Health Insurance for Pregnant People

[Azadehhast]

Hi, you wonderful mamas!

I'm an American living in Canada with my American husband, expecting our first baby in December, and planning to UC. We have temporary work/residency visas, and because they're being renewed (and will be for the next several months) we have "implied" status now, which means we can't apply for MSP.

Since we're planning to UC, we're not too worried about health coverage, but in case we do need to go to hospital, it'd be nice not to have to pay tons and tons out of pocket! Can anyone point me in the direction of some insurance companies to check with, who will provide coverage for my situation (aka, don't have pregnancy as a preexisting condition)? I don't even know where to begin!

[Sukhada]

I'm not sure the pregnancy related expenses are routinely covered by private medical insurance here in Canada. You could call blue cross or TIC and ask them about their travelers insurance or foreign workers insurance programs to see what is covered. Private insurance for Canadians usually only covers medications and dental because hospital fees are paid for through our universal health coverage.

[brennan]

I'm pretty sure there is nothing in Canada that would cover you.  All Canadian HAVE to have their provincial health insurance so there would be not really anything else out there you know?

What about getting traveller's insurance from the US?  I know that if I was pregnant and in a different country I would get traveller's insurance from a private company here in Canada.  You might be able to get that from a Canadian company, but I don't know.

ETA - I know that you wouldn't be having your baby at the hospital that this is for, but here is the list of costs for uninsured, I'd imagine every hospital is different though

http://www.lowriskmaternity.ca/uninsuredbilling.pdf