This latest announcement was a big change for people visiting Ontario and it wasn’t an April fools joke. At the beginning of the month, the Ontario Ministry of Health announced that it will no longer provide medical coverage for visitors to Ontario, effective April 1, 2023. This decision has understandably caused concern among those planning to visit Ontario, those who have already made plans to do so and uninsured people who are already here.
This announcement removed a temporary COVID-19 policy allowing uninsured patients to be provided medically-necessary care by hospitals, and the hospitals would be reimbursed for the treatment by the province. The sudden shift has left many with cause for concern and without medical coverage. While medical care will still be provided if required, patients without coverage would be footing the bill.
Fortunately, private emergency medical plans are available. Manulife offers a Visitor’s to Canada Emergency Medical Plan to make up the gap in coverage.
If you know someone who is unprotected due to the April 1 announcement, please reach out to me. I would be happy to help them through the process of replacing their coverage.
Photo by Jim Flores on Unsplash.