From: gld@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Gary L Dare)
Subject: Re: Canadians receiving health care in the USA (was: National Health Care)
Reply-To: gld@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Gary L Dare)
Organization: Curious Goods (formerly Louis Vendredi Antiques)
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1992 02:43:08 GMT

clamen+@CS.CMU.EDU (Stewart M. Clamen citing TU THANH HA of the 
Montreal Gazette, Quebec (City) Bureau) writes:
>
>QUEBEC - Medicare coverage for Quebecers travelling abroad will be
>drastically cut.  Health Minister Marc-Yvan Cote' said yesterday.
>
>Starting May 1, medicare will pay $480 per day for hospital costs
>abraod, plus $50 for medical expenses.

One thing to note to readers ... "Medicare" is a U.S. government
programme, while "medicare" is a Canadian term (used like "kleenex")
for our public health insurance system.  (Previous cycles of this
topic have had this cross-cultural confusion, and in the cooking
newsgroup Australians and Americans are arguing about what is a
squash and what is a pumpkin right now ...)

>While the new government measures applies to all travelling Quebecers,
>it is aimed mainly at those wintering in Florida.
>
>Quebec medicare now pays the first $750 of the bill, plus 50 per cent
>of the rest.
>
>People now abroad won't be affected by the new measure until they
>return to Quebec, Cote' said.

However, this should have no effect on those Quebecers who got to the
clinics described in my mid-January La Presse who take La Regie de
L'Assurance-Sante' fees directly ... what hospitals will do beyond
regular appointments, I don't know but ...

>The new measure means Quebecers going abbroad will face higher
>private-insurance premiums.

This is part of the private supplementary insurance I mention in my
FAQ, primarily aimed at travellers to cover the much much higher costs
of American health care ... an accident on a cross-border shopping
trip without coverage can wipe out any savings from the first time to
perpetuity ...

>Blue Cross is also studying a formula in which it would pay people who
>fall ill to fly back to Quebec rather than be treated in Florida.

This is common practice for Europeans that I've known at Columbia, who
are technically residents of their EC country (grad students are on
non-resident visas, and qualify).  First class Lufthansa if it's bad
enough ...

>Private insurance companies have already said they can't cover
>everyone if the government reduces its medicate policy.

This seems to be part of the political chess now being played between
Quebec and Ottawa ... Quebec wants to make public health insurance
more market-sensitive, and is alone because the other two biggest
provinces (Ontario and British Columbia) are run by the New Democratic
Party, who are social democrats, or as we joke: capuccino socialists.
A proposal for token deductibles of $5-$20 was proposed in the spring
but shot down by the Mulroney's federal Conservative administration at
the Cabinet level (probably the only time Benoit Bouchard worked for
his paycheque as Health Minister this year; his raison-d'etre is the
Constitution because the insurance runs on autopilot).

>About 2 per cent of Quebecers are too ill to be privately insured --
>"Unless we practically charge them the entire costs of medical
>services,"  said Yves Millette, an executive for the Canadian Life 
>and Health Insurance Association.

Private insurance in Canada for stuff that is not basic medical
(bandages to brain surgery).  This gives you perks like one would get
in a premium U.S. hospital like private room, a cellular telephone,
etc.  Travel insurance is another component (emergencies on short-term
trips, mostly to the U.S.) that they offer, for real medical stuff.
Private insurers are happy that it's all they have to sell direct to
individuals and for corporate benefits, and if the Tories or Liberals
ever dared to "go American" the political moneymen at London Life,
etc. will raise holy hell (friends in insurance tell me that, anyways)
before flashing their political donation money -- but even mentioning
to do that is courting revolution ...

gld
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Je me souviens ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gary L. Dare				Elections 1992-93:
> gld@cunixB.cc.columbia.EDU		* Jean Chretien (Canada)
> gld@cunixc.BITNET			* Perot^H^H^H^H^H Elvis! (USA)
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