South of San Antonio

[TomG2]

Anyone heard this one? A Canadian woman at the dance Saturday night said that the Canadian government was going to withhold support of Canadians choosing to winter south of San Antonio, Texas next winter. I assume she was talking about insurance, etc. She is from Quebec, if that matters.

[moisheh]

It is not 6 months in every province. Some are 7 months. Check with your home province.

[almcc]

SARGUY wrote:
I think that most provinces have a limit of 182 days out of the country before health insurance is cancelled or so I ve been told anyway. On the other hand maybe the US has a limited number of days that you can stay before requiring a visa or other documentation.

While most folks know the 6 month limit, the US IRS takes a different path, they have a formula that calculates that if you stay an average of over about 120 days in a 3 year period they can tax your world wide income. Filing a "closer connection" 8840 form will help, search for it on IRS website on the net.

[SARGUY]

I think that most provinces have a limit of 182 days out of the country before health insurance is cancelled or so I ve been told anyway. On the other hand maybe the US has a limited number of days that you can stay before requiring a visa or other documentation.

[Fulltimer50]

There can be a 6 month limit to your stay, though.

[TomG2]

Thanks to all for the confirmation of what I thought. Declaring one part of the US off limits did not make any sense.

[deadeye1]

I live in QC. Have not heard anything about any changes. Our provincial heath insurance will only cover a small portion of any hospital or doctors visits. We always carry private insurance for travel . Our vehicle and trailer insurance policies are now requiring extra premiums if we are out of province more then 30 days.

[pawatt]

Have not heard any such thing yet here in Palmview Texas, 2 Miles from Mexico. Lots of Canadians here. Many own property in area parks.

[MDKMDK]

Looks like no one else has heard aboutn this.

Yes, being from Quebec usually makes a difference in many things. They do things differently there, and get different treatment on different issues than the rest of us.

Did she say what she specifically meant by "support"? Was it consular support for problems? Financial support for medical services? That's happening in Ontario soon. They're eliminating the annual $400/person out of province emerg medical insurance supplement. Maybe Quebec is doing something similar?
C$400 doesn't go very far anyway in a US hospital, was the logic for Ontario, and they can save millions by getting rid of it. Private out of province emerge medical covers more and has higher overall coverage limits that would cover you in a US hospital/medical emergency.