Dual Canada and US Citizenship

[TheRealCanadian]

$15 co-pay, $300 per person deductible. However, a family member with a heart condition that requires a battery of medications and twice annual tests that the almighty insurance company deems to be hospital type procedures.

That shouldn't get to $6,000 then. Is there an 80/20 co-pay for inpatient procedures? I'd personally stay away from them unless there's a pretty low out of pocket maximum; the entire point of health insurance is to cap costs and risk, and 80/20 co-pays simply do not do that.

Mind you, I'm sitting in the Atlanta suburbs in a house whose reduced value is now around $150K. My former colleages in Vancouver are all sitting in $750K+ houses. I couldn't afford to move back there (and you say you can't afford Vancouver either). My colleagues up there probably have considerably more net worth than I do.

Considering the parallels I see between the US in 2007 and Canada in 2010, I'm not sure how much longer you'll be saying this. I don't know if you were in Canada during the 1990 recession, but we had a dramatic plunge in real estate values then too (at least in Toronto) of around 35% and it took the better part of a decade for prices to recover. Prices cannot rise faster than income forever.

 

[TheRealCanadian]

Even if the combined tax+health spending in Canada is 5% or 10% more than it is in US, that will favor Canada residency because then you do not have to "worry" about dealing with insurance, not knowing whether you will be denied or approved for a major surgery or illness. The mental peace of mind is worth that much.

As Bobsmyth points out, there's no guarantee you can get the procedure in a timely fashion - or that you can even find a family doctor who is taking new patients. I know of people who moved cities and are forced to drive 3 hours each way to see their doctor. Besides, the cries of of having procedures denied are overblown; I've been in the US for over a decade, had a spouse and two children with significant medical bills and never had a procedure denied or been substantially out of pocket (with one exception). With that said, I've also been extremely careful to read the fine print on my insurance policies.

 

[sanjoseaug20]

As Bobsmyth points out, there's no guarantee you can get the procedure in a timely fashion - or that you can even find a family doctor who is taking new patients. I know of people who moved cities and are forced to drive 3 hours each way to see their doctor. Besides, the cries of of having procedures denied are overblown; I've been in the US for over a decade, had a spouse and two children with significant medical bills and never had a procedure denied or been substantially out of pocket (with one exception). With that said, I've also been extremely careful to read the fine print on my insurance policies.

When I was in US, on an employer based insurance, I have had regularly insurance pay less because the expenses were more than customary and genuine ... or some words to the effect. While this is not the same as denying insurance, it is pretty similar. I have spent almost 10K in a single year which includes a combination of employer insurance premiums, dental premiums, deductibles and co-pay ... and this was only for one family member who had/has chronic issues. Do not know how life will be with more than one sick. The challenge is that with employer insurance, you do not have the option of reading the fine print and then deciding.

