Travel Medical Policies for Immigrants
Canada has one of the most effective healthcare systems in the world.
Most medical services are available free-of-charge to all permanent residents
and their families who are registered under a national health insurance
program called "Medicare." Medicare pays for medical
services provided by licensed medical doctors at hospitals, clinics or
doctors’ offices.
As a Canadian citizen
or an immigrant granted with landed status, you are entitled to all the
benefits that Medicare provides. However, newly arrived immigrants have
to wait a specified period of time before they can claim landed status
which entitles them to healthcare benefits. He/she will have to pay the
medical bills during that time. By purchasing Travel Health Insurance
you will be covered until that time when your Medicare card comes into
effect.
Moving to a new
country is stressful enough without having to worry about coping with
unforeseen medical expenses. As a newly arrived immigrant, you will likely
be looking for work and a home as well as learning how to adapt to what
may be a new culture, a new climate and quite possibly two new languages.
If you have children, you may be looking for schools as well. With all
this on your mind, the last thing you need is the added stress of unexpected
medical expenses. Something as insignificant as a child’s ear infection
can entail significant costs for consulting a doctor and purchasing antibiotics
in order to treat the infection.
Should you or a family member fall ill during the waiting period, you
would have to cover the cost of the ambulance, the x-rays and the expensive
drugs. You may possibly have to pay up to thousands of dollars a day for
surgery or hospitalization. The following figures taken from Queen’s
University provide visitors and immigrants with the approximate cost of
medical care in Canada:
