Medical Insurance for US Born Child

[ca_hopeful]

Hello All,
We have Canadian PR and are planning on moving to Canada soon. However our child was born in the US after we made our soft landing. Our child currently has some health issues and need to meet doctors of various specialities often, need diagnostic tests and prescriptions. Our insurance in the US provided by our employer covers these costs in the US.

I understand it will take a few months to sponsor a pr for our child after we move to Canada. So in the mean time how do we manage healthcare for our child who will still have to visit doctors, get blood tests done and have prescription medicine. Is there private insurance that we could buy that covers routine medical visits, prescriptions, surgery etc.? Also to note that we are looking for insurance that covers all his preexisting conditions.

Thanks

 

[canuck78]

Hello All,
We have Canadian PR and are planning on moving to Canada soon. However our child was born in the US after we made our soft landing. Our child currently has some health issues and need to meet doctors of various specialities often, need diagnostic tests and prescriptions. Our insurance in the US provided by our employer covers these costs in the US.

I understand it will take a few months to sponsor a pr for our child after we move to Canada. So in the mean time how do we manage healthcare for our child who will still have to visit doctors, get blood tests done and have prescription medicine. Is there private insurance that we could buy that covers routine medical visits, prescriptions, surgery etc.? Also to note that we are looking for insurance that covers all his preexisting conditions.

Thanks

What province will you settling in permanently.

 

[ca_hopeful]

What province will you settling in permanently.

Haven't finalized but either BC or Ontario. Does that make any difference?

 

[canuck78]

Sponsoring a child is often longer than a few months. Usually 5-11 months but with covid it is hard to say. Each province has their own health system, their own timeline to have access to healthcare and each have their own residency requirement to have qualify for health coverage. Although you have a valid health card you may not actually qualify for health coverage. If you don’t meet the requirements you can be asked to pay back. You will have to read the healthcare immigration for the province where you intend to remain permanently. Some provinces require you to remain in the province for the first 6-12 months to prevent people from arriving in the province with no wait time to receive healthcare coverage and after receiving health coverage they relocate. The best example is pregnancy. If a woman arrives at the end of their pregnancy and don’t want to pay for their OB appointments or their labour and delivery they may move to Alberta but plan on moving to Ontario right after they deliver their baby. That doesn’t work because they must settle in Alberta for 12 months or else they can be asked to repay all the medical care they receive in Albeeta. In certain provinces you must wait up to 3 months to get health coverage. This has been waived during covid. Nobody knows when the wait times will return. I believe coverage for covid treatment and testing will remain free no matter what for public health reasons.

Your child’s situation is going to be quite complicated. He/she can bring 3 months of prescription medication from the US. Getting insurance for routine treatment for preexisting conditions is usually not possible and if it is it will be very expensive. You will have to see if your employer may provide a certain policy or whether you can keep your US policy and whether that might give you coverage. Not sure whether you‘ll be able to access routine care easily in Canada if you have a private policy. Those with provincial coverage have priority so it could be difficult to get an appointment especially given that covid has canceled a lot of appountments, procedures and operations. It could take years to catch up. In general getting into many specialists can take months and so transferring his case from the US to Canada with a period with no provincial coverage will take some time for sure. Having a job with extended health benefits will be important with a child with health issues. I assume you have done your research about the Canadian health system but many are under the false impression that Canada has full Medicare. It is more like around 70% Medicare.

Started writing this before you replied. Do you already have a job in Canada? You’ll need to do your research but this is definitely a challenge. Do you think you or your wife can secure a job with extended health benefits? I think I remember reading about learning delays. Access to special education will be something you will need to look into. Access to programs will vary between provinces and even school districts. It always comes down to budget issues. It also seems like growth hormone may be on the list of medication. Access to growth hormone is limited due to the expense so many provinces require special approval before coverage. Don’t want to scare you but the health is a pain in Canada. Not as bad as the US but if you listen to the US media you either think that everything is free or everyone is dying waiting for care. Getting into see specialist# definitely takes months but your child likely has @cperiod of 6 months to 1+ years with no coverage so you need to purchase coverage of some sort. Most children arriving from the US to be sponsored don’t arrive with such complex needs. Joining any type of forums for special needs or medically complex children may be helpful to evaluate where to move. A job with extended health benefits will be something very important on your job search. Very hard to comment without a ton of information about your child but it does sound like one parent may need to be a caregiver aNd stay at home so if you only rely on one income that can influence on where you’d like to live. If your child relies on a children’s hospital that may influence where you want to live. There are things that aren’t covered or partially covered so those with medical conditions still need to save for additional medical expenses.

This post has gotten a bit out of control but would encourage you to do a lot of research. It was hard for me to determine how extensive your child’s needs are. Things like education and healthcare are run by each province and can be. quite different. Many are unaware of the difference even those living in Canada and aren’t aware that there is a RO for healthcare that is unrelated to PR or citizenship. Citizens returning to Canada may have to reapply for healthcare and wait up to 3 months to qualify for healthcare again if they have been out of Canada for a certain amount of Canada.

 

[ca_hopeful]

Wow this is super helpful. Agree that having a job with extended health care benefits before moving is the most ideal situation. Trying to secure once but difficult nowadays. I understand that ours is a complicated situation and might need to give it a lot more thought before moving.

 

[scylla]

Wow this is super helpful. Agree that having a job with extended health care benefits before moving is the most ideal situation. Trying to secure once but difficult nowadays. I understand that ours is a complicated situation and might need to give it a lot more thought before moving.

