Advice Pls!!! Pregnant Tourist in Manitoba No help from Husband's Bluecross Ins.

[puppyeyes]

Hello everyone. I am a July 2015 Outland Spousal Sponsorship applicant & currently applied for tourist visa extension but no updates for our papers yet. Now I'm a pregnant tourist here in Manitoba and my husband is a Canadian but his Bluecross insurance from work won't reimburse our expenses for my checkup and laboratories even if he added me as a beneficiary. Bluecross Manitoba implied that they will only reimburse what is paid from the time I finally receive my Manitoba health card. Is it supposed to be that way? Need some enlightenment here from anyone whose aware on this kind of circumstances. Will appreciate it a lot!

 

[4evernlove]

I am in Ontario and my understanding is that Insurance will cover the expenses that the government health card does not cover. In this case since you do not have a health card you would not have coverage until then

 

[charmainefrances]

Hello everyone. I am a July 2015 Outland Spousal Sponsorship applicant & currently applied for tourist visa extension but no updates for our papers yet. Now I'm a pregnant tourist here in Manitoba and my husband is a Canadian but his Bluecross insurance from work won't reimburse our expenses for my checkup and laboratories even if he added me as a beneficiary. Bluecross Manitoba implied that they will only reimburse what is paid from the time I finally receive my Manitoba health card. Is it supposed to be that way? Need some enlightenment here from anyone whose aware on this kind of circumstances. Will appreciate it a lot!

Technically, you are still a visitor here in Canada and unfortunately, you'll not be covered for any healthcare services unless you'll pay it yourself . If you probably have a private insurance and has a good coverage specially for giving birth then it will just be fine, I think. If not, be prepared for the hospital bills. I saw some cases like this and it was even on the news before, that somebody gave birth in a hotel or was it a motel, because the hospital will charge them a lot. sad but true. So just be prepared with the expenses. Good luck!

 

[Rob_TO]

Bluecross Manitoba implied that they will only reimburse what is paid from the time I finally receive my Manitoba health card. Is it supposed to be that way?

Yes that is the way it's supposed to be. Employer health plans are supposed to be supplementary to the provincial plan. So any costs that would normally be paid under Manitoba health plan, would not be covered by work benefits.

What you should try to do is find a midwife, as their costs should be significantly cheaper during pregnancy and delivery vs using a doctor. http://www.midwives.mb.ca/mbmidwives.html

 

[puppyeyes]

Thanks for the advices everyone. Actually I already had 3 check ups with my midwife, thought it would be cheaper than an OB-GYN but its 309 CAD per prenatal visit, way higher than a doctor. Now we're wondering if we'll keep seeing our midwife and have a home birth since right now I'm in low risk category or just consider seeing a doctor. It's so confusing & worrisome. We love our baby and we'll do anything for a safe birth, just hoping we can save up a bit

 

[scylla]

Hello everyone. I am a July 2015 Outland Spousal Sponsorship applicant & currently applied for tourist visa extension but no updates for our papers yet. Now I'm a pregnant tourist here in Manitoba and my husband is a Canadian but his Bluecross insurance from work won't reimburse our expenses for my checkup and laboratories even if he added me as a beneficiary. Bluecross Manitoba implied that they will only reimburse what is paid from the time I finally receive my Manitoba health card. Is it supposed to be that way? Need some enlightenment here from anyone whose aware on this kind of circumstances. Will appreciate it a lot!

What they are telling you makes perfect sense. You husband's insurance doesn't replace Manitoba health care - it supplements it. Also, these workplace insurance policies typically only cover you once you have provincial health care. That's how they are designed. I went through the exact same experience with my husband. There was no point adding him to my workplace plan until he had PR and provincial health care.

If you wanted insurance to replace Manitoba health care, you should have purchased private travel insurance separately.

 

[Rob_TO]

Thanks for the advices everyone. Actually I already had 3 check ups with my midwife, thought it would be cheaper than an OB-GYN but its 309 CAD per prenatal visit, way higher than a doctor. Now we're wondering if we'll keep seeing our midwife and have a home birth since right now I'm in low risk category or just consider seeing a doctor. It's so confusing & worrisome. We love our baby and we'll do anything for a safe birth, just hoping we can save up a bit

That's very strange a midwife would be charging more than a doctor, but I guess that's how they work in Manitoba (i'm only familiar with Ontario midwife practices).

 

[puppyeyes]

My husband is planning now to apply for my mother's tourist visa. Should my husband include in the invitation letter that my mom is mainly invited to be here in Canada for my childbirth?

 

[SeulDansMonBocal]

I'm with Manulife and to qualify you need to be permanent resident. I'll assuming this also apply to Blue Cross thus you won't be cover until you get PR.

 

[truesmile]

My husband is planning now to apply for my mother's tourist visa. Should my husband include in the invitation letter that my mom is mainly invited to be here in Canada for my childbirth?

From what country will she be visiting from? Grandma in our case is from Philippines, we used an agency and strongly recommend it. (So long as you have similar agency services available in the country of question.)

But yes, the "invitation letter" is one of the required documents.

 

[puppyeyes]

I see, thanks for the response. I'm confused, does my mother need to fill up the IMM 5257B-Schedule 1 form when applying for a tourist visa? It is included in her optional document but not required. Can be she considered as a Principal Applicant as a tourist? Please enlighten me. Thanks in advance.

 

[SamHom]

This is incredible irresponsible. Home birth? Really?

Ensure you can save up money. If not, I would suggest to travel back home and give birth.

You put yourself in some serious *censored word* by being stupid and not look things up more carefully before getting knocked up. It's a choice.

If something were to go wrong during the birth and you or the baby need further medical assistance, you could put yourself in some serious debt, too.

 

[Aquakitty]

Jesus Christ. This is incredible irresponsible. Home birth? Really?

Ensure you can save up money. If not, I would suggest to travel back home and give birth.

You put yourself in some serious *censored word* by being stupid and not look things up more carefully before getting knocked up. It's a choice.

If something were to go wrong during the birth and you or the baby need further medical assistance, you could put yourself in some serious debt, too.

You know humans gave birth at home for like, 200,000 years, right? I don't see what the big deal is if the pregnancy is low risk, as long as they have an experienced person around, and do their research on the possible drawbacks. This is kind of a hotly debated topic but there's not really a right or wrong answer.

 

[Gemini020]

About a fifth of births in the Netherlands is at home, and that's by far the lowest it has been, ever (used to be about 2/3. There is usually a midwife present that will be able to say if you have to go to the hospital. You won't be able to get most of the regular pain medication though.

 

[mikeymyke]

There's nothing wrong with a home birth with a midwife vs a hospital. Each has its pros and cons. I'm guessing that the OP mistakenly thought that her husband's insurance would cover his spouse automatically, not realizing that usually the spouse has to be a PR, so they were planning on giving birth in Canada under the false assumption that his insurance would cover her.