and there are wait times. You friend also needs to be prepared to pay $1200/month per parent to live in a public nursing home if they ever need one. There are numerous costs that she will have to pay for in cash for her parents if she can sponsor them in the future.

 

[Saudamini]

This story makes zero sense. All of the big five have short term disability benefits.

Sorry guys, just few hours back she told me, so she joined as 3 month contractor via agency with Big 5 bank and then she is full time contractor directly with that Bank and not a permanent employee of Bank. Contractor has 1.5-175 times pay than full time employee at same position, but her reason was not pay, her reasoning was better to have have direct contract with bank then have some agency in between!

She has contract of 1 year directly with Bank.

But given she has done more than 600 hours she is still eligible to apply for sickness benefit under EI? Her pay stubs do subtract tax and EI, please note its 1 year contract and not permanent employee. Her pay stubs shows subtraction of EI and Tax unlike when she was via agency where she get everything in hand!

I am not sure what is difference between Permanent Full Time Employee or Contractual Full Time Employee (Its Contract directly with the bank with no agency / company involved) and given contractual nature of employment, Short Term and Long Term Disability are not included.

 

[Saudamini]

This is just her extended benefit plan which certainly won’t cover airfare and surgery in India. She will need to contact her HR to determine if she has access to short term medical leave. I love that someone who has paid 2-3 years of taxes is demanding they be seen earlier because they are a tax payer. Have waited a lot longer and paid 40 years of taxes. Nobody said healthcare in Canada is fully funded. It is 70% and there are wait times. You friend also needs to be prepared to pay $1200/month per parent to live in a public nursing home if they ever need one. There are numerous costs that she will have to pay for in cash for her parents if she can sponsor them in the future.

It's just she is in dire need. I mean no offence to anyone. Its just she has mortgage for car and home and she is struggling now. Given the cost of prescription medicines and her mortgage / insurance payments is eating her savings, I am just surprised to see why wait for so long, the whole surgery is just 2 hour process given its affecting her employment.

I just feel for her and got emotional when I wrote this or felt the pain! Now I get what she meant by she is afraid of falling ill! This wasn't the case when she worked in Europe or India (Social security given by employer was on higher side if you work for known big banks even on contracts). I just got emotional for a person whom I have seen since childhood and she is struggling very badly. Its like she has to choose between bill payment or prescription medications!

Her parents have saved enough for themselves when she sponsors, obviously its not worth to touch your parents savings given they have already given her half of down payment when she purchased her first home

 

[Saudamini]

She can call her MPP and express her disappointment with the wait times , but that’s not going to bump her up to the top of the que
Scylla is right , the story is a bit confusing. If it’s a big 5 bank , they have LTD policies . As well, the employee has to avail themselves to these benefits before EI benefits . The reason being is that the government benefits get paid after the private sector bennies, and private sector benefits pay more then EI sick benefits . But as mentioned before you gave to contact your provider
And you mentioned after the 15 weeks EI benefits ? That’s all the benefits allowed
Are you new to Canada as well? Waiting in the que for non urgent medical treatment is as Canadian as maple syrup & beavers
FYI , urgent life threatening situations are dealt with immediately. I’ve paid taxes for 40 ( FORTY plus years), and one waits for non emergency

I got PR in 2017, stayed in Toronto for month and went to Singapore / Mumbai as job offered was very good with good monetary value which I didnt get in Canada. I obviously tried multiple times.

Now I have offer from big 4 in Toronto, still have very nice offer from Singapore. I lived in Canada for only 2-2.5 months in last 2.5 years. So you can say New To Canada and doing as much search I can to help my friend.

 

[canuck78]

It's just she is in dire need. I mean no offence to anyone. Its just she has mortgage for car and home and she is struggling now. Given the cost of prescription medicines and her mortgage / insurance payments is eating her savings, I am just surprised to see why wait for so long, the whole surgery is just 2 hour process given its affecting her employment.

I just feel for her and got emotional when I wrote this or felt the pain! Now I get what she meant by she is afraid of falling ill! This wasn't the case when she worked in Europe or India (Social security given by employer was on higher side if you work for known big banks even on contracts). I just got emotional for a person whom I have seen since childhood and she is struggling very badly. Its like she has to choose between bill payment or prescription medications!

