health care

Yes. As a Canadian citizen and a resident of Ontario, I'm covered under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), which is the government-run health insurance plan for the province. It's funded by a payroll deduction tax by residents who are gainfully employed, by businesses in the province, and by transfer payments from the federal government.

It only costs something if it's not covered by OHIP. This includes the following:

• Prescription drugs for individuals under the age of 65 (although medication while hospitalized is covered)
• Smoking cessation drugs
• Most alternative medicine consultations and treatments, including Chinese medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture, and Reiki
• Physiotherapy treatments for people 20 to 64 years of age, unless they meet specific criteria
• Circumcision
• Dental care (unless you are on social assistance)
• Chiropractic services
• Items such casts, crutches, and splints
• Eye care is covered only under certain circumstances
• Immunizations for travel (hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Twinrix, HPV)
• Missed appointment fees
• Various treatments such as cosmetic procedures, cryotherapy for warts, and more
• Medical forms and notes
• Tensor bandages, splints, and other medical supplies

Prescription drugs, physio, dental care, chiropractic care, eye care, etc., are often covered at least in part by group insurance plans through places of employment. I'm currently covered under my common-law wife's group insurance through the school board she works for. It's top-quality coverage.

There are deductibles only on group or individual insurance items not covered by OHIP. In my case, there are deductibles on semi-private hospitals, prescription drugs ($25 per person; $50 per family), massage, and hearing aids, which are 100% reimbursed (and with premiums 100% board paid), with the exception of prescription drugs, which are 80% to 100% reimbursed depending on the drug.

That said....

I'm not sure this is very helpful as a comparison, but I thought maybe you'd like to see "how the other half lives" when it comes to health care.

 

It's the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (explained in the first part of my post above).

 

Notable too that we do have a provincial drug plan that covers prescription drug costs not included in OHIP. The Trillium Drug Plan is available to all Ontario residents but has a deductible based on income (I believe it's 2% annually). This really only makes it cost effective for people who either have very little income or people who have very high prescription drug costs (I am in the latter category).

Most provinces have some kind of similar assistance available. Generally speaking if you need healthcare in Canada there will be a way to get it without incurring undue financial burden.

Reading about things like having to pay for an MRI makes me vaguely uncomfortable. What happens if you don't have the money? Do you just not get the test?

 

Medical debt - Wikipedia

 

We pay about $150 out of my husband's paycheck for medical, vision, and dental for both of us, so about $1800 a year. I pay nothing out of my paycheck for vision and dental so we have double coverage, and given that my teeth hate me, having approximately 4k in dental coverage is a good thing. I'm also dependent on eye care, so that was a consideration as well.

Our health insurance is $500 individual deductible, $1500 family deductible, and $2500 individual out of pocket maximum ($7500 whole family). It pays 80% after hitting the deductible. Last time I had to have an MRI, I paid $275 or so out of pocket, which then got reimbursed by our HSA. We usually put enough in our HSA to cover our deductible every year.

If I go to urgent care twice in a year for a migraine, I will hit my deductible, as between the drugs and an IV, that's usually $250 a pop. I don't worry about doing it though, because I know we have that money in our HSA.

 

My insurance is the same as the plant workers where my husband works. Blue collar-white collar doesn't matter to their employer.

 

I had to look it up. I get health insurance through my significant other/domestic partner's job. It costs him about $160 monthly for the two of us and includes limited vision and dental. Individual deductible is $500 with a stop loss maximum of $4,000. It pays 80% between $500 and $4000, and 100% of doctors, hospitals, etc above $4000 but there is no stop loss on drugs and medications.

As an aside, the bills can mount up fast. One of his co-workers spent ten days in the hospital last month and the bill was $56,000 for just the hospital charges, not including the doctors, etc.

 

I have health care.
It is roughly $200/month for our family to have basic health coverage through my husband's employer. We have a $2,500 deductible per person. Anything over that is covered at 100%, no lifetime limit on expenses or any of that BS. There are no co-pays. Preventative care is covered with no out of pocket expense.

Over the course of my entire life, I have been covered under some health care plan or another. Usually through my parent's or my spouse's workplace. There was a brief time in my 20's when I paid for a high deductible plan that included catastrophic coverage and limited preventative care. It was $40 a month. I have been very careful to always have health coverage, because I have seen medical bills destroy my friends' livelihoods. I haven't wanted that for myself. I realize I'm pretty lucky that I have always had health insurance.