Prospective Canadian immigrants looking forward to growing their family in Canada are among those we most seek to advise of the need to learn the following – before relocating to Canada.
- whether or not you will face a 3-month Medicare waiting period in the Province or Territory you plan to settle in
- what the limits and exclusions are regarding maternity care on interim (private) insurance (if they need it)
- whether the cost of medical care for a newborn child born to a mother still waiting for Medicare eligibility would be your cost, or covered under Medicare in your new Province or Territory of residence.
Answers to Questions 1 and 3 require consultation with the applicable ministry of health in Canada. What follows is an overview of what to expect regarding interim (private) medical insurance for those who arrive in Canada without immediate eligibility for Medicare, and for people residing in Canada with visitor status while they await processing of a permanent resident application:
The good news is that the market of private health insurance includes some plans that offer maternity coverage for a ‘future pregnancy.’ Typically the maternity benefit will only apply to a pregnancy for which the expected due date for childbirth is minimum ten months after the insurance effective date.
Regrettably, there are no individual health plans which will cover routine maternity care or childbirth expenses for a pregnancy which started prior to the insurance effective date. In fact, many – if not most – emergency medical plans exclude ANY medical expense whatsoever relating to a “pre-existing” pregnancy — even for treatment of an emergency complication.
That said, there are a select few Visitors to Canada emergency medical plans that cover emergency treatment of an unforeseen serious complication relating to pregnancy, PROVIDED THAT the pregnancy had been completely healthy with no complications or noted risk factors existing on or prior to the insurance effective date AND provided the emergency complication occurs prior to the stage of pregnancy reaching 9 or less weeks prior to the expected due date for childbirth.
It is also important to note that even in cases when emergency maternal care for a pregnant women is covered by an interim medical plan, medical expenses for care of a newborn is most often excluded…even for life-saving neonatal care. This is why it is important to determine the status of a newborn born in Canada to your family…if born when the mother and/or father is still waiting for Medicare eligibility.
More good news is that most Canadian Provinces do not have a Medicare waiting period for new permanent residents, and the waiting period in other Provinces and Territories is up to 3 months for newly arrived permanent residents. We just advise women and their families to think ahead about the timeline of a pregnancy due date relative to when the cost of the excellent maternal care in Canada will be covered by public health coverage.