I'm Canadian my wife isn't what should we do about our pregnancy?

[Atalanhero]

So like the title said I'm Canadian and my wife is Korean.
We found out that we are expecting and are very very happy with the news.
But a small point of stress popped into my mind a short while after hearing te news because we plan on leaving Korea soon.
So my question is this.
Since she's not Canadian then having the baby wouldn't be covered by healthcare I'm guessing?
What are my options because we actually did plan on moving to Canada getting her visa and then having a baby.
I don't think I have enough time to go home apply for her visa and get accepted do I?
I mean we aren't leaving for three months and then after that I need a job and then the application process.
I'm blabbing on here sorry lol.
So is there anyway for her to get her healthcare quickly? Or can she apply for travelers insurance or something that could help this happen in Canada instead of us having to stay in South Korea another year?

 

[Leon]

As a visitor in Canada, she would normally not be covered by health care. The only exception I know of is some people in AB have said that they have been given health care based on that they have been married to a Canadian and are being sponsored. In one case I heard of, the person said it was because they had asked for a visitor record when they entered. A visitor record allows the immigration officer to give a person more time in Canada based on some reason. If you enter together and you state that you are planning on sponsoring her for PR and ask for a visitor record, you could get a year for her. However, no guarantees. I have just heard of AB health doing this. Other provinces may not be so generous. Worst case scenario, she would have to wait for her first stage approval (6 months) + 3 months provincial waiting time.

 

[scylla]

To answer another one of your questions, unfortunately there is no travel insurance that covers pregnancies. It's classified as a pre-existing condition.

 

[couteausnob]

To answer another one of your questions, unfortunately there is no travel insurance that covers pregnancies. It's classified as a pre-existing condition.

Yes and no. There are travel insurance plans that cover pregnancy, but every one of them I've found has had a waiting period for maternity coverage, usually around 10 months. So someone shopping for insurance who plans to have a baby down the road would be fine, but if you're already pregnant, then yeah, you're not going to find anything that will cover this pregnancy.

 

[couteausnob]

Just wanted to add:

You should look into midwives in the area you're moving to. I haven't worked with them personally, but I've heard that they're much cheaper than hospitals. Looking into this possibility myself as soon as the weekend's over (I'm in a similar situation to yours), so I'll update if I learn anything exciting.

 

[computergeek]

Based upon my own research and information provided by others who have actually received health coverage, the following provinces offer varying degrees of health coverage to dependents of eligible Canadian residents, even if the dependents (ergo "spouse") are not permanent residents:

BC,SK,NS,PEI: your spouse must have an application for PR in process and the spouse must be living with you in Canada.
AB: your spouse must be living with you in Canada.
ON: your spouse must have evidence that they are eligible for permanent residency, which normally means either PR granted or an "AIP" letter for an inland application.

It does require a certain degree of research and persistence. You must be familiar with the rules for the specific province and have a copy of the qualification requirements (often the people answering questions are not familiar with this situation). How you ask for coverage also often matters - in many provinces your spouse does not qualify on her own, she qualifies as your dependent - so asking if she qualifies will yield a negative answer but asking if you and your dependents qualify will yield an affirmative answer.

As someone else mentioned, in Ontario the usual suggestion is to use midwife services (which are covered) and all you must pay for are ancillary services (e.g., lab tests).

 

[careymcgregor]

my wife is from Taiwan, living in Canada, pregnant, no OHIP,, contact me pls

So like the title said I'm Canadian and my wife is Korean.
We found out that we are expecting and are very very happy with the news.
But a small point of stress popped into my mind a short while after hearing te news because we plan on leaving Korea soon.
So my question is this.
Since she's not Canadian then having the baby wouldn't be covered by healthcare I'm guessing?
What are my options because we actually did plan on moving to Canada getting her visa and then having a baby.
I don't think I have enough time to go home apply for her visa and get accepted do I?
I mean we aren't leaving for three months and then after that I need a job and then the application process.
I'm blabbing on here sorry lol.
So is there anyway for her to get her healthcare quickly? Or can she apply for travelers insurance or something that could help this happen in Canada instead of us having to stay in South Korea another year?

