Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

I have Type 2 Diabetic & High blood pressure, controlled via medications (methformin, glicazide, empagliflozin, lisinopril, simvastatin, amlodipine). Although I am able to manage my illness very well, with good diet control and regular exercises, we will need to have a realistic comparison regarding long term medical costs betwen Uk and Canada, as we are considering whether to retire in UK or Canada (as my daughter is a Canadian). NHS is brilliant for free medical costs. So compare with Canada, the route could be initially through Parents Supervisa, and hopefully, we will be able to apply for PR after 3 years?. My wife is in good health, early 60s. So, here are some questions:
1) Anyone with Parents Supervisa insurance, what are the estimated premiums for a couple to budget for insurance to cover Diabetic costs (for one adult Diabetic, one non Diabetic); or if not, what are the costs of annual premiums and how much roughly do we need to budget for additional annual diabetic medical costs?
2) Roughly, how many years before one could obtain Canadian PR (after living in Canada on Parents Supervisa? I read it was 3 years?
3) For Canadian PRs, do Provincial Insurance (eg OHIP) cover Diabetic costs or one need to budget for annual private medical insurance and roughly how much should we budget for dianetic care annually?

Thanks for any comments. Happy New Year!

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

2) You can apply immediately if eligible - in fact, that would be preferable. This year's parent sponsorship program has already closed, so you'll need to wait until the end of next year/beginning of 2022 to be able to apply now. Supervisas are ideal for visiting longer term, but trying to spend 3 years on them isn't ideal, it may make it look as though you are trying to live in Canada without the correct visa and you may find yourself being refused. How long has your daughter lived and worked in Canada? She needs to have at least 3 full years of Canadian income to be eligible to sponsor you, so maybe that's where you've got the 3 year thing from?

If you search the forum you'll find lots of info on costs for insulin etc in Canada, there are quite a few previous threads, so that will give you an idea of what to budget.

HTH, good luck.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

1. Note that they would be here on a visitor's super visa and would not be eligible for any subsidized medical costs. They are also required to have personal medical insurance.
have medical insurance from a Canadian insurance company that is:

• valid for at least 1 year from the date of entry
• at least $100,000 coverage
• have proof that the medical insurance has been paid

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

If I remember correctly the insurance only covers medical emergencies. It does not cover routine tests ie mammograms, flu shots etc and it does not cover meds...or at least our policy didn’t.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

As a retired Canadian Citizen, presumably a previous PR, I can tell you that under OHIP all drug costs are covered for Seniors, of which I am one(over 65) I have a healthy drug regimen(12 different drugs daily) including Insulin, and do not pay one cent for my drug supplies. I can’t speak to drug coverage arrangements for seniors in other provinces but in Ontario it is excellent.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

That depends on retirement income. Depending on income you may have to pay for meds until a certain amount is reached each year.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

That depends on retirement income. Depending on income you may have to pay for meds until a certain amount is reached each year. When one becomes a PR they cannot access OHIP for 3 mths

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

It's different in BC.

Only if your income is under a certain level are ALL medical costs including prescriptions covered here.

GP appointments are free, so are specialist appointments if referred by a GP. All meals and medications are free while in hospital for treatment, but you have to pay for your room, for landline phone, for TV etc.

As soon as you reach the maximum income level, Pharmacare will start to reduce the coverage and increase the deductible before it will cover anything.

Many items are not covered ......... annual eye tests for seniors are supposed to be free, but every test I've had or heard people talking about seems to cost around $60 . I think what is happening is that the government will pay a certain amount for that annual test, but opticians can charge more ............. and so most are!

Dentistry is not covered, nor are prostheses,

As retirees of almost 16 years, our prescription coverage under Pharmacare is non-existent, but we carry Extended Health Plan and a Dental Plan under my OH's Retirement Benefits Program. Our annual deductible for prescription medications is $1,000 per year under the Extended Health Plan, and payments for dental treatments are on a percentage paid by the policy with the rest paid by us.

The Health Plan works on the principle that anything that can be charged to it does not kick in until the total cost has reached $1,000, then costs will be covered either fully or upto a %age ............. I've never really managed to work out how the company determines that as sometimes they will cover the whole 3 month cost of a prescription and then next time will only cover 95% of it. There seems no rhyme or reason.

As an example of costs, I paid almost $157.00 for a 3 month supply of Amlodipine, and around $57.00 for 3 months of Simvastin earlier this year. There is a pharmacist's charge added to each prescription refill, the same amount for 1 month as for 3 or 6 months, so it is cheaper to take a longer supply IF you can. You can call around and check what different pharmacies are charging, as it can vary, or you may find that you are actually restricted to only one pharmacy for some reason.

As one example of our coverage, we get $250 worth of physiotherapy a year ........ treatments cost anywhere form $60 and up per 15 or 20 minute treatment.

The cost of the two plans will be over $3,000 next year.

Luckily, I do not have diabetes, as that is one of the most expensive treatment and much of the cost does not seem to be covered by plans.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

grateful. I think we don’t have sufficient points for PR for Express Entry and I had planned to work in my current job in UK for another 3 years, and then to retire in Canada. But taking advice, was a bit concerned that entering via Supervisa might limit chances for subsequent PR application? I thought it should be quite normal that elderly parents of Canadians couldn’t explore the PR route (long processing time), so we come through Parents Supervisa, and then or right away submit for PR application? (Apologies, I realise this shd be under the immigration thread)

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

PMM, That’s right, while under Supervisa, we should purchase medical insurance and presumably depending on types of insurance we could pay extra premiums to cover diabetic medications or pay for medication separately. I was thinking of long term diabetic care in Canada which is currently free via NHS UK.
JSmith, thanks for helpful links which I worked out that my diabetic costs could be around C$1 per day, excluding filing fees, which seems a reasonable and realistic costs.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

Thanks for very helpful information re Health Plan, with examples of specific medication costs. From the few postings, I am estimating C$4000 annually for medical insurance and basic/normal diabetic medication costs.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

That would be fine, from your original post it sounded as though you planned to try and spend 3 years in Canada on a supervisa before applying for PR, which could be problematic.

But if you don't want to move for another 3 years, then why not apply for PR asap? Then you'd have it before you move, so no need for a supervisa or medical insurance etc at all, that would make much more sense.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

Forgot to include that daughter just started working, so we need 3 years of proof of income.
I can’t apply for PR as my CRS points are too low to be invited under Express Entry. Without job offer, around 411; if I manage to get a job offer within the next 3 years, I think I might qualify for Express Entry with 611.

I have just visited CIC website, there’s a new link where I could enter to check whether I could qualify to apply, and surprisingly it showed that I qualify to apply and it gave me a personal reference quote.

Is my interpretation correct? That with 411, not likely to be invited so better to apply if I have a job offer?

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

Hi

1, They should note that the lottery system for PGP may still be in effect in 3 years time, no guarantee they would be selected.

Re: Annual Diabetic costs in Ontario or BC?
 

Ah, I see. Now the 3 years makes sense!

Personally I would plan to apply for PR and not move until you have it (or at least not move until the application is underway), as PMM said if the lottery system is still in place your chances are slim for getting PR and you can't stay on a supervisa indefinitely. Hopefully you'll get lucky and get PR in the first year, once your application is being processed you could go over on a supervisa whilst you wait for PR, as long as you haven't sold up everything in the UK and can prove you have ties there.