Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

Hi there guys,

I'm just chasing up the healthcare angle and wanted to check:

If we're going to Canada as temporary residents, do we still need a print out of our health records? Or will we need to get these if we decide to go the Express Entry route?

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

Hi.
My husband and I live in Alberta as temp residents. We didn’t need any health records whatsoever.
We simply moved over, registered for Alberta healthcare, registered for health insurance through the private insurer my husband’s employer uses, and then registered with a local dr’s.
Couldn’t have been simpler. :-)

If you later apply for PR, my understanding is you’ll need specific health checks. (we’re going to apply next year so that stage will come to us as well.)

Good luck!

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

Cheers Suzeandmatt!

That's a weight off our mind then! Cheers!

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

No worries! I did go to our GP before we left for a print out of our medical notes for a dr here just in case (happily they were free)- but they’re just gathering dust in our house now!
I would maybe advise getting them if you have complicated health issues to show your new dr, otherwise when you register you go through any health issues (or not) verbally anyway so they’re not needed.
We found it all very easy. :-)

Have fun!!

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

Vaccination records for kids , definitely.
other than that , yep our med records from the UK are sitting gathering dust in safety deposit box

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

No kids so I guess that's not an issue, plus no long term complicated health issues...

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

If your new doc needs them they can ask for them. Just get vaccination records for yourselves as well as children, ongoing medications, and any ongoing healthcare issues.

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

remember that obtaining prescriptions is different in Canada ......

.... you have to pay for your drugs here unless you are lucky enough to have a job where there is a medical plan that will cover drug costs after a certain deduction has been reached. Common deductions are $1000 or $2000.

A number of the drugs that you may get free in the UK are not prescription here and you have to pay the full over-the-counter price ............... eg, Tylenol (= paracetamol), cough medicines, etc

Also you usually have a 3 month wait before you are eligible for the provincial health scheme, so you need to bring with you sufficient prescription medications to cover that period of time.

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

Cheers Scilly,

As my wife is at uni there then we get on the university enhanced plan and we're going to register with the province as soon as possible after we land as well.

It's all getting a bit real now!

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

I wouldn't say that is the normal benefits plan design in Canada ( but maybe so in the States). Most plans here have small deductibles and then some coinsurance - so they would pick up 70-90% of the cost of a prescription from the outset, then you pay the rest ( or put it through a second plan if you have one).

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

yeah , my old one covered 80%.
my new one covers 100% but with a $5 co pay

worth noting (because i didn't figure this out for a while) is that if you and your spouse have plans then what yours doesn't pay the other one may pick up. Its called coordination of benefits

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

And this is the thing I get the most enquiries about at work 😉
Coordinating properly between two plans is essential to maximize your coverage and reimbursements. Always tell your benefits administrator if you have changes to coverage, ie, whether a spouse gains or loses coverage. All insurance companies work on the same rules, and lots of claims just stall (especially if being directly submitted by your dentist or physio, etc) and the insurance company software just hiccups because based on how you have been set up, it thinks it is either the primary payer or the secondary payer, so if not coordinated properly, your claim just stalls.

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

Oh, wow! That sounds pretty complicated!

I guess we'll get our heads round that once we're in the system?

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

We have had co-ordination of benefits for many years and it carried forward into retirement. As a result neither me nor my wife have ever paid for any drug prescription, including all diabetic supplies. Since entering retirement the Ontario Government covers most drug costs but in those instances where it doesn’t the employer plans kick in. At one point and for three years my drug costs exceeded $5,000 monthly and now are $2,000 per month.
The co-ordination also applies to dentistry, podiatry, physic and medical appliances. Believe it or not our insurer paid for my wife’s parking costs when I was in hospital for three months. Needless to say we’ve been nothing but delighted with our health care situation.

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

you can also claim any medical expenses not paid by a provincial or private plan, ie the amount you had to pay out of pocket, as a tax deduction.

The lowest earner of a couple should make that claim for both people.

I usually claim between $3000 and $4000 a year on my tax return, and get most of that (if not all) back as a refund.

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

I seriously doubt that. While your taxable income may be reduced by the amount you claim (after deduction of the prescribed amount) unless your marginal rate of tax is 100%, how do you get it all back as a refund?

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

One can claim many, but not all uninsured medical expenses. There are some exclusions.

Sometimes is better for the lowest earner to claim, sometimes not. Depends on individuals circumstances.

There is no way anyone would get the majority of their medical claim back as a refund. There may be a similar amount, but not as a direct result of medical expenses. Some medical costs are an allowable expense that can be deducted off of income to reduce ones tax bill.

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-age...it-return.html

https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cr...rc4065-16e.pdf

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

are you accusing me of lying???

I said, get most of it back (if not all), and that is in fact what I get back as a refund.

I actually have a low income, and no other deductions.

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

I think we need Jonboy's input.

My understanding is that it works in a similar way to things like pension or certain savings plan contributions in that the amount is not treated as taxable income.

So that, for example, if the contributions (pension or allowable medical costs were $4000 for the claimable period and, say, the tax rate was 25% then $4k would not be included in the taxable income calculation, leading to a reduction in tax liability of $1000.

So at the end of a year having tax deducted from income and receiving a tax refund of $4000, $3000 of that would have been coming back anyway, meaning a tax refund equal to 25% of the cost.

That's how it worked for me (although I have simplified the figures) in the UK for additional pension contributions and a child sponsorship thing I did.

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In terms of costs of meds, I noted last week that 3 months worth of blood pressure meds for me are just over $200 for three months.

Fortunately my province runs a system jointly with Blue Cross where my premiums are $16 a month with a co-pay of $5 for each one.

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

I don't know how it works, our finance manager does all the filing.

All I know is that I submit to him legitimate medical costs usually between $3000 to $4000, the same amount is entered on my tax return (seen by me after submitting), same amount is on the form I get back from the government, and I get a refund for very close to that amount, if not actually equal to it.

If I remember from when I used to do my own tax returns, the medical expenses have to amount to more than 3% of the net income before any can be claimed ...... that's why the lower income earner usually claims them for spouse and other members of the family.

Re: Moving to Canada - Health Stuff
 

I feel sure you know what your got back. Why I cannot tell you, you may get other tax credits. The medical expenses, with the relevant thresholds are deducted from income before calculation of tax, so at best would reduce the tax bill by the marginal rate of the taxpayer. If you pay a low rate of income tax, they will be of little benefit.

http://www.taxplanningguide.ca/tax-p...ical-expenses/

'Say, after doing the math, the lower income spouse had $3,000 in expenses over the minimum threshold. The lowest federal tax rate is 15% and if they lived in Ontario where the lowest rate is 5.05% their total credit would be $601.50 (20.05% of $3,000).
“In the grand scheme of things, getting $600 back after out-of-pocket expenses of $4,200 may not seem like much,” says Dollar, “but the credit is designed to help those who have substantial medical claims."


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