Hi, my name is Carey McGregor and I was born and raised in Canada. My wife, who is from overseas and I were married in Canada, we have a Canadian son (bc of me automatically), we now live in Canada again and my wife is pregnant, without OHIP,,, this is a really shitty situation as you know, there are no options, and no private insurance to cover delivery of a baby in Canada, it's not recommended that m wife leaves Canada, $10-20k to have a baby here,, as you know it's a horror story,,,
I have an appointment with the media this week, a trip to Ottawa is in the works, a big event to get the word out is being planned, an online petition to change legislation is in the works, so now I need victims, people who have been through this and/or people who would rather not go through this crap and continue on with the natural progression of a family and have babies as 'they' seem fit, not the government,, foreign workers in Canada get OHIP and when their family come over, they also get OHIP,, which means they have more rights than me,, that's crap,,, so if you could give me a call or send me an email asap, that would help my family and other families in the future,, as I will fight until there is no more fight, and chances of that happening are slim.

Thank-you for your time,

Carey McGregor
905 518 3028
careymcgregor@yahoo.com

 

[careymcgregor]

Yes and no. There are travel insurance plans that cover pregnancy, but every one of them I've found has had a waiting period for maternity coverage, usually around 10 months. So someone shopping for insurance who plans to have a baby down the road would be fine, but if you're already pregnant, then yeah, you're not going to find anything that will cover this pregnancy.

Hi, my name is Carey McGregor and I was born and raised in Canada. My wife, who is from overseas and I were married in Canada, we have a Canadian son (bc of me automatically), we now live in Canada again and my wife is pregnant, without OHIP,,, this is a really shitty situation as you know, there are no options, and no private insurance to cover delivery of a baby in Canada, it's not recommended that m wife leaves Canada, $10-20k to have a baby here,, as you know it's a horror story,,,
I have an appointment with the media this week, a trip to Ottawa is in the works, a big event to get the word out is being planned, an online petition to change legislation is in the works, so now I need victims, people who have been through this and/or people who would rather not go through this crap and continue on with the natural progression of a family and have babies as 'they' seem fit, not the government,, foreign workers in Canada get OHIP and when their family come over, they also get OHIP,, which means they have more rights than me,, that's crap,,, so if you could give me a call or send me an email asap, that would help my family and other families in the future,, as I will fight until there is no more fight, and chances of that happening are slim.

Thank-you for your time,

Carey McGregor
905 518 3028
careymcgregor@yahoo.com

 

[computergeek]

Well, that's a disadvantage of being in Ontario. Other provinces are not so stingy with their health coverage for spouses. But Ontario insists that your wife either have AIP (6 months) on an inland application for PR, or PR (outland - 9-40 months).

BC, AB, SK, PEI, and NS all provide varying degrees of coverage for your dependents living with you - and your spouse is considered your dependent by all these provinces. AB is by far the most generous here - they don't require a PR application be in process.

In Ontario, what most people do in this situation is work with a midwife. You still have to pay for lab work, but the midwife services are provincially covered. It's probably healthier for your wife and baby anyway. Hospitals are horrible places to be for sick people, with higher than normal levels of antibiotic resistant bacteria in a highly stressful environment.

 

[couteausnob]

You still have to pay for lab work, but the midwife services are provincially covered.

Do you mean that the province covers all midwife services regardless of the status of the patient? I had thought that, while any patient covered by provincial health care would receive midwife services free of charge, anyone without coverage would still need to pay the full cost out of pocket (albeit substantially less than at a hospital). I would be thrilled to be wrong about that, but maybe I'm just misreading your statement.

Granted, I'm in Quebec rather than Ontario, but both provinces seem to have similar health care legislation, so it seems worth asking anyway. In case you're interested in adding QC to your list of health care facts, RAMQ has the same limitations as OHIP: The sponsored spouse has to have AIP if inland or PR if outland. But they do cover maternity care as soon as you register for RAMQ, whereas other services are subject to the 3-month waiting period.

