We spent today becoming acclimated with the Canadian government service bureaus and had an introduction to socialized medicine. (Please note, that this is only our experience and may not reflect the experience of others.)
We started out at 8:45 on a snowy and cold morning for the drive to downtown Montreal. Our first stop was to obtain our SIN or Social Insurance Number. It is similar to the SSN in the States, but is only used for banking, credit and employment. Therefore, it was not necessary for Arabella to obtain one. If we choose to open a bank account for her while we are here, she will then need to have one issued. When we arrived, there were 4 people in front on us in line to check in. We got checked in, had to fill out a form and then sat in a waiting area for about 20 minutes. Once called, we went to a window, they took our passports, checked our Visa's and then issued our numbers on the spot. We received a form with the number on it and will receive the official card in the mail in about 7 - 10 days. Things seemed to be going smoothly, one down, one to go!
We headed back out into the snow and onto the next service bureau. It was in another building in downtown Montreal.
I should preface this section, by stating that in the province of Quebec, there are only two (2) offices that handle the services associated with health insurance registration. As a point of reference, the approximate population of the Quebec province is 7.8 million people.
Upon arriving at the bureau, we waited in a line that was out the door of the office, I would estimate that there were about 50 people in front of us just waiting to check in with the receptionist. There were 2 receptionist windows, however, there was always a sign at one that stated "FERME" or "Closed", so really there was only one person checking people in. Once checked in, we were given a number, B113, and told to have a seat in the waiting area. At this point, have a seat was just a figure of speech, it was standing room only. The room was filled with all races, ethnicity's and people from all economic status'. See below...
We were told the wait would be approximately 1 hour to be seen regarding our registration. We finally obtained a seat and waited for our number to appear on the screen telling us that it was our turn to be seen. During our wait, Arabella had a few meltdowns, but that is to be expected when she is forced to wait in a room with hundreds of other people that is hot and stuffy and she has all sorts of pent up energy. Good thing we brought some things to keep her occupied and fed, since if you left for food and they called your number you were out of luck! 1 hour and 45 minutes later, our number appeared and we headed on to the next station. We presented our passports and visas to the individual who was processing our registration. She wanted to see a letter from CAT stating that the office was in Quebec since on Jay's work visa the location was stated as "unknown". We provided a letter, but it was not acceptable as it stated the office is in Ontario. Jay explained that our residence is in the Quebec province, his office is in our home and his customers are in the province. Still not good enough, we will have to fax a letter from CAT to the bureau for the final processing of our applications. I was thinking, "Great, we are going to have to come back and do this all over again"...but they were able to process the rest of our paperwork today. Thank goodness because I am not sure Arabella (or I) would be able to handle the wait again. We provided other necessary documentation, signed papers and after about 45 minutes, were informed we would have to return to the waiting area to be called to have our pictures taken for our insurance cards. We waited for our number to flash on the screen again and after about 30 minutes, we paid $8 each for our photos, had them taken and then were told by the picture taker "You can leave now"! I was thinking thank goodness because if I am told to go back to the waiting area one more time, I am going to have a tantrum like my overtired Arabella! At this point, we collected our belongings and headed out the door. Yippee!! I am very glad that we arrived at the bureau when we did in the morning, because as we were leaving, the line to get into the office snaked around the whole floor (I think there were at least 150 - 200 people, just waiting to get in to register with the receptionist). This number does not include those already checked in and waiting.
Once outside, I think I was just as happy as Arabella to be out of that black hole and into the cold Montreal air! As they say, it was "A Breath of Fresh Air" and it was so refreshing! We returned home at 3 pm, it was very long and tiring and I wanted to crash like Arabella!
When we receive our card in 3 months, which is the requisite waiting period upon establishing residency in Quebec, this is what our cards will look like:
The Régie issues a Health Insurance Card to persons eligible for the Québec Health Insurance Plan. Because the Health Insurance Card gives access to insured healthcare services, it is important for insured persons to carry their card with them at all times.
Information appearing on a Health Insurance Card
A Health Insurance Number, unique to each person, consisting of:
the first three letters of the last name;
the first letter of the first name;
the last two digits of the year of birth;
the month of birth (to which 50 is added to indicate female);
the day of birth;
an administrative code used by the Régie.
The person's identity:
first name (if the number of characters in the first name exceeds the space available, only the initial will appear on the card);
last name at birth;
husband's last name, if requested by a woman married before April 2, 1981 or by a woman married outside Québec who exercises her civil rights under that name;
the number of cards issued to the person since 1984.
The person's birthdate and sex.
The year and month of expiry.
The person's photograph and signature, both of which are digitized and incorporated into the card. Cards issued to persons not required to provide a photo and a signature, such as children under age 14, have no photo or signature spaces, while cards issued to persons exempt from providing their photo, their signature or both, are marked "exempté" in the appropriate space(s).
On the back of the Health Insurance Card, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux offers the insured person the possibility of consenting to organ donation (info taken from http://canadaonline.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&zTi=1&sdn=canadaonline&cdn=newsissues&tm=20&gps=62_979_1339_846&f=00&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.ramq.gouv.qc.ca/en/citoyens/assurancemaladie/carte/carte.shtml)
Until we receive our card, if we need to go to the drs, we will have to pay out of pocket for our care. However, once we receive our card, we can go to any dr we want and will not have to deal with insurance paperwork, co-payments, referrals or coverage denials!
With the above being said, not having been in the loop recently about the health care debate going on back home and at at the risk of offending some people back in the States, I think the US government really needs to think long and hard about how they will implement universal healthcare. And before everyone back home jumps on the bandwagon for universal healthcare, they may want to take a look at how it works elsewhere. It may change some minds.
