Road Trip...
*NOTE: I'm not an expert at all, and after Vince reads this - there may be edits. However, since he and I have had more than one (maybe a dozen) discussions about heath care recently, I feel I'm adept enough to give you the basics, and I'll try not to bore you. Ha!
As new permanent residents, shortly after we "landed" in Canada ("landed" meaning, we went through customs and made it official) Rylan and I went down to the local Service Ontario and waited about fifteen minutes in line, filled out some forms, answered a few basic questions, and we were done. In three months, we would have our OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan) cards. These cards, cover every citizen, immigrant, refugee and permanent resident, in a variety of health services.
It pays for all regular Dr. exams, visits such as flu or cold, monthly checks and such. It covers all emergency costs. You break your arm, you're covered. Heart attack? Covered. It covers referrals to experts, or specialists such as Rylan's endocrinologist. Hospitals stays, x-rays, flu shots... maybe it's easier to say what it doesn't cover, it's mostly non-medically necessary things like:
- cosmetic surgery
- most alternative medicine (Chinese healing etc...)
- physiotherapy between the ages of 20 and 65, unless you meet certain criteria
- dental care -barring an emergency like a Hockey Practice dental extraction
- Chiropractic services
- items other than basic casts, crutches and splints - no fancy crutches
- certain eye care - disease type eye care, like cataracts etc... are covered
- over the counter things like tensor bandages and splints
- prescription drugs for individuals under the age of 65 (but wait! there's more on this)
So there you go. Pretty much everything basic is covered and for everything that is not - you get a job, and pick up the employer insurance. Eye and Dental insurance here is about the same as in the states and for a very rough estimate, I put my info into a calculator on an insurance website and for my prescriptions covered at 70%, dental benefits and complete vision coverage it's $115 a month. A. Month. I paid $420 a month in the US for Ry and I.
But what about Rylan's med's? I said OHIP doesn't cover prescriptions for people under 65. Well, the Province of Ontario has begun a new program called OHIP+. It will commence January 2018, and it will provide free prescriptions for all children under the age of 24. Yes, you read that right. Free drug care for for about 4 million people. Want to read more? It's an interesting article on the new budget plans for Ontario and what they are providing for their taxpayers. Such a refreshing change!
Are you also thinking: Yeah, but what happens when Rylan turns 24, he's got a medical necessity and he'll have to pay for this for life? Well, Ontario also has another publicly funded health program for this. The Trillium Drug Program (TDP) is for people who have high prescription drug costs in relation to their net household income. When Rylan gets a job, if his prescription costs are more than 2-3% of his income, he'll be eligible for Trillium. So, even in the future, they will make the burden a bit less for Rylan.
Where does that leave us today? Well, our OHIP cards should come in early December. I need to decide on a GP and make that appointment, then they'll refer us to a new endocrinologist - there's one right up Yonge - and then we'll be set. Well, sort of set... there's the little issue of learning how to measure insulin in Metric!
Gotta go load up the car and give Henry a few head pats,
Talk soon,
Jennifer
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