FYI - just to be clear, a job with extended health care benefits won't be of any help in terms of covering your child's care before your child qualifies for provincial coverage. Extended health care benefits through employment sit on top of provincial benefits (they don't replace them or substitute them). Additionally, it's typically mandatory that an individual have provincial coverage in order to qualify for the extended health care coverage. The extended coverage will only help your child once your child has provincial coverage. Until then, you'll need to rely on private coverage / paying for expenses out of your own pocket.

Good luck. Agreed it's a complicated situation. Hope it all works out.

 

[canuck78]

Wow this is super helpful. Agree that having a job with extended health care benefits before moving is the most ideal situation. Trying to secure once but difficult nowadays. I understand that ours is a complicated situation and might need to give it a lot more thought before moving.

Clearly was a bit sleepy when I wrote this last post. It is unclear how much routine care your child needs on a daily basis. You really need to be prepared for a long period of time without health coverage. Insurance companies aren’t going to cover someone if they know they will lose money on a policy. If medical needs are pretty high your best option would be to send one parent to Canada first so they can sponsor your child and secure employment. Then you may only be left with an up to 3 month wait period for health coverage.

 

[ca_hopeful]

Clearly was a bit sleepy when I wrote this last post. It is unclear how much routine care your child needs on a daily basis. You really need to be prepared for a long period of time without health coverage. Insurance companies aren’t going to cover someone if they know they will lose money on a policy. If medical needs are pretty high your best option would be to send one parent to Canada first so they can sponsor your child and secure employment. Then you may only be left with an up to 3 month wait period for health coverage.

That makes sense. Are you aware of any medical insurance plans that cover routine doctor visits prescriptions etc.?

 

[scylla]

That makes sense. Are you aware of any medical insurance plans that cover routine doctor visits prescriptions etc.?

There are some but they are extremely expensive and have many exclusions (including not covering anything related to pre-existing conditions). For anything other than emergency care, you should expect to pay out of pocket. The insurance policies that cover non-emergency care won't cover anything related to your child's existing health issues.

 

[karthicktalk]

You can see a private pediatrician, you can use your existing prescription and get new prescription refills, that is affordable in terms of doctor visit fees, for prescriptions, you can pay out of pocket (you pay), you can manage, only thing, that will be higher cost is, if you need to some scans/get admitted in hospital, the cost is very high, for prescriptions, visits for pediatrician, that is all doable.

I pray, all goes good for your child. After 6 months, before that expires, you can also apply visitor extension visa or you can apply PR family sponsorship for your child, when you are here.

 

[ca_hopeful]

Thanks a lot.

I found GeoBlue that provides international travel insurance and I see that preexisting is covered if I had continuous coverage in the past 6 months. Has anyone here used this insurance?

https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/index.cfm

 

[ca_hopeful]

FYI - just to be clear, a job with extended health care benefits won't be of any help in terms of covering your child's care before your child qualifies for provincial coverage. Extended health care benefits through employment sit on top of provincial benefits (they don't replace them or substitute them). Additionally, it's typically mandatory that an individual have provincial coverage in order to qualify for the extended health care coverage. The extended coverage will only help your child once your child has provincial coverage. Until then, you'll need to rely on private coverage / paying for expenses out of your own pocket.

Good luck. Agreed it's a complicated situation. Hope it all works out.

Question on this "a job with extended health care benefits won't be of any help in terms of covering your child's care before your child qualifies for provincial coverage". How does it work for visitors on work visas? Won't companies provide extended health care insurance for their employees and their dependents? If I am able to secure a job that provides medical insurance, won't my child be fully covered even is he has no provincial coverage?

 

[canuck78]

You can see a private pediatrician, you can use your existing prescription and get new prescription refills, that is affordable in terms of doctor visit fees, for prescriptions, you can pay out of pocket (you pay), you can manage, only thing, that will be higher cost is, if you need to some scans/get admitted in hospital, the cost is very high, for prescriptions, visits for pediatrician, that is all doable.

I pray, all goes good for your child. After 6 months, before that expires, you can also apply visitor extension visa or you can apply PR family sponsorship for your child, when you are here.

Yes you can find a paeditrician that is will to accept private patients. Paediatricians are not for children in general in Canada but children that complex medical issue whether it is chronic or acute. You can't use your existing prescription. You cam bring your existing Rx so taking a medical history is easier and the doctor will know what dosage your child is on if the doctor juat wants to renew your prescriptions. The cost of some presciptions are extemely high so paying out of pocket is not doable for many.

Extensions muat be applied for before 6 months is over if the childbwas granted a 6 month stay.

 

[canuck78]

Thanks a lot.

I found GeoBlue that provides international travel insurance and I see that preexisting is covered if I had continuous coverage in the past 6 months. Has anyone here used this insurance?

https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/index.cfm

Looka like the longtern expat program may be an option but it will be expensive. Dedutibles are very high and would expect the insurance comapany to calculate what your regular yearly expenses are and your deductible will be set at that amount. Insirance companies are businesses so their policies will cover expected costs. Stipp unclear how extensive youe child's monthly needa are but you are going to be very thorough with your child's medical history when you apply for a policy because the insurance companies often try to get out of paying large claims.

 

[ca_hopeful]

Looka like the longtern expat program may be an option but it will be expensive. Dedutibles are very high and would expect the insurance comapany to calculate what your regular yearly expenses are and your deductible will be set at that amount. Insirance companies are businesses so their policies will cover expected costs. Stipp unclear how extensive youe child's monthly needa are but you are going to be very thorough with your child's medical history when you apply for a policy because the insurance companies often try to get out of paying large claims.

Yes, it is going to cost ~$500/month with $5000 deductible. I believe they will need all medical history with exact dates etc.