A question for my Canadian friends.

Which province, Gus. Each province has it's own health care system.
I'm sorry to hear of her illness. I hope she's recovering well.
Ceili

Province is key, gustav, and I am also sorry to hear about this. In Ontario, no health card, no insurance. Ca c'est tout.

She's in British Columbia. Looks like I might have to open my pocketbook.

Oh, and thanks for the kind words.

hmmmm, never pictured you as a pocketbook-carrying guy, gus.

In regard to the costs involved, even without the benefit of government insurance, medical costs in Canada are usually not comparable to the costs in the U.S. I'll try to get some more info for you.

I'm glad to hear that your sister got treatment first, and the insurance etc questions later. B.C. is pretty well respected for its health care.

Hey - where's blatham? He'd know the B.C. stuff best.

Hope she feels better soon, Gus.

this is a bit of annoying site (PDF download etc.) but there is some useful info hidden in here. click for the link - look around page 15 +

basic hospital charge - about $850 cdn/day

One of the reasons OHIP and other Canadian provincial health systems fly Canadians back from the U.S. if they're sick or injured is because the basic costs (even the uninsured ones) are so much less here. It's something I work with regularly. We pay for med-flights with attending doctors and nurses to get people back - and still save money on the total treatment cost.



It's too late now (maybe) but look at getting her (or making her do it) sign up for basic coverage. In B.C., it seems to be about a $40 Cdn/month premium. It's probably worth seeing if you can get retroactive coverage if you pay the back premium - a nice anonymous phone call? If you haven't found out by early next week, let me know. I can call someone who can probably find out fairly easily.

Thanks, Beth and Dlowan. I hope I figure this out soon so I can go back to my capybara farmin' ways.

errrrrr - is she doing music instructing on her own? or is it possible someone has paid some premiums on her behalf?

could you convince anyone she's an international student?

http://www.university.ca/eng/canadainfo/healthcare/bchealth.htm

I'm so sorry to hear about your sister Gus. I wish I could be of some help, but I've only been here for a little over 3 years myself, so I'm still in the learning stage. I'll keep my fingers crossed for her.

Gus - how is your sister doing?

She's on the mend, thank you, and heading back to the States to recuperate at another sister's house. I think the worst pain she is going through is the thought of paying the hospital bill. Many siblings to help out, most of them who, unlike me, have tons of disposable cash. I can probably toss in ten or twenty bucks. Better than nothing.

Good news gustav. Keep us updated.