Canadian Health Care

konakat -

My daughter was accepted to University of Waterloo.  She's deferred her acceptance until the 2010-2011 year so she won't move up until next summer.  Do you really think I have a chance with immigration?  I do have to have a medical exam as part of the process and my assumption was that I'd be seen as too large a burden on the health care system.

E

Yes, Waterloo is a wonderful university. Congrats! As for your ability to come here, I think you could come as a visitor if you purchase out of country insurance. However, from my own experience I know that out of country insurance will have exclusions for pre existing conditions. As for immigration, I'm not sure what country you are a resident of. Countries use a point system and many things are involved in approving immigration. For example, I'm a Canadian, married to a Canadian but even though we have a house in the US and "visit" there 5 months a year, there wouldn't be a chance in the world we would ever be able to emmigrate to the US because Canada is not on the US list of countries they are accepting applicants from. Unless I was a doctor, a research scientist or willing to invest millions of dollars to start a business where I would guarantee to employ x number of Americans in within the next five years, I would not have enough points to make me eligible for a green card. Canada has the exact same rules. You can google the point system to see how you fit in. I also think I'm not telling you anything you didn't already have a sense of when I tell you that health would make you ineligible. I work in an industry that employs Mexican immigrants with temporary work visas to work during the farming season in Canada. Each requires a physical and unless they are healthy, a work visa is not granted. In your case it really does suck and like me, you may find a webcam to be a great way to visit with your daughter if you can't get out of country insurance to come over and visit with her. Here's the link for the health but as I said, you may not have been illegible regardless of your current health condition. I'm only giving you this link so you can work on Plan B . . .  finding out about visiting here with out of country health care. Also, in my case, we always weigh the odds. So for example, even if Cancer is excluded on your policy, only you would know if you think you could hop on a plane and head home if you were feeling like you needed to be hospital. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I know I always prefer to know the reality of the situation so I can work on the alternatives. httpp://www.canadavisa.com/immigration-medical-inadmissibility.html

RE: Zometa....it is administered via IV 2 times a year for 3 years for a total of 6 tx.....sorry I didn't explain that clearly. So yes, barbe, you are correct. My doctor filled out a form from Access Zometa and faxed it in to them. They make the arrangements to administer the Zometa. They also tried to get Manulife on board but my plan doesn't include Zometa. The Access Zometa lady was very nice. You need to have a talk with your doctor and get him/her to fill out the forms for you to get Zometa. I don't know why OHIP and the hospitals are making this one difficult for us. If anyone else knows, I'd like to hear more. In the meantime, I am going to follow up with Access Zometa.

Elizabeth, what does TN stand for?  (T is for Temporary, I presume, but fill us in on the N word).

And yes, U of Waterloo has an outstanding reputation and I've heard it's a really great place to live.  Very pretty countryside around there as well.

Hi Mantra -- it sounds like your husband was on an HB-1 -- it lasts for 5 years and is renewable once.  It is also the visa of choice if you want to eventually apply for a green card.  With the TN (from the NAFTA agreement used for Canada/US/Mexico cross-border employment) it is purely a temporary work permit with no intent to immigrate.  It used to have to be renewed every year at the border but only recently changed to 3 years in length.  And it may be renewed indefinitely. 

The TN is easier and faster to get and much less expensive so employers like it. You show up at the border crossing with your employment letter and supporting docs (i.e., diplomas, certifications...) and if everything's in order you get it immediately.  The 1 year permit was only $50.  I don't know how much it is now for the 3 years.  The first time I got one my company used their lawyer to draft the letter for the border person.  The next time I did it myself -- it's very easy and not a burden to your potential employer.

I'm not sure that there are no health questions with a TN visa.  My neice and her family were going to move to Montreal from Indiana for a couple years, and I think it was a NAFTA thing.  The company had flown them there several times for interviews, house searching etc.  But when they found that their son had a chronic condition (and a serious one) it turned out that they would not be allowed to move.

Waterloo is a very good university, my youngest son went there for a couple years. 

It's kind of far down the road, but after your daughter gets her degree she can probably get fast tracked for PR status and then she can sponsor you.  Or you could get a temporary residence permit, they are good for 6 months and can be renewed.  Unfortunately you can't legally work or access any services to speak of.

I don't know what kind of visa it was, but there was no intent to immigrate.  It was going to be a 2 year stay while my neice's husband set up some company branch in Montreal.  Perhaps the difference is the dependent status of the child.  It was my understanding that it was Quebec that said "No, we won't admit this family".  In which case there would be no problem for enjoyful and she should certainly check it out. 

I guess we backward socialistic Canadians are not so dumb after all.  hehehe

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Canadian+team+makes+cancer+diagnostic+breakthrough/2042568/story.html

My parents emigrated from Italy to Canada in the 1950s.  They had very little money, and Canada did not have universal healthcare then.  My eldest sister was born in 1958.  She got polio when she was 11 months old.  The vaccine was available, but my parents could not afford the vaccine, and certainly couldn't afford to not go to work to take her to the doctor.  My sister needed countless operations for her to be able to walk, and it nearly bankrupted my parents.  It took them years to pay the hospital bills.

So, when I hear that in 2009, people still cannot afford preventative care, and can still go bankrupt if they get sick, I get so angry. I have seen the benefits of "socialized" healthcare, and I have seen the heartbreak of people who don't have healthcare.  Regardless of what anyone may say, my opinion is that healthcare is a RIGHT.  How can a civilized country allow its citizens to go bankrupt, or not got the healthcare they need?  

You're in excellent hands with Dr. L and his team, Blue -- but then, you know that already!

My surgeon said I couldn't get a PET scan unless I was a celebrity!

So do a PET scan on me Elizabeth...sigh!

Right now my cat is behind me in my chair, against my lower back. I'll have to consider that my PET scan for the day...

I just had a PET scan in Edmonton. I was originally scheduled for a bone scan but due to the isotope shortage they had me sign onto a trial on PET scans. I really don't know the difference between a bone scan and PET scan. I had a bone scan in March but onc wanted to have another look due to ongoing back issues. Will a PET scan show more....is it more accurate? Any comments would be appreciated

Hi Pickle -- I like the PET because it scans bones, organs, muscles, everything.  Apparently it sometimes has false positives but that hasn't happened to me.  Two times it really helped me -- when we were just checking my liver for more lesions it showed that the cancer hopped over to my spine too.  Another time it picked up some small lesions that were missed on a CT scan (or was it an MRI?).  I just like getting my whole body looked at instead of a particular body part -- ya never know what you might find.

I posted on one of the other health care sites - maybe not such a good idea. Having just seen something on CBC, I am beginning to understand the American system. Now that the Congress has passed a health care bill, the Senate can begin to discuss their health care bill which is NOT the same bill that Congress passed. Then, assuming that bill passes in the Senate, there is a conference something that melds the two bills and that compromise creature is the thing the President will or will not sign.  I am still a bit confused about how the bill that got passed in Congress got to be there - it seems to have been written by several committees along the way.  Does this seem an unneccesarily cumbersome system to any one else?