Does Medicare Cover Me in Canada?

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Ron,

At the time we had Blue Cross Blue Shield of Colorado and it did not cover foreign travel, so Carl gave good advice.  Each person should check his/her own policy for foreign coverage.

ArdraF
 
One other point, sometimes your Medicare supplemental policy says they will cover you in Canada BUT it may be ONLY if Medicare pays first.  Get a clear answer on this point!

JerryF
 
One of the points to consider, of course, is how much you are at risk in Canada, compared to the United States.

In Canada, doctor's fees are controlled by the Govt. so a regular operation for an emergency like a gallbladder attack or an appendix is going to cost a good bit under $1000 for the surgeon's fee.  Hospital bed days used to be $400 per day (I'm out of date on this).  It is the reverse of when Canadians go to the US----we have to insure for the worst possible occurrence which might cost $30K, $50K, $100K etc. and on up.

Americans in Canada would have difficulty pushing a medical bill above $10K for routine emergencies. And if you discover that you need a heart bypass or an esophagectomy, then you have the option of going home, in most cases.

It's a tricky problem, because you may be faced with something cataclysmic, like a stroke/brain haemorrhage, but in no instance will you be refused treatment.

It's a situation where you may want to consider a limit on your coverage, whereas Canadians in the US have no such option.

Just my 2c

Rankjo
(ex-vascular surgeon)
 
I'm curious .... can Americans cross the border and have elective (non-emergency) surgery in Canada? Is one place responsible for all the billing (e.g. the hospital), or do doctors and other providers bill separately?
 
Tom said:
I'm curious .... can Americans cross the border and have elective (non-emergency) surgery in Canada? Is one place responsible for all the billing (e.g. the hospital), or do doctors and other providers bill separately?

Tom

As noted above, Medicare does not cover any medical expenses outside the US. Non-Medicare policies may or may not, depending on the policy. You need to check, and have confirmed, with your insurance carrier.

Sorry for the post to Tom's 2008 message, I didn't look at the date before responding and thought that our multiple responder (spammer ???) was replying to the message.
 
Not a problem Bernie, but what multiple responder?
 
I'm curious .... can Americans cross the border and have elective (non-emergency) surgery in Canada?

Well if you're not in much of a hurry you might be able to.  ;D
Truth is unless you're dying or on the way to it you'll have to get in the line up even to see a doctor.  Let's see in the Spring of  2007 I went to our family doctor because of a hearing problem. He got me an appointment with a specialist which took place in Jan 2008. The specialist then made me an appointment at the Hospital for a hearing evaluation, well it seems maybe my turn will be sometime this summer.
So much for the Govt. sponsored stuff. I got an assessment at a hearing aid place, by a consultant for the Province ( who by the way trained most of the techs at the Hospitals) who sent the results to my doctor and the specialists and the Dept of health. So far I haven't heard from any of them but I did buy a hearing aid (just short of $1700).
Just an idea of how far our medical system has been degraded. She aint whut she usta be b'ys  ;D

Cheers
Willis
 
Tom said:
Not a problem Bernie, but what multiple responder?

Tom

A staffer (you?) probably deleted the message, but when I posted there was a message between yours and mine. The same message was on about 3-4 other threads, word for word.
 
can Americans cross the border and have elective (non-emergency) surgery in Canada?

From what I've heard the Canadian doctors and health care system are sending patients south to us so they don't have to wait a year to get procedures done.  I read somewhere that the Canadian health care system in some cases actually reimburses the American hospital for their services.  Seems to me it also includes getting diagnostic tests like MRIs and CAT scans because we have so many more of these sophisticated pieces of equipment.  In some provinces there may be only one CAT machine, unlike here where there may be a dozen in the same city.  It's called health care rationing.

ArdraF
 
We are aware of a friend of ours that lost her hearing in one ear because of the wait she had to get to a specialist after the condition had been determined.
 
rankjo said:
One of the points to consider, of course, is how much you are at risk in Canada, compared to the United States.

In Canada, doctor's fees are controlled by the Govt. so a regular operation for an emergency like a gallbladder attack or an appendix is going to cost a good bit under $1000 for the surgeon's fee. 

Snipped....

Americans in Canada would have difficulty pushing a medical bill above $10K for routine emergencies. And if you discover that you need a heart bypass or an esophagectomy, then you have the option of going home, in most cases.

Snipped...

Just my 2c

Rankjo
(ex-vascular surgeon)

I would not count on those low fees you mentioned applying to you as a visitor. You would likely be charged the full cost for the surgeon, tests and the hospital.  Neither the Canadian Government, nor the Provinces who control the plans will contribute one penny to a non- citizen's medical expenses. I believe that the doctors/hospital fees are not regulated outside the Medicare system that would apply to Canadian citizens.

I  don't know what arrangements you could make to pay this off before leaving, but we, as Canadians visiting the USA can be required to pay the out of country expenses off and then claim back the meager amounts they will allow us from our provincial plans and also claim from our private insurance when we return.

Private insurance is absolutely necessary for us in visiting the USA. Some insurance plans will undertake the paperwork for collecting our Medicare claims and then pay out the difference to us. Some will collect the medicare allowance and then pay directly the American hospital  and doctors charges without us shelling out the cash. The plans can vary greatly. Some American hospitals in Florida will handle ALL the paperwork for us for both our medicare and insurance claims!!!.

 
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