Her parents have saved enough for themselves when she sponsors, obviously its not worth to touch your parents savings given they have already given her half of down payment when she purchased her first home

She has health and benefit plan so her Rxs should have been mostly covered until recently. Unfortunately things happen in life like a job loss or an accident that is why you need to be prepared with insurance and savings in case anything happens. This is especially the case if you are single and have numerous monthly payments like mortgage, car payments, etc. Unfortunately she will have to go into her savings which is her emergency fund. She should speak to her HR department on Monday about short term sick leave and review whether she has been using her benefit program when she was initially injured. If she goes on longterm sick leave she has access to ODB so most medications are free (maybe there is still a $2 co-pay) if they are covered by ODB. Not all medication is covered. She should also talk to her HR department about her benefit program. If/When she stopped qualifying for it and when she will be able to get back on the plan since I assume physiotherapy may be needed. She may be sent to a rehab hospitL first but assume longterm physio may be necessary and perhaps some sort of brace or mobility aid like cane or crutch.


It is important to research various programs before applying to immigrate to a country or make big decisions in life. I have seen many women on this forum and Canadians who were born here expect full salaries on maternity leave which is not the case unless your employer “tops you up” which is pretty unusual and mostly limited to a senior level. Most Canadians must save up to go on maternity leave because their income will be much lower and you must work a certain amount of time (600 hours in the year before birth) before you qualify for maternity leave payments. Have seen many couples who arrive pregnant who are only worried about getting coverage to pay for labour and delivery and signing up for CCB and not worrying about qualifying for maternity leave payments or paternity leave and pat leave payments, having a career that will allow you to take short term medical leave if you are sick or on bed rest, extended benefits in case you need medication, etc.

I hope that your friend does well but like most people she may need to use her savings and then start to build them up after she is better. She also has to focus on getting better and her recovery and not worry about sponsoring her parents. They are changing the program so may not have qualified nwxt year regardless. Her focus must be on getting better and heeling as best as possible.

 

[canuck78]

She has started the process EI sick benefits

What you mean by claimant have to repay the benefits?

She has asked for overseas treatment cover, however, he employer said Insurance is in addition to OHIP. Its not replacement of OHIP.

I'll tell her to contact local MPP. This is preposterous, that for simple surgery she has to wait for so long and given she has been paying taxes since May 2017 for 2.5 years. She is already spending on Vitamin D injections and Calcium, Protein Capsules every 2 weeks. I don't understand it was said healthcare is free (there should be caveat only for emergency), do simple surgery wait times are 16 weeks!

What about EI benefits after 15 weeks?

I shall be taking Vitamin D and Calcium and Protein capsules for her from India

Are all these medications being prescribed by her Canadian doctor? I don’t believe they are.

 

[21Goose]

This is just her extended benefit plan which certainly won’t cover airfare and surgery in India. She will need to contact her HR to determine if she has access to short term medical leave. I love that someone who has paid 2-3 years of taxes is demanding they be seen earlier because they are a tax payer. Have waited a lot longer and paid 40 years of taxes. Nobody said healthcare in Canada is fully funded. It is 70% and there are wait times. You friend also needs to be prepared to pay $1200/month per parent to live in a public nursing home if they ever need one. There are numerous costs that she will have to pay for in cash for her parents if she can sponsor them in the future.

Nah, I didn't mean flying to India etc. I meant, she needs to talk to HR to see what she has available to her.

 

[21Goose]

Sorry guys, just few hours back she told me, so she joined as 3 month contractor via agency with Big 5 bank and then she is full time contractor directly with that Bank and not a permanent employee of Bank. Contractor has 1.5-175 times pay than full time employee at same position, but her reason was not pay, her reasoning was better to have have direct contract with bank then have some agency in between!

She has contract of 1 year directly with Bank.

But given she has done more than 600 hours she is still eligible to apply for sickness benefit under EI? Her pay stubs do subtract tax and EI, please note its 1 year contract and not permanent employee. Her pay stubs shows subtraction of EI and Tax unlike when she was via agency where she get everything in hand!

I am not sure what is difference between Permanent Full Time Employee or Contractual Full Time Employee (Its Contract directly with the bank with no agency / company involved) and given contractual nature of employment, Short Term and Long Term Disability are not included.

That's the issue here - contractors do not have access to the benefit plans that FTE (full time employees) get. FTEs in most big companies have all sorts of benefits that contractors do not get.

The reason contractors get paid more is because they are supposed to manage their own healthcare, their own taxes, everything. It's like being a company that's hired by another company - in fact, many contractors set up their own company.

Unfortunately it appears that she didn't quite understand this and she didn't buy her own health insurance.

 

[Copingwithlife]

Sorry guys, just few hours back she told me, so she joined as 3 month contractor via agency with Big 5 bank and then she is full time contractor directly with that Bank and not a permanent employee of Bank. Contractor has 1.5-175 times pay than full time employee at same position, but her reason was not pay, her reasoning was better to have have direct contract with bank then have some agency in between!

She has contract of 1 year directly with Bank.

But given she has done more than 600 hours she is still eligible to apply for sickness benefit under EI? Her pay stubs do subtract tax and EI, please note its 1 year contract and not permanent employee. Her pay stubs shows subtraction of EI and Tax unlike when she was via agency where she get everything in hand!

I am not sure what is difference between Permanent Full Time Employee or Contractual Full Time Employee (Its Contract directly with the bank with no agency / company involved) and given contractual nature of employment, Short Term and Long Term Disability are not included.

Ok
Sounds like she’s an employee of the agency NOT the bank
The agency would have to issue a ROE for the break in service due to illness, NOT the bank
Yes or No
Has she applied for EI sickness benefits online ?
Yes OR No ?
You say that her pay stubs from the agency specify EI deductions? Are you positive ? If yes , she needs to apply ASAP
If not , she’s out of luck . No EI contributions, no coverage
And as above , if she didn’t investigate private insurance for sickness , well, she’ll have to crack open her savings , like many people do when they run into situations such as this

 

[canuck78]

Ok
Sounds like she’s an employee of the agency NOT the bank
The agency would have to issue a ROE for the break in service due to illness, NOT the bank
Yes or No
Has she applied for EI sickness benefits online ?
Yes OR No ?
You say that her pay stubs from the agency specify EI deductions? Are you positive ? If yes , she needs to apply ASAP
If not , she’s out of luck . No EI contributions, no coverage
And as above , if she didn’t investigate private insurance for sickness , well, she’ll have to crack open her savings , like many people do when they run into situations such as this

Still think she is employed by the bank but on a 1 year contract so no benefits as previously incorrectly mentioned. Would explain the complain about paying for medication. Yes things like disability insurance would have helped in this situation. Would also explain the comment about hiring someone else so quickly at double the rate.

 

[scylla]

Sorry guys, just few hours back she told me, so she joined as 3 month contractor via agency with Big 5 bank and then she is full time contractor directly with that Bank and not a permanent employee of Bank. Contractor has 1.5-175 times pay than full time employee at same position, but her reason was not pay, her reasoning was better to have have direct contract with bank then have some agency in between!

She has contract of 1 year directly with Bank.

But given she has done more than 600 hours she is still eligible to apply for sickness benefit under EI? Her pay stubs do subtract tax and EI, please note its 1 year contract and not permanent employee. Her pay stubs shows subtraction of EI and Tax unlike when she was via agency where she get everything in hand!

I am not sure what is difference between Permanent Full Time Employee or Contractual Full Time Employee (Its Contract directly with the bank with no agency / company involved) and given contractual nature of employment, Short Term and Long Term Disability are not included.

If she is in fact a contractor, then there's a good chance she is not entitled to benefits such as short term and long term disability - and is on her own financially. As you said, she made the choice to be a contractor since the pay is 1.5-1.75 the pay of a full time employee in the same position. Contractors are paid more than employee because they do not participate in the benefits program and are expected to pay for benefits/insurance on their own (privately) if they want coverage. Whether they get private benefits/insurance coverage is obviously up to them to arrange on their own.

Ultimately we cannot help to clarify what benefits she is entitled to. Again, the only way to determine this is for her to call the bank HR hotline / benefits provider hotline. The responses here are really useless because we are all guessing based on the information you have provided. She really (really, really) needs to call the support line to confirm what she is or isn't entitled to. The best way you can help her is to encourage her to make the call to the support line to clarify what she is entitled to.

 

[canuck78]

Would also suggest she mention to her doctors that she doesn’t have an extended health benefit plan. They may alter their suggestions based on that. I already see some medications that don’t make sense and don’t know if they were actually prescribed.

 

[Saudamini]

Thanks guys. HR says she isn't eligible;e for any benefits

I have informed her. Vitamin D Injections and Calcium were prescribed to her. Multi-vitamins and protein capsules, she is having on her own!