meanjock

Hi,

I have a job to goto and have already been accpeted into the BCPNP and now the embassy is waiting for my work visa app. Since then i have a new passport and my wife is pregnant. What do i do! who do i contact!

With my wife being pregnant i think we have a problem with insurance since we are going to BC we have to get our own for the first three months

bazzz

She certainly won't want to give birth within the first three months of arriving, that's for sure. This happened to a friend of mine and it cost them $12,000 in medical fees. And they were Canadians returning after a few years abroad!

nomadBC

Right. I was pregnant for a while before I was able to get my BC CareCard, but luckily I had it by the time I was 5 months pregnant. I paid for three OB/GYN visits out-of-pocket, 3 sets of lab work/bloodtests, and one ultrasound. I don't have the receipts, but I think it was about $80 for my first long OB/GYN visit, about $150 for the combined lab work, around $55 for the standard OB/GYN visits, and about $120 for the ultrasound.

Note that almost no "traveler's insurance" (or the kinds of insurance you usually get to cover those first few months) cover pregnancy. It's considered self-inflicted , and their products are more intended to cover emergency medical care.

Assuming the due-date is after the first 3 months, you should be ok. One bit of advice I would give is: don't pay any bills right away for services rendered once you have been there 3 months if you can avoid it, and keep receipts if you can't. it should only be a week or two after that until you have your card. Some services I received right after the waiting period, I simply didn't pay, went back to the doctor the moment I got my card, and had them resubmit it to MSP since it then showed I was covered for that time. Much easier for everyone, and my doctor's office didn't mind. The date of MSP coverage often starts before you actually receive your card. (In my case they messed up getting me my card, and it took an extra month to actually receive it.)

meanjock

Thanks for getting back to us, my wife is a little bit afraid of all this because the due date is end of feb. and my boss wants us in vancouver end of Sept.
Is there anychance that insurance firms would take her on for a higher rate or is it how you say its only really for emergancy stuff

Andrew Miller

There is no insurance company in the world that will cover under any travel plans already existing pregnancy. But as others stated all will be covered by BC Health's MSP.

Start here:

http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/insurance/bcresidents.html

http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/eligible.html

Note that there is a waiting period in BC to be eligible for coverage. But it is not exactly 3 months or 90 days like in other Provinces. New residents or persons re-establishing residence in B.C. are eligible for coverage after completing a waiting period that normally consists of the balance of the month of arrival plus two months.

It means for example that person who became BC resident on September 1st will be covered starting Dec 1st, but person who becomes BC resident just day sooner, on August 31st will become covered under MSP entire month sooner, starting November 1st.

So, if your job starts in September then come with your wife to Vancouver at the end of August and you all will be covered by MSP (including pregnancy) as of November 1st. Just 2 months without coverage.

Lorna_D

awww - I love you avatar meanjock hope everything works out well for you all.