Returning to Canada, 3 mth OHIP wait

Thank-you for all the ideas!  And Linda, what a memory you have!!  Once the time gets closer I'll tap into my sister's resources, Cdn Cancer Society, etc.  If and when I return (I feel much more emotionally comfortable being ill in Canada than the US -- not to say that the care, drs and nurses haven't been exceptional here) I may not have a job in hand.  Hopefully that will be short lived since I am still in regular contact with my friends in Canada, some of whom are recruiters for some companies...

I have all my receipts and income info from here, I hope it is recognized as valid in Canada.  If not, oh well....Luckily I'll have a PET-CT in June before I have to move if things don't work out here... 

 Gee, if it's not one thing, it's another...

Thank-you again for your help -- it's nice to know there are some resources out there, and wonderful women here so generous with their advice and help.  I have this thread as a fav and will check regularly if someone thinks of some more options.

Elizabeth

xox

Talk about an omen -- I was just checking the OHIP site and just this April there were some amendments to residency -- you can be out of the country working for up to 5 years and keep OHIP as long as you have a couple of years residency in Ontario prior to leaving.  I have over 40 years so I think it will be OK.  I was so scared that my mets would go wild during the 3 month wait and I was going to die waiting.  I can now sleep.  And just worry about the costs of prescriptions...  I'll have to look into the Trillium benefits too.  Oh, what a relief, I can come home!

Yes, I still have the old red and white OHIP card.  I just had a job interview here.  If I don't come back this summer it will be soon -- nothing better than coming home.  :-)

I'm an Ottawa girl.  Spent most of my life there, though I did live in Edmonton for 3 years 20 yrs ago and London ON 15 yrs ago.  All my girlfriends are in Ottawa, Orleans, Nepean...  And my family.  I'm just kinda bummed out having to leave my boyfriend here, the reason I moved to Boston.  But sometimes I could strangle him so I'll hang onto those thoughts to make it easier. ;-)  And the drive from Ottawa to Boston is only about 7 hours -- I used to do it all the time before I moved here.

Yes, I love change.  It was so refreshing when I moved to Boston 2.5 yrs ago and then, 6 months into coming here I found out about by BC...kinda ruined the excitement of being in Boston.  I don't go to any of the big hospitals here, but one in a small town just outside and get the most marvelous care.  I know I'll get the same great care back in Ottawa.  I've made a few good girlfriends here that if there was ever a clinical trial here I wanted to try I could always come back and stay with them. 

Just all the kindness I'm receiving from my Canadian girls here makes me pine for home!  Thank-you so much!!

xox

Most employers offer health etc. insurance.  The premiums are pretty well the same as what we pay for prescription/dental/vision in Canada through employers there.  I remember I had about $120 off my paycheque/month in Canada.  Same thing here.  In the US I have a $1000 annual deductable and only pay $15 "co-pay" when I see a doctor.  Everything else is free, except for things like cosmetic, etc, as in Canada.  What's nice is that prescriptions are a set price -- 3 tiers -- $7, 20, 35 no matter what they cost retail. 

Insurance companies are legislated to pay for all breast reconstructions too -- they can't get away with saying it's cosmetic.  And they will try!!  They didn't want to pay my surgeon and hospital when I got my ovaries out.  I never knew until my dr told me.  What happens is that the hospital battles the insurance on your behalf.  The drs are good at going for bat for you, writing letters to the insurers, etc.  The problem here isn't greedy drs it's the insurance companies. 

If you lose your job there's a federal program called COBRA where you can pay the premiums your employer paid to keep in the group health plan for up to 18 months.  As a single, I paid $370/month.  When I was laid off I re-entered the US as a visitor so I could stay and continue my treatments.  The US border people were quite nice and understanding about my predicament. 

Cobra gets pricy for couples -- usually about $1200/month, more for families.  Obama just enacted a program where if you lost your job Sept 1/08 or up to Dec 31/09 the gov't will pay 60% of your cobra payments -- that will really help out families.  You always hear about people rushing to get all their health care done when they're laid off and have the 1 month before their insurance ends and then take the risk of not having insurance because they can't afford the cobra premiums. 

Since health care is for-profit here, it's expensive -- since I was diagnosed May 07, my insurance has been billed about $300K.  But I think there's a 1 million lifetime cap.

If you are poor there is the federal Medicare plan.  But health insurance varies state to state.  Massachusetts is good in that they have a state run health plan for people that aren't poor enough for medicare but don't get insurance through their employers.  But there are larger co-pays and deductables.  They also have a high-risk pool of health insurance for people with chronic disease and individual health care insurance is too expensive.  I tell people that what Mass does is pseudo-socialized health care and see -- it's not scary -- it's a good thing -- it would be much better fully socialized.  They hear the word "socialized" here and think communism and very high taxes.  I tell them my taxes aren't that much less here.

I'm told that there are quite a few other states that don't have the state run health care and a lot of people fall through the cracks -- their employers don't offer insurance, they can't afford private plans, etc.  Health insurance in most of the US is just like dental insurance in Canada -- if you get a plan through your employer you're all set.  If you lose your job you're screwed and can only get free dental care if you're on social assistance.

This is just a general summary -- there are lots of permutations, varieties of health plans.  But so far it's been OK, put the cobra payments were hard.