Health Insurance

The Ontario government says that it reimburses health costs incurred outside of country for Ontarians still covered by their government health insurance, but the catch is that they only cover the costs at a fixed rate, and that rate is very very low. It's worth paying attention to the not-so-subtle message scattered liberally, in bold, across the Travelling Outside Canada page on the website of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care: 'you are strongly advised to purchase additional health insurance every time you leave Canada'. 

 So...I conducted some research into private health insurance, because my world-class Dublin institution does not provide that for me, and you never know when you might get hit by the LUAS and require emergency health services. I have to keep telling myself to look right and not left when I prepare to cross the street... I've had travel insurance many times in the past, but it's significantly different when you plan to be out of province for an extended period of time. There are essentially two kinds of health insurance relevant to those planning to be abroad: travel insurance, and global expatriate insurance. These types depend on your situation, and they are mutually exclusive.  I'll try to make this as simple as possible, because it took time and lots of questions for it to become this simple for me:

TRAVEL INSURANCE VS. GLOBAL EXPATRIATE INSURANCE

1. Travel Insurance
If your Canadian government health insurance (GHIP) is valid for the entire duration of your trip, then this is the kind of insurance you must purchase.

It is cheaper than the global expat option, and the coverage is far superior (e.g. up to $5-million, or unlimited). The next question, of course, is: How do I know if my GHIP remains valid? This is a very scary question for a Canadian, who, if you're like me, has never seen a doctor's bill or hospital bill in their lifetime, let alone actually paid a GP, referred specialist, or hospital or emergency room for any kind of service. We've got it good. The short (but not complete) answer is that your insurance remains valid as long as you are not away from the province for more than 212 days in any 12 month period. I say the answer is not complete because if you've been coming and going a lot in the 2 years prior to your big expat adventure, the rules may differ. Refer back to the Travelling Outside Canada factsheet. So, that's the bad news for those leaving for over 212 days. The good news is that under certain circumstances, you can apply for continuous OHIP eligibility beyond those 212 days. The certain circumstances currently include:

• study outside of Canada
• work outside of Canada
• missionary work outside of Canada
• vacation or other reason outside of Canada
  

Fortunately I fit under the second circumstance, but the last one seems to include anyone!!

So, off I went to line up (join the cue) at my local OHIP office to apply for an extended absense with continued coverage. And oh ya, I had to bring several documents. Out came that hosting agreement again (see section above on Work Permits), along with proof of Ontario address (driver's license or utility bill), proof of citizenship (I used a passport), and another proof of identity (I used a credit card).

2. Global Expatriate Insurance
If your are no longer covered by your government health insurance, then you must purchase Global Expatriate Insurance.

There are not that many companies that offer this kind of insurance, and it is more expensive than travel insurance. The good thing is that you can purchase travel insurance to cover you for the first portion of your trip, when you still have valid GHIP, and then global expat insurance for the later part of your trip, when your GHIP has run out. But if you can, get your GHIP extended as per instructions above, and go with standard travel insurance.

I learned about the differences between travel insurance and global expat insurance partly by talking to insurance companies on the phone, and partly by talking to the very helpful Gary, who works at the Canadian OmbudService for Life & Health Insurance. The OmbudService is non-partisan, and provides excellent assistance in navigating this rather complicated (but hopefully after reading this, crystal-clear!) situation. Gary assures me that all of the other folks are also equally helpful, so you don't need to ask for him specifically :)

You have to check out the different companies and policies yourself, but the one piece of advice I will give is this: stand-alone insurance companies proved to be quite cheaper than insurance offered through the banks or Blue Cross. And their policies were comparable, or even better.