Hospital visit post landing / No HC coverage yet

[usthb]

Dear all,

We may need to take our little daughter to be checked by a practitioner at a hospital. This does not seem to be like an emergency but more of an advisable thing to do (i.e. to be on safe side). Thing is we just landed as PR / FSW in Canada and I just applied for health coverage, we were advised it will take approx. 3 months before the coverage starts (province is British Columbia).

I took a private health insurance plan before coming to Canada to cover for the gap period.
Not sure if this can cover properly the costs incurred by a practitioner general visit. I am trying to understand more in-dept the insurance policy. Anyway, I would like to seek some advice about what would be the best course of action.

- Would you advise to go to a hospital or is there such a thing as a municipal health center for children?
- Do I need to take an appointment to a hospital or is it custom to just walk in (if it is not emergency) ?
- Our address is not fix yet, could this be a concern (e.g. billing, follow up, etc)?
- Do I need to inform/ get approval from the private insurance company before the visit?

Thanks if you could provide some guidance.

Regards

 

[scylla]

If it's not an emergency - go to a walk-in clinic. There should be plenty around you if you google your location. Your insurance policy probably won't cover either a walk-in clinic visit or a hospital visit (since it's not a real emergency by the sounds of it). You'll pay a lot less for a walk-in clinic visit.

 

[usthb]

Thanks scylla, that is helpful.