Prescriptions for working holiday visa people

[jonnylad]

Hi guys. I'm going to be working/living in Vancouver on the working holiday scheme from this october onwards and i have a quick question.

Here in the UK i'm on oxytetracylene, 250mg pills and i take 4 a day. They basically keep my skin clear and prevent acne and work really well. Now i want to stay on these pills for the duration of my stay in vancouver so can i simply visit a doctor and ask for a prescription for these pills or something similar? If so, what is the standard fee for drugs of this nature?

The only other option I can think of is asking my parents to pick up the drugs here in the UK and FedEx them to me every 2 months. I'm cool with this but i'm not sure what the deal is with customs? As they aren't illegal and i'd have a valid prescription would this be ok or would they simply see the pills and destroy them?

Thanks for the help in advance.

Jon

 

[scylla]

It's illegal to fedex prescription medication. You'll have to find a doctor here who is willing to write you the prescription. I don't know how much this medication costs in Canada.

 

[Leon]

You can bring up to a 90 day supply with you when you enter the country. I looked it up quickly on one of these "buy cheap meds in Canada" websites and they say that a pack of 100 would cost $15 so that should give you an idea of the cost. You would have to find a doc to give you a prescription.

 

[jonnylad]

Yeah I saw the info about a 90-day supply. That should give me enough time to get settled and suss out a doctor.

Does anyone know if I can visit a doctor if I have standard 1 year travel insurance though?

 

[Leon]

You can visit a doctor but you might be asked to pay. However, you can also apply for BC health as you arrive. I know immigration tells working holiday participants that they must buy private insurance, however, they often seem to be accepted under provincial health care anyway.

If you do get BC health care, you'd have to pay for that though. It's $66.50 a month for a single person. That would cover you for hospitalization, surgeries, accidents, doctors visits and specialist visits. It would not cover you for the use of an ambulance or for prescription medication.

 

[jonnylad]

Excellent, that sounds pretty reasonable to be honest. I take it there would be a standard nominal fee for all prescriptions, like here in the UK it's about £7.50 per item per month usually. It sounds like I should be ok i think.

 

[Leon]

There is no standard fee for all prescriptions. Step 1 go to the doctor. If you have BC Health, you don't pay to see the doctor. If you don't have BC Health, you have to pay but I don't know how much. Step 2, take your prescription to a pharmacy. You will pay according to what the medications cost.

The pharmacies in Canada are regulated so they can not charge you more than a certain amount based on a price list but they have a dispensing fee or a service fee that they add on top of the cost and this can vary by a few $. However, there is not a huge difference between them. The price I found online for your medication was $15 per 100 pills. Buying it in the pharmacy should be in the same range. You can take your prescription to a few pharmacies and ask about the cost if you get it from them before you decide which one to use. I found this article for you actually: http://www.groceryalerts.ca/cheapest-drug-dispensing-fees-canada/ It says the lowest fees are at Costco.

It is also possible depending on where you end up working that the employer offers a supplementary insurance. This is usually not an opt out thing. If they have it, you have to pay for it, often around $40 per month but it will cover a good percentage of what BC health does not cover such as prescription medication and dental.