 

[computergeek]

Do you mean that the province covers all midwife services regardless of the status of the patient? I had thought that, while any patient covered by provincial health care would receive midwife services free of charge, anyone without coverage would still need to pay the full cost out of pocket (albeit substantially less than at a hospital). I would be thrilled to be wrong about that, but maybe I'm just misreading your statement.

I don't have personal experience with OHIP, but this situation (pregnant ineligible partner/spouse) comes up fairly routinely on the forums here and what has been stated multiple times is that midwife services are covered by the province, so that the only costs are lab/diagnostic services. If the birth is complicated and requires hospitalization, then it is the responsibility of the patient. I have also been told that hospitals are generally quite flexible about working out payment terms.

This has led me to collect information about other provinces. I live in BC and they extend coverage to spouses and dependent children as long as there is a PR application in process - this establishes that they are living together. AB is fairly stingy on partners (they require five years cohabitation) but for spouses and qualifying partners they extend benefits generously - I've read multiple cases of spouses moving to Canada on VRs while their PR application is in process and being covered. I recently helped someone in SK get coverage - initially they were told "no" but the law there was similar to BC/AB and after a bit of wrangling they received coverage. Someone from NS recently confirmed they extend coverage to spouses living together and the language used by PEI is also similar (though they have an odd requirement the spouse must have moved to PEI within the preceding six months).

This underscores the fact that health care is a provincial concern, and the rules do vary by province.

 

[Leon]

I have seen a spouse who was on a VR in AB post that she was told that the more than 6 months a year eligibility clause was also considered so as she was on a 1 year VR with a Canadian or PR husband, she could be covered.

I do not know if all provinces cover midwifes but even if they don't, at least they are cheaper than the hospital. However, I have also seen a spouse post that a hospital in Ottawa gave them a special (very low) price for the delivery because the husband was a Canadian. You can find that discussion here: http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/costs-of-giving-birth-in-canada-permanent-resident-health-card-t92908.0.html;msg1813035#msg1813035

 

[amikety]

The best method is to apply and if you're rejected, apply at a different location. Alberta law technically doesn't allow for Visitors to get healthcare but spouses are often given coverage. I was added no problems.

 

[computergeek]

The best method is to apply and if you're rejected, apply at a different location. Alberta law technically doesn't allow for Visitors to get healthcare but spouses are often given coverage. I was added no problems.

The key here is to carefully read the law. AB doesn't allow visitors to get health care, but your spouse is not a "visitor" under the law, your spouse is a dependent. That's the key to all of these provincial health care laws that I've read - the spouse (and children) qualify as dependents of the primary person (the sponsor).

So X is eligible as a Canadian Citizen/PR and resident of the province. In addition, X's dependents are also eligible based upon X's eligibility, and dependents are typically defined as something like "spouse and children living with X". Thus, it seems that the issue is often how to interpret "living with."

BC has a nice write-up on their provincial requirements here: http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/pdf/covering-a-spouse-or-child-who-is-an-applicant-for-permanent-resident-status-in-canada.pdf and while it might differ for other provinces, the list of documents has proven useful for those in other provinces (e.g., SK and NS cases in which I've advised people).

 

[scylla]

Do you mean that the province covers all midwife services regardless of the status of the patient? I had thought that, while any patient covered by provincial health care would receive midwife services free of charge, anyone without coverage would still need to pay the full cost out of pocket (albeit substantially less than at a hospital). I would be thrilled to be wrong about that, but maybe I'm just misreading your statement.

Granted, I'm in Quebec rather than Ontario, but both provinces seem to have similar health care legislation, so it seems worth asking anyway. In case you're interested in adding QC to your list of health care facts, RAMQ has the same limitations as OHIP: The sponsored spouse has to have AIP if inland or PR if outland. But they do cover maternity care as soon as you register for RAMQ, whereas other services are subject to the 3-month waiting period.

Ontario will not cover midwives in this scenario. I believe RAMQ will (but am not certain).