Many Newcomers to Canada are curious to know just how Health Insurance works in Canada. There are lots of things you will need to know about.
Assuming you are NOT working for any employer and live in the Toronto area, what are your first-time PR applicant options? Sure, you would love to know about both healthcare offered by the Canadian government and the additional medical insurance needed to cover missing items such as dental, vision, prescription, etc., not provided via government healthcare.
You see, insurance will likely cost more than paying cash, but you can get private coverage. But, of course, that depends on what you’re doing in Canada. You must have income or savings to make a living without employment.
The rest of dental, vision, prescription drugs, physiotherapy, etc., are NOT included in provincial healthcare.
If you don’t plan to be employed, buying insurance to cover them is an option, but insurance companies are running a valid business.
So it would be best if you calculated the cost of getting the insurance and the cost of paying out of pocket.
Even some of the procedures are covered for people who get extended job coverage. But, there is a limit to how much major dental work will be covered per year, so you could still have to pay out of pocket if something costly needs to be done.
Concerning coverage limits on most things, you only have so many physiological appointments per year. So coverage is usually less than 100%. It is often 80%.
There can also be long waits to see specialists, like nine months to see a particular GI specialist. The more sick visits you make, you realize what isn’t covered by the system.
Also, public long-term care (nursing home) involves parents contributing a massive part of their monthly pension, so if you want to sponsor your parents, you’ll be paying the fee. Also, the care isn’t great, so you will need to be there or find extra care.
Many immigrants have unrealistic expectations of what they will get under healthcare plans, like a nurse’s daily care in the home. Still, lots of Canadians also have unrealistic expectations. For example, suppose a family member has health issues.
Be ready to take on quite a lot of the expenses and be the primary caregiver. In many cases, families would have been better off in their home countries, where they could pay for much more care and therapy.
Concerning those changing their health insurance when they decide to move, you are changing provinces of residence. Therefore, you should notify OHIP that you are leaving Ontario and will be residing in (maybe) BC so that your current OHIP coverage is still in effect during the BC MSP waiting period (2 full months + the remainder of the month when you arrive in BC).
