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A comment on Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US). Parent comment

Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by sigstoat on Monday March 16, 2020 @04:15PM (#22597119)
> The biggest concern, in my opinion, would be people who try to come to Canada in the hopes that they can get sick here and recover somewhere that isn't going to bankrupt them as a result.

do canadian hospitals not send foreigners a bill?

it seems like this sort of issue would've come up long before now.

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Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by btilly on Monday March 16, 2020 @04:50PM (#22597565)
do canadian hospitals not send foreigners a bill?

It may have changed, but it used to be standard not to.

I remember a news article from about 15 years ago where doctors at a Vancouver hospital were unhappy about it. Not because they were treating the sick traveler for free, but because some stupid regulation meant that he had to remain in an ER bed rather than moving him to a normal hospital bed and freeing the space for anyone else who might need it.

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Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by ev0l on Monday March 16, 2020 @05:41PM (#22598227)
Most (all that I am aware of) health facilities here in Toronto will charge you before you get service unless you can prove you have coverage in the province. So yes Americans who are visiting will be charged for health services.
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Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by blaser-waffle on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @09:35AM (#22604726)
Healthcare in Canada is done by province -- there isn't a national system, just 10 different ones that have to comply with a federal mandate. They're all a little different.

That said, as an American in Alberta I can confirm for sure that they'll make you pay up front here too.

Cost out of pocket was much, much lower than it would be in the US, but certainly not trivial.

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Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by justusthane on Monday March 16, 2020 @05:13PM (#22597892)
As an American, I had to pay out of pocket for an ER visit in Ontario a few years ago. They charged me before admitting me even.
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Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by gramie on Monday March 16, 2020 @05:50PM (#22598347)
About ten years ago, a relative came to Ontario and had to pay the cost of an emergency room visit (about $400 to see a doctor and get a cast). The bill was sent about a month afterward (to our address), but I could see a tourist being made to pay immediately.
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Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by kragen on Tuesday March 17, 2020 @06:17PM (#22611163)
Yes, Canadian hospitals will bill you if you're foreign, but the amount they bill is about 20× to 50× less than what US hospitals bill for the same services.
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Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by peanut_merchant on Monday March 16, 2020 @05:12PM (#22597881)
They definitely do. At least in BC.

Source: Live in BC, foreign relatives had medical treatment while visiting.

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Re:Canada to bar entry to non-residents (except US) by bryanrasmussen on Monday March 16, 2020 @04:25PM (#22597254)
maybe it has come up before, but there would be a pretty significant difference between doing that with normal conditions and during a pandemic.
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