Siouxie

Being taken by ambulance to the emergency department at the nearest hospital is not covered under OHIP $49 charge to go 500 metres down the road (no treatment whilst on board or prior to) (and that is with an OHIP card!)

scilly

Ambulances are not covered by MSP in BC ...... all trips have to paid for, then claimed from Extended Health Insurance or as Medical Expenses on our tax return.

However, every ambulance now has a paramedic, or soon will have, and treatment begins before and continues during the trip to the hospital. Those paramedics are fully trained to do intervention techniques

We haven't used an ambulance here in the city (touch wood!!) ................. but OH had to go to Emergency in a small northern BC town on our last visit. Our host lived about 3 blocks from the hospital and took us there in the car, saying that the ambulance was $68, regardless of the length of the trip.


It gets quite exciting here in Vancouver if someone calls for an ambulance.

First responders are the Fire Brigade ............ at least one engine in every fire hall has a paramedic on board, the others have first aid trained. Rationale here is that the fire halls are in the neighbourhood and can reach a call within 3-5 minutes.

The ambulances now tend to be roaming the city rather than parked in a central place waiting for a call.

Currently the first ambulance to arrive may not have a paramedic on board, but the ambulance men take over from the firemen and continue initial treatment.

A second ambulance will then arrive, and full treatment including intervention such as intubation will begin and that ambulance takes the patient to the hospital.


3 emergency vehicles arriving in quick succession with lights flashing, sirens sounding and horns honking (when necessary to clear idiot drivers out of their way) ....... that's certainly guaranteed to get the neighbours out of their houses!

scilly

Did you know how much it might cost???

It can be more than insurance for a trip of equivalent length into the US


I have checked a couple of times in the last 4 years for our regular trips to other parts of Canada, usually by train.

The last quotes I got 2 years ago were for between $200-250 per person, both over 70.

We decided that our Extended Health plan would have to bear the cost, if necessary!


There is something else to be considered as well ..............

............. since my first bout with cancer 20+ years ago, I have discovered that you should make sure that any necessary visit to a doctor for whatever reason should ideally take place more than 3 months before you want to take out the travel insurance!

That seems to apply for cancer and high blood pressure ........ and therefore presumably for other cardiac conditions!

Even going to have the annual flu shot raised concern with the agent, a very experienced guy but he warned me that I might be asked to go for a medical or possibly have the policy cancelled. Luckily, nothing happened!

It might be that the question asking if you have been to the doctor in the last 3 months is less clearly defined on some policies than on others.

Aviator

It is a subsidized cost. In a car accident ICBC are billed the full cost, a workplace accident WCB bear the full cost. A medivac will run into a few thousand. Those on premium assistance and on PWD don't pay anything.

Not sure how it will work when premiums are dumped off onto employers and nobody is directly paying premiums. I feel sure we will all pick up the cost in the long run with higher prices or reduce wage increase as time goes on.

BristolUK

This is illuminating. When we moved to NB, Ambulance fees were in the news. Sounded weird to me, especially as the party you'd expect to be against were in favour, while the party you'd expect to be in favour were against.
We also have that paramedic situation - or, rather, they are qualified but not authorised or whatever the issue.

I've always put this kind of thing down to "typical NB" but maybe it's more typical Canada.

bats

Yes but that's a co-pay and the same regardless of distance. You don't pay for hospital transfers either. Other provinces can have higher rates.
Also OHIP won't pay for any diagnostic tests that you have done in a non public facility, ie an outpatient type medical building.

Healthcare in Canada is not joined up.

Linotype

You need extended Health coverage here in Alberta for ambulance cost:

Who pays for ambulance services?: Alberta Health website

Cost is $385 for transport to hospital ($585 if from out of province)

I like this part:
"The Government of Alberta provides significant funding to provide emergency medical services (EMS) to Albertans even though the Canada Health Act does not require the Government of Alberta to provide EMS / ambulance services as insured services. The amount patients are charged (if they receive a bill) for emergency health services is only a small portion of the actual cost of the services provided."

Interactive map of ambulance costs across Canada:

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/blog/map-ambulance-fees

scilly

Healthcare is a provincial responsibility, that's why it is suggested that you get travel insurance if going to another province.

Costs of treatments, hospital stays etc etc differ from province to province, although the treatment received should be equally good.

If you need medical treatment, your home province, eg BC, will only reimburse the other province, eg ON, up to the amount that the treatment would cost in BC. You are responsible for any extra.

dave_j

Canada is really like the EU. A number of different states that have a common currency, a central commission that tells all concerned what to do but otherwise leaves budgets etc to the notionally 'independant' provinces.

Before I came here I was a naive sixty something year old and I thought that this great country was just that, a united land with common values. I find that it's just not so. It's a loose confederation of independant states, a marriage between partners who never share a bed, who've never got around to asking themselves why they just don't get separated. It's a bit like neighbours who share a common fence but who argue about who owns it, they'll just never get on but can't be bothered to sort it out.

This business of health care is a fundamental issue. Why should my ambulance in BC cost $50+ whilst that in Alberta cost $250+? Yes I know that even in gods own land, the UK, the different kingdoms have their own health regimes, but at least they nominally have the same basic tenets.

So why not rationalise it all? Well that would mean treading on some political toes, ruffling some important civil servants and of course turning over that grubby little rock labelled 'insurance' so of course it's simply impossible.

Funny how rational ideas that reek of common sense are always found to be 'impossible' when you ask pertinent questions like 'why'.

BristolUK

Not even joined up when it's the same province.

If your home province would pay more than the province you get treatment from, they should pay you the difference.
It's only fair...if they charge you the difference one way, they should pay the difference the other way.

bats

No it isn't joined up. This crazy system is really private medicine where the only insurer is the government. Doctors are self employed with very little accountability to the hospitals they work in. Clinics and doctors offices are all over the place with health records scattered around different locations with the only link between them all is either the patient or the family doctor. With varying quality results.

BristolUK

It's quite baffling sometimes.

We have a building attached to the hospital but most of the docs there seem independent of the hospital. There are clinics in the hospital for out patients etc that appear geared up for infusions, but my wife had to go to a "private" clinic for her remicade infusions.

I can't help thinking they do it this way so the hospital doesn't have to pay for the drug.

I have regular eye checks because of diabetes. There's a clinic out of town - way out of town ($50 return by taxi) - where I see him but I also see him in between times at the hospital. I wonder why the equipment at the clinic can't be in the hospital. There's room for it.