Medical insurance in Canada?
What have you done for medical insurance while traveling in Canada? I am retired military and have Tricare and closing in on Medicare. From what I understand neither are accepted in Canada.
Forum Discussion
retrate:
The answer is a qualified "maybe ". Canada is a huge country, as you know, and local services have equipment that varies from Province to Province. As has been said....... a USB stick is not that helpful, as there are many different system protocols that would reject it. In this case the old system of " information printed on paper " is preferred, in a emergency medical situation.
Secondly, I fully concur with the advice to have a up to date list of EACH prescription med that you take, with you when you travel. I have had to resort to trying to match up a handful of individual pills, to the colour photos in the Compendium of Pharmacy drugs, to identify them, at the hospital, because the spouse of our unconscious patient didn't know what he was taking, and the actual drugs were not in the original bottles, with labels.
My original message was that visitors to Canada should be re-assured that medical treatment will never be conditional on payment, up front. Here in Ontario, all emergency Ambulance services are public, and we don't have any way of accepting payment on the spot. All billing is done by the Provincial Ministry of Health, for both EMS services, on land or by air, or for hospital or Doctor services. A patient is a patient, regardless of where they call home.
A final point, costs for care here in Canada, are based on a " No Profit " model, so actual prices for medical care will be lower than in the USA, for the same type of care or treatment.
Jim B.
Toronto.
The answer is a qualified "maybe ". Canada is a huge country, as you know, and local services have equipment that varies from Province to Province. As has been said....... a USB stick is not that helpful, as there are many different system protocols that would reject it. In this case the old system of " information printed on paper " is preferred, in a emergency medical situation.
Secondly, I fully concur with the advice to have a up to date list of EACH prescription med that you take, with you when you travel. I have had to resort to trying to match up a handful of individual pills, to the colour photos in the Compendium of Pharmacy drugs, to identify them, at the hospital, because the spouse of our unconscious patient didn't know what he was taking, and the actual drugs were not in the original bottles, with labels.
My original message was that visitors to Canada should be re-assured that medical treatment will never be conditional on payment, up front. Here in Ontario, all emergency Ambulance services are public, and we don't have any way of accepting payment on the spot. All billing is done by the Provincial Ministry of Health, for both EMS services, on land or by air, or for hospital or Doctor services. A patient is a patient, regardless of where they call home.
A final point, costs for care here in Canada, are based on a " No Profit " model, so actual prices for medical care will be lower than in the USA, for the same type of care or treatment.
Jim B.
Toronto.
