Question about the BC MSP regular premium assistance! Help!

[ejrrnsnsk]

Hi. I'm in the process of applying BC MSP regular premium assistance, so that my unpaid bill is erased.
(I got billed almost 900$ even though I never had a job in this or previous year. I have been a full time university student).
I intend to apply for it as soon as I receive my notice of assessment to deduct my unpaid invoices..

However, I am planning permanently move outside of British Columbia in June, so does anyone know what should I do in this case?
should I just wait until my unpaid bill is erased? I'm not sure about the time it takes for MSP to process the regular premium assistance, because I will leave in June.
OR, should I just cancel MSP and leave BC?
If I cancel the MSP then what happens to my unpaid invoices?
Do they track me internationally or sth?

I appreciate your helps.
Thank you

 

[steaky]

Call MSP about your options....

 

[Leon]

I think you should postpone your move until they've cleared your bill. If you leave, they might not feel like you should qualify for premium assistance. I wouldn't put it to the test anyway.

If you lose that chance and just up and move and cancel your coverage, you will still have the debt and it will mess up your credit rating. I don't know how far they go about billing you though. They will probably not chase you across the world for it.

 

[smk_ujs]

What is this premium assistance?

and why would they bill some one 900 dollars when some one has bc CARE CARD? Shouldnt medical expenses be covered under that?

 

[Leon]

What is this premium assistance?

and why would they bill some one 900 dollars when some one has bc CARE CARD? Shouldnt medical expenses be covered under that?

Yes but in BC you must pay a monthly premium for your healthcare.

If you are low income you can apply for premium assistance in order to pay less or even nothing but you need to have lived in BC for a certain amount of time and you need to have filed taxes in Canada at least once in order to prove that you are low income.

If you are low income but still not eligible to apply for premium assistance, you will get billed and if you can't pay the bills, you rack up a debt to MSP.

 

[smk_ujs]

what if you don't have canadian income but have some foreign income?

Will they convert the foreign income into Canadian dollars and apply premium accordingly?

or will they just say since you dont have canadian income and cant apply for opremium assistance, sorry you just go ahead and pay all the bills yourself!

 

[Leon]

what if you don't have canadian income but have some foreign income?

Will they convert the foreign income into Canadian dollars and apply premium accordingly?

or will they just say since you dont have canadian income and cant apply for opremium assistance, sorry you just go ahead and pay all the bills yourself!

If you have been in Canada long enough to file taxes, you are filing taxes on your foreign income as world income and in that case they see it on your tax papers.

If you are not in Canada long enough to have filed taxes, then you are not eligible for premium assistance anyway.

I'm not sure what you mean by "go ahead and pay all the bills yourself". You still have health coverage but until they figure out what your income is, you are not getting a discount on your monthly premium. You will pay a fixed amount per month. If you don't pay that amount, you will owe. You are still covered though so if you get a heart attack or break your legs, MSP will pay for it but you will still owe them for the monthly fees / premiums if you did not pay them.

 

[smk_ujs]

ahh okay, I think from another post in this forum, I realized my understanding was not correct. I thought the premium you pay is dependant on which bracket of income you are in.

That is what I understood from this website and the table shown:

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/premiums

So my question was as a new immigrant, after having fulfilled the waiting period, you get the BC Care card and you have a canadian income of 0$, what amount do you pay monthly for the premium?

 

[Leon]

ahh okay, I think from another post in this forum, I realized my understanding was not correct. I thought the premium you pay is dependant on which bracket of income you are in.

That is what I understood from this website and the table shown:

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/premiums

So my question was as a new immigrant, after having fulfilled the waiting period, you get the BC Care card and you have a canadian income of 0$, what amount do you pay monthly for the premium?

The tables you see is what you would pay with premium assistance. The premium for someone who doesn't qualify for premium assistance is $75 for an individual, $136 for a couple or $150 for a couple with kids. If you just landed in Canada as a PR, you would file your taxes for this year early in 2017 and you would qualify to apply for premium assistance after 12 months in Canada so about 1 year from now.