How to navigate my situation

[AdeAhmed]

Hi all, thanks for this website and all the great information.

With respect to health coverage I am looking for guidance on the best way to go.

My wife is a US citizen and we got married in October - she is here with me in Canada since about 3 weeks (we are in Ontario)

As a nonPR i know that she does not have health coverage here through OHIP until some later point.

So id like to get her basic coverage in case of an emergency.

We are also having quite an active night life and I know that getting pregnant without health coverage would be very costly.

Is there a private health plan that covers both? Or maybe two separate plans? Is there a 'best provider' out there?

The other thing I wanted to know and plan for is how long she will be without coverage. We are starting our PR process but have a number of months before we even get all our documents (FBI, marriage certificate etc)...i believe outland is much better for US so that was the route we were planning to go.

Is there a stage when she can start to get OHIP before being fully approved? Thought I read after the application is submitted or something to that effect.

Thanks in advance!

 

[scylla]

She won't qualify for OHIP coverage until three months after her PR application has been approved and she has officially become a permanent resident of Canada. So if you are just starting to gather the paperwork now, it's quite possible it will be a year before she is covered.

Yes - outland is definitely the way to go for Americans.

Yes - pregnancy is expensive. If you want part of the costs to be covered, you'll need to take out an insurance policy that covers pregnancy before she actually gets pregnant.

 

[Rob_TO]

If residing in Ontario, there is a way to get OHIP coverage before actually landing as a PR with an OUTLAND app in progress. However it can be complicated bureaucratic process. Read this thread for detailed discussion on the topic (in particular the posts by bartjones): http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/important-ohip-eligibility-info-for-all-pr-applicants-residing-in-ontario-t56695.0.html;msg2518001#msg2518001

The time that your outland app makes you eligible for OHIP, will vary greatly by visa office so there is no answer to this. Could be a few months or over a year.

And yes there are insurance policies that will cover pregnancy, as long as you purchase the policy some time before getting pregnant, and keep it in force.

 

[haver]

There is a plan that covers pregnancy expenses up to $10,000 (80%) but the due date has to be 10 months or more after the start date of the policy. That means that in order to qualify she would not get pregnant for 2 months. It's a very good plan and in fact the only such plan in Canada. Besides pregnancy expenses, it covers emergencies, an annual medical check up, eye exam and more. You can read more about the coverage online or send me a private message.