Quickly, there are three things you need to know when visiting a hospital in Canada.
1. Foreign patients have to pay $600 before receiving medical treatment
2. Credit cards are accepted
3. They won’t send you away if you don’t have the money.
This does not mean you do not need health insurance, however! As stated on the Government of Canada website:
"Canada does not pay for hospital or medical services for visitors. Make sure you have health insurance to cover any medical costs before you come to Canada."
It’s important you check with your medical insurance company before travelling to check if you are covered overseas.
If you are an American, it’s important you understand that Medicare and Medicaid programs will NOT cover ANY medical expenses outside of the United States.
Regardless of that fact…
If you didn’t know already, there are quite a lot of people doing what’s called "medical tourism" these days — Where they go to a foreign country to receive medical attention where it’s more expensive at home.
Here are some facts about medical treatment in Canada compared to the U.S.A.
o Average in-hospital treatment costs are half of what’s charged in American
o Compared to the 7.9 per thousand nurses in the U.S.A., Canada has 9.9 per thousand
o There’s almost 57% more in-hopital deaths in America (1.4% Canada, 2.2% U.S.A.)
o American hospital administrative costs are nearly 21% more than Canadian hospitals.
o Prescription drugs and medicine are far less expensive in Canada.
It’s no wonder Canada is becoming a top spot for "medical tourists".
Canada’s health care system is run on a provincial basis. Which means BC has it’s own hospital insurance plan. It’s funded by Canadian taxpayers.
It should be understood that tourists and temporary visitors do not qualify for this health care plan.