KimbSe

Hi,

So I am hoping to do a one year working holiday in British Columbia. I am British and coming from the UK next year.

I however suffer from Crohn's Disease and have done for the past few years, and because of this I take daily medication (Imuran) which is on a repeat prescription which I will need to get in Canada otherwise my condition will flare and which means I could be hospitalised.

I'm just wondering if anyone knows how I go about registering with a GP or a specialist so I have coverage from the day I arrive so I can pick up my repeat prescription or if anyone here has moved to Canada or done a year working there with a full time condition. Are there any exemptions for the 3 month wait on insurance when the condition can be critical if I do not get the prescribed drugs?


Thanks!

Aviator

On a WHV you have to carry medical insurance from the UK. No exemption for the 3 month wait. You have to pay yourself, or have other coverage for this period. You are unlikely to get provincial medical from day 1 except in provinces that don't have a waiting period. Prescriptions are not covered anyway, you either have to pay for them yourself or pay and get your private insurer to reimburse you if they cover preexisting conditions.

In many areas, GPs are not taking new patients, so you may have to make do with a walk in clinic. To see a specialist you need a doctors referral. To qualify for medical (in BC anyway) when on a WHV you have to be working a minimum 18 hours a week, so you need a job before you can register for MSP here.

ookie123

Hi

I do not know how the health care system works in BC but I am sure without Canadian health insurance you will need to pay the full cost of your prescription drugs. Ask your UK doctor before you leave if they are able to give you 3-6 months prescriptions. We moved to Alberta and for the first 3 months I had to pay for my prescriptions and then my employers health insurance kicked in. Finding a family doctor may also prove difficult and you may have to rely on walk In clinics! Are you able to bring copies of your medical history with you??? Think this may prove useful!

KimbSe

I checked, and my medication in Canada you can only purchase with a prescription only. Was this the same for you or is your medication sold over the counter to anyone? Were your prescriptions from your UK GP or from a Canadian one?

I will definitely try and get my medical history transferred, but by the sounds of it is unheard of getting a GP or a specialist in Canada before arriving even though you have a full time condition for life and medical history to prove it.

Also, how do walk in clinics work? Can nurses provide you with prescriptions after you have seen a doctor? I have a letter stating my illness and what medication I am on, will this be enough do you think?

Dorothy

If you have a medication that can only be purchased with a prescription then you will need a prescription from a doctor. Not a UK doctor, but a Canadian doctor in the province you get your prescription from.

You cannot get a GP or specialist in Canada before arriving and it's unlikely you will get one even after you're there. There is a shortage of GPs in most of Canada and therefore many people use walk in clinics for their medical needs. The way they work is that you walk in during opening hours, get seen by the duty doctor, get your prescription renewed (be sure to bring your comprehensive medical history since a lot of walk in doctors won't prescribe some meds to patients they don't know), you pay (if you don't have a provincial health card) and then take your prescription to the pharmacy.

Yes, taking a letter with you stating what your condition is and what medications you are on should be enough for a doctor. Unless you really need to see a specialist you probably won't be referred to one.

KimbSe

Okay, that's helpful information, thank you. In concerns to my illness, it can flare at any time (I have Crohn's Disease, so even on daily medication, it can still spike, which means I can lose the use of my legs from joint swelling, lose a lot of weight, have severe fatigue) in concerns to things like this what do you do? Turn up at a hospital and it'll be covered by private health care insurance or would you go to a walk in clinic? Since I would need steroid drugs to go back into remission.

Dorothy

If you have an emergency you go to your nearest hospital emergency. If your condition is something you can have managed by a doctor at a walk in you go to a walk in.

Whether you go to a walk in or a specialist you would pay upfront and collect from your insurance later. Any doctor's office I ever worked in that's what we did with anyone who wasn't insured through the provincial health card.

What do you do now if you have a flare up?

KimbSe

I'm British and a student, so if I have a flare up, I go straight to my GP (who knows my history) and she gives me a prescription for a run of steroids and I collect them from the pharmacy at no cost. If it's really bad and I can no longer walk or assist myself, I have an ambulance take me to the hospital and my specialist deals with me by either giving me a prescription for steroids or gives me an Infliximab drip over the course of a few months to stable my condition.

Obviously at a walk in you can wait for hours, so if I'm in a bad way I can't imagine going there waiting to see someone due to the nature of my condition. But I wouldn't have a clue what to do if I didn't have a specialist also at the hospital. I imagine I would sit in accident and emergency for a few hours and then hopefully convince someone (or show them a letter from my UK specialist) that I needed so and so drug to go back into remission and they would prescribe it for me?

sunshinedust

One thing to note is that you should probably start looking for a company which will provide you with the mandatory long term insurance policy needed to participate in the IEC programme. I found it tricky enough finding a reasonably priced comprehensive policy, and that was without adding a chronic medical condition in the mix - depending on your history the premium could be very high or they might refuse to cover any Crohn's related medical expenses. Just something to keep in mind while you start planning for all the costs of your working holiday.

Dorothy

If you go to a walk in, yes you could wait for a couple of hours. However if you go to an emergency department for a flare up of Crohn's then you will also wait a few hours. If they prescribe the drug then you would go to the pharmacy and get it filled (paying full price because you don't have extended benefits). You would need to find a doctor for follow up as the ED is not going to see you for follow up visits.

Ozzidoc

Discuss with your British GP. You may be able to get up to three months' worth of regular prescriptions on the NHS and the remainder as a private script to be filled prior to leaving the UK. Your GP may well also prescribed a single course of steroids to cover an emergency situation, again on a private basis as this is not NHS work.

You will be removed from your GP's practice list (or at least are supposed to be).

DoI UK trained doctor, not currently practicing.

bats

I don't think you will get insurance cover if you do make sure it will cover potential hospital, surgical, and convalescence costs.

withabix

You won't get insurance cover that will pay for regular prescriptions or inevitable treatment.

That isn't how insurance works - it is for a risk, not a certainty.

A quick Google suggests your tablets will cost approx $1 per tablet, plus consultation and prescription charges.

You may be able to get cover for emergency consequences of your illness:

Crohn's Travel Insurance at World First

nativenewyorker

My GP gave me 6 months worth of drugs when we emigrated. That would give you a bit more time to get sorted.

Ozzidoc

When was that? The "rules" are now up to 90 days max, with some health authorities (or whatever the name is this week) permitting a max of 28 or 30 days. Hence my suggestion for a private prescription to be filled in the UK.