Landing in May 2012 with Pregrant Wife Due in June 2012

[topeboy]

Hello People,

I am landing next month with a pregrant wife who is due in June 2012. Any idea of which province to land with favourable health insurance coverage.

 

[Leon]

Hello People,

I am landing next month with a pregrant wife who is due in June 2012. Any idea of which province to land with favourable health insurance coverage.

Alberta would for sure but other provinces you would have to ask. I know for sure that Ontario and BC both have a 3 month waiting period for health care.

Whichever province you end up going to, if you do get the 1st day health care, make sure you stay in this province for at least 6 months in the first year since you landed. If you do not, you risk that they may decide that you were never eligible for their health care (not living in the province for at least 6 months a year) and you may have to pay them back.

 

[topeboy]

She will stay for 4 months now then another 2 months early next year. Hope that will be okay for us or if not should we just prepare to pay for the delivery.

 

[Leon]

She will stay for 4 months now then another 2 months early next year. Hope that will be okay for us or if not should we just prepare to pay for the delivery.

If you were to get backcharged, your bill may end up being much higher than it would have been if you had paid from the start. A woman on this forum had this happen in BC and she was billed $43,000 for the birth of her child.

 

[topeboy]

are u saying four months (4) this year and two (2) months early next year is not ok?

 

[Leon]

are u saying four months (4) this year and two (2) months early next year is not ok?

6 months in a 12 month period (183 days) should be ok but you said if it doesn't work we will just pay. I am just warning you that the bill could be a lot higher if you initially have it covered through health care.

 

[Aquib]

6 months in a 12 month period (183 days) should be ok but you said if it doesn't work we will just pay. I am just warning you that the bill could be a lot higher if you initially have it covered through health care.

What you mean , if someone land to alberta , get his baby born after say 2-3 month, then stay further 3-4 month , once complete 6 month stay , if he move to ontario then Alberta will not come behind him asking for medical fees.
Are you sure ? Please reply

 

[Leon]

What you mean , if someone land to alberta , get his baby born after say 2-3 month, then stay further 3-4 month , once complete 6 month stay , if he move to ontario then Alberta will not come behind him asking for medical fees.
Are you sure ? Please reply

Yes, I am sure. I don't even know if AB goes after people at all if they move but if you stay for 6 months or more, you can be certain that they wont as they would have no grounds.

I have only heard of one case where somebody who did not stay for 6 months was asked to pay back. This was a woman in BC. They have a 3 month waiting period for health care there. She did her 3 month wait, got BC health and stayed for a further 2.5 months during which time she had a baby which was covered by health care.
At that time she left Canada completely but kept paying her monthly fees for BC health as she was planning on moving back at some time. Once 12 months passed since her landing and BC health knew she was not in Canada and had not stayed for 6 months in her first year, they wrote to her and told her that she had lost BC health because she did not spend 6 months in her first year and to be eligible for BC health, you must reside in the province for at least 6 months a year so because of that, they concluded that she was never actually eligible for BC health in the first place and decided to make her pay back whatever they paid for her.
In that case, the bill was $43,000 when in most cases if she would have paid for her delivery directly, she might have gotten away with 10. However, they claimed that because the hospitals bill BC health differently (more) than paying customers, that is what BC health paid for her and that is what she has to pay back.
I told her she should try to appeal it or take it to the media because frankly I do not know if them removing her coverage after the fact would hold up in court but in any case, if you make sure you stay at least 6 months, you wouldn't have to worry about anything like that.

Of course it is another question if it is morally correct to move to a province for the sole purpose of getting 1st day health care when you are planning to leave and settle in another province as soon as you can.

 

[Aquib]

Yes, I am sure. I don't even know if AB goes after people at all if they move but if you stay for 6 months or more, you can be certain that they wont as they would have no grounds.

I have only heard of one case where somebody who did not stay for 6 months was asked to pay back. This was a woman in BC. They have a 3 month waiting period for health care there. She did her 3 month wait, got BC health and stayed for a further 2.5 months during which time she had a baby which was covered by health care.
At that time she left Canada completely but kept paying her monthly fees for BC health as she was planning on moving back at some time. Once 12 months passed since her landing and BC health knew she was not in Canada and had not stayed for 6 months in her first year, they wrote to her and told her that she had lost BC health because she did not spend 6 months in her first year and to be eligible for BC health, you must reside in the province for at least 6 months a year so because of that, they concluded that she was never actually eligible for BC health in the first place and decided to make her pay back whatever they paid for her.
In that case, the bill was $43,000 when in most cases if she would have paid for her delivery directly, she might have gotten away with 10. However, they claimed that because the hospitals bill BC health differently (more) than paying customers, that is what BC health paid for her and that is what she has to pay back.
I told her she should try to appeal it or take it to the media because frankly I do not know if them removing her coverage after the fact would hold up in court but in any case, if you make sure you stay at least 6 months, you wouldn't have to worry about anything like that.

Of course it is another question if it is morally correct to move to a province for the sole purpose of getting 1st day health care when you are planning to leave and settle in another province as soon as you can.

And what if we move in to Alberta but after 4-5 month find good job in some other prov and leave Alberta then , can they claim us, also do we entitled for Alberta medical cover for next 90 days on moving to other Provence waiting period.

Plz reply

 

[Leon]

And what if we move in to Alberta but after 4-5 month find good job in some other prov and leave Alberta then , can they claim us, also do we entitled for Alberta medical cover for next 90 days on moving to other Provence waiting period.

Plz reply

Like I said, if you move after less than 6 months, you can not be certain that the province you started in will not come after you and claim back for the health care they paid for you. If you have stayed more than 6 months, you are ok to move and AB will cover you for up to 3 months while you qualify for health care in the new province.

 

[GREAKLY]

I have only heard of one case where somebody who did not stay for 6 months was asked to pay back. This was a woman in BC. They have a 3 month waiting period for health care there. She did her 3 month wait, got BC health and stayed for a further 2.5 months during which time she had a baby which was covered by health care.
At that time she left Canada completely but kept paying her monthly fees for BC health as she was planning on moving back at some time. Once 12 months passed since her landing and BC health knew she was not in Canada and had not stayed for 6 months in her first year, they wrote to her and told her that she had lost BC health because she did not spend 6 months in her first year.

I wonder, how BC could have possibly known that she left? I mean, as long as she kept paying the premiums and claimed being BC resident on the annual tax return provincial government had absolutely no grounds to investigate her (let alone track her whereabouts). In fact, Canada doesn't have any record of people leaving the country. It only tracks them when they enter. Therefore, BC could not have possibly known whether she left in 5,5 months after landing or in 6,5 months or in one year. Seriously, what sort of evidence did they have to proof that she weren't in Canada all that time? In order to find that out they would have needed to conduct a full-blown investigation (like the ones done by immigration judges), which requires the presence of a probable cause. I am having hard time figuring out what it could have been, unless somehow she formally announced her departure.

Of course it is another question if it is morally correct to move to a province for the sole purpose of getting 1st day health care when you are planning to leave and settle in another province as soon as you can.

In my opinion, it is just as immoral as the denial of an immediate medical coverage for the newcomers by some provinces (ON, NB, BC and QB). What could possibly be the logic behind that law? To make sure that someone who arrives ill dies before becoming a burden to the public health care? Or that private insurance companies could make an extra buck on those who have the least money? I don't get it...

But, moral issues aside, is it legal (and I mean by the letter of the law, not necessarily the spirit) for someone pregnant to land, say, in AB, get the coverage on day 1 and immediately move to, say, BC? My understanding is that if such person gives birth in BC within the next few months, her AB insurance will cover her there. If she ends up staying in BC permanently then AB might have a problem with that and could try to do to her what you described earlier. But as long as she returns to AB after the birth so that the time she spent in that province is more than 183 days in a year, she is perfectly clear, right? I mean, in such scenario her move to BC for a few months is considered to be a "temporary absence" from the home province (AB), right?

 

[Leon]

I wonder, how BC could have possibly known that she left? I mean, as long as she kept paying the premiums and claimed being BC resident on the annual tax return provincial government had absolutely no grounds to investigate her (let alone track her whereabouts).

From what she said, she did continue paying her premiums in order to keep her BC health as she was planning to return at some point. She did not realize that there was a 6 month rule. They may have seen that she was paying her premium from overseas and may have asked her. I really don't know. They could also have checked that neither she or her baby was using their health cards since a certain date and even if she was healthy, the baby should have been having it's check ups and vaccinations if it was still in BC.

But, moral issues aside, is it legal (and I mean by the letter of the law, not necessarily the spirit) for someone pregnant to land, say, in AB, get the coverage on day 1 and immediately move to, say, BC? My understanding is that if such person gives birth in BC within the next few months, her AB insurance will cover her there. If she ends up staying in BC permanently then AB might have a problem with that and could try to do to her what you described earlier. But as long as she returns to AB after the birth so that the time she spent in that province is more than 183 days in a year, she is perfectly clear, right? I mean, in such scenario her move to BC for a few months is considered to be a "temporary absence" from the home province (AB), right?

Right, if a person arrives in AB, gets first day health care and then moves with it to another province, it will cover them in that province. However, AB would be able to see very easily that they have moved because they would get the bills for that person from BC health. Obviously the person would not really have been eligible for AB health having stayed for a couple of days only unless they moved back within that first year and stayed for 6 months so AB could back charge them if they wanted to.

 

[GREAKLY]

Right, if a person arrives in AB, gets first day health care and then moves with it to another province, it will cover them in that province. However, AB would be able to see very easily that they have moved because they would get the bills for that person from BC health. Obviously the person would not really have been eligible for AB health having stayed for a couple of days only unless they moved back within that first year and stayed for 6 months so AB could back charge them if they wanted to.

So, basically, in order to stay within the limits of the law the person should return to Alberta within 6 months after getting first day health care and stay there for another 6 months before moving anywhere else. Therefore, it all comes down to how the "residency" is defined. I mean, if someone doesn't have a job or is self employed (hence, no employer/paycheck) and stays with family/friends (hence, no lease agreement) there is no way for the province to tell where exactly that person resides. The only fact would be what s/he puts down on the annual tax return. The fact that someone has used medical services for a few months can't be viewed as an indication that s/he has moved away.

Also there is something called "deemed residency":

http://canadianimmigrant.ca/community/who-is-eligible-for-health-coverage-in-b-c

I mean, it seems ridiculous to punish Canadian resident simply for incorrect inter-provincial move, while at the same time provide free health care to non-residents...

 

[Leon]

So, basically, in order to stay within the limits of the law the person should return to Alberta within 6 months after getting first day health care and stay there for another 6 months before moving anywhere else. Therefore, it all comes down to how the "residency" is defined.

You can split hairs and call unfair all you want. This is the reality of things. In many cases, health care may not find out that you moved or in some provinces they might not even care but if you end up in a province where the health care is checking and they catch you, you might have a big bill to pay. Sure you can sue health care but they have a lot more money than you and a lot more time so you might be better off coughing up the money.

 

[cimple]

will you please explain this 6month period start from day one get cards or this include also the waiting time