Hi, I am in a big trouble. I got my PR in 2017 and gave birth to my daughter in 2018. I was not present in canada in any calendar year for 6 months per year. I came to Canada again a month ago and got a letter from MSP eligibility officer of BC health unit. She said that since i was not available for six months in any of 3 years so my MSP will be canceled and i have to pay all the claim i have taken at the time of my daughter’s birth. Also my daughter’s MSP will be canceled. I have given her all proofs that i was not allowed to travel during pregnancy due to health issue and that is why i came for a short period but still she wants me to either sign the declaration that says i did not met BC residency obligation and MSP to be canceled from beginning. But the truth is i was not even aware of this 6 month residency rule for MSP. I just knew the 2 years out of 5 year rule. Please advice. As i am not in a state to pay heavy claims. It can be around $20-25k.
MSP eligibility reviewed and on stage of cancellation
- Thread starter Mashkeen
- Start date
The 2 year out of 5 year requirement is for maintaining your PR status. This residency requirement has nothing to do with qualifying for provincial health care coverage.
Different rules apply for provincial health care coverage. Whether you were aware of the rules or not doesn't matter. It's your responsibility to understand them if you are going to use the system.
Based on the information you've provided, you weren't eligible for coverage and that's why the province is coming after you now. You may not have been able to travel during pregnancy due to health care issues. However you could have easily remained in Canada longer after giving birth to your child which you chose not do to.
Has the province already told you how much you will need to repay? Your best option may be to try to negotiate with the province to reduce the amount of the claim that you will owe.
I would have stayed longer but circumstances didn’t let to me to and even though if I stayed more my residency obligation couldn’t have met because I came to Canada in October when i was pregnant and gave birth to my baby in December. So calendar year already ended then.
But couldn't you at least live in BC for the 6 months (that is from Jan to June) after the baby was born?
But tha
My father’s health went down. I was scared that i will loose him and he won’t even get a chance to see my baby. Plus even if circumstances allowed me to live then also 6 month condition in 2018 was not met.
It's not uncommon for newborns take flight, travel to foreign countries and back. After the baby was born, you could make a short visit with your baby to see your father and return to BC to live there for the 6 months (such as from Feb to July). This way, you could met the 6 months in 2018.
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No u r not getting me. Then i would have met residency for 2019. In 2018 i got pregnant but was not allowed to travel for 7 months
It's too late for "what could have been," and the residency requirements for MSP are clearly stated in the registration form.
As you did not meet the residency requirements for MSP, as clearly stated, you may be responsible for the costs of the birth. Unfortunately, this is something you will either need to pay, or fight through your MLA. As are newly returned to Canada, you will need to figure out who your MLA is and ask them to take up the case - but the Ministry of Health is not particularly forgiving on birth tourism.
As you did not meet the residency requirements for MSP, as clearly stated, you may be responsible for the costs of the birth. Unfortunately, this is something you will either need to pay, or fight through your MLA. As are newly returned to Canada, you will need to figure out who your MLA is and ask them to take up the case - but the Ministry of Health is not particularly forgiving on birth tourism.
Are you pregnant again and that's why you have retuned to Canada? If you pregnancy was so fragile that you couldn't fly for 7 months it would have been safer to not travel to Canada just to deliver a baby. I am sure we all know that you only came to Canada for a short period of time because you wanted your child to have Canadian citizenship and you thought you could use your MSP card and not pay for your delivery. If you happen to be pregnant I assume the hospitals will want upfront payment given your balance.
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Your arguments just proves that it would have been best to stay in India to support your family but instead you went to BC for the shortest amount of time just to have your child in Canada. If your child spent any time in the NICU bills can be 20K/day. Healthcare is funded by the government and taxpayers. The residency obligations to receive healthcare can be found in most of the MSP documents. Your situation demonstrates why there is a need to have residency requirements to receive healthcare. Why would Canada allow people who aren't paying taxes to fly to Canada when you need medical treatment and then leave again. There isn't even enough resources for those who are paying high level of taxes and remain in Canada.
Would get on a payment plan asap.
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Unfortunately none of this really matters. You need to meet the residency requirements to qualify for the health care benefits. Since you didn't and the province has figured this out, there's not much you can do. I don't see how you will get out of this without repaying at least some costs for the services you were not entitled to receive. As said in my original post, I think your best option is try to negotiate a lower repayment amount if you can. The province will not restore your health care benefits until you sort this issue out. Good luck.
Tiny, tiny clarification: you'll still receive urgent health care, you'll just be invoiced for it. We're not Americans, we don't ship you out of the hospital if you have MSP issues. Doctors, on the other hand, may refuse to see you without payment up front.
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