Pregnant Wife - Private Ontario Health insurance

[ja7toronto]

Hi Everyone,

My wife is Sept Outland Applicant and we received our COPR on Feb 10. We also recently found out that we are going to have a baby! My wife is only a few weeks pregnant and she plans to arrive here to Toronto at the end of May.

From my understanding, OHIP application takes about 3 months!!! We don't exactly have that time. I was hoping people could provide me with some advice and recommendations for Ontatio Private Health Insurance that will cover my wife during her pregnancy?!?

Thanks in advance!

 

[scylla]

Unfortunately private insurance to cover pregnancy is only available when purchased before someone is actually pregnant. Otherwise it's treated as a pre-existing condition and not covered. Your choices are to either proceed as planned and pay for all costs out of your own pocket - or change your plans and land earlier to ensure you have coverage by the time the baby arrives.

 

[bobocan]

I bought Manulife when I got pregnant while waiting for my PR. That was in 2014. That covered pregnancy related emergencies up to 29 or 31 weeks, I bought when I was about 15 weeks pregnant, I was outside Canada. It's better to buy before arriving because of the wait time, or you can't buy in Canada (I don't remember). That time, Manulife said pregnancy was not pre-existing condition as long as I was healthy, no complications or anthing. There was other insurance company that I could read that pregnancy was not pre-existing condition but this company did not reply to my email to confirm.

Other normal pregnancy related expenses were all on us. First obstetrician's visit, $100. We were lucky that our PR waiting game of 20 months ended there. But before that, I had one ultrasound (not pregnancy related) and got billed close to $800. During pregnancy, you have to have a couple of fetal assessment, which could be a lot.

No travel insurance covers delivery. Nothing happens most of the time but if something happens, it will be very expensive.

 

[Drkdd]

I bought Manulife when I got pregnant while waiting for my PR. That was in 2014. That covered pregnancy related emergencies up to 29 or 31 weeks, I bought when I was about 15 weeks pregnant, I was outside Canada. It's better to buy before arriving because of the wait time, or you can't buy in Canada (I don't remember). That time, Manulife said pregnancy was not pre-existing condition as long as I was healthy, no complications or anthing. There was other insurance company that I could read that pregnancy was not pre-existing condition but this company did not reply to my email to confirm.

Other normal pregnancy related expenses were all on us. First obstetrician's visit, $100. We were lucky that our PR waiting game of 20 months ended there. But before that, I had one ultrasound (not pregnancy related) and got billed close to $800. During pregnancy, you have to have a couple of fetal assessment, which could be a lot.

No travel insurance covers delivery. Nothing happens most of the time but if something happens, it will be very expensive.

Hello

My spousal visa is in process and I am planning to visit my husband in Canada. Due to certain health factors we want to plan out our pregnancy. Can I buy an insurance once I land there on TRV ?? Am I eligible for that. Please do guide the best possible way we can do it. My husband is a Canadian citizen

 

[bobocan]

Hello

My spousal visa is in process and I am planning to visit my husband in Canada. Due to certain health factors we want to plan out our pregnancy. Can I buy an insurance once I land there on TRV ?? Am I eligible for that. Please do guide the best possible way we can do it. My husband is a Canadian citizen

You should ask the insurance company you are considering for your specific case. You should read their policy yourself. Insurance brokers websites are good to start with but don't trust much. It's not complete and sometimes wrong. When my husband called Manulife to confirm that we were reading the policy correct, he was told they didn't cover anything pregnancy related, and the operator was very rude. He had to call several times to get to talk to other operator. I also wanted to have that on email, we were lucky that they replied.

It's better you buy before arriving Canada because you don't want to wait 1 week without any insurance. And Canadian often think medical cost is government controlled and not expensive like in the US, which is not true. They don't pay so they just don't know, it is very expensive, sometimes more than double what we paid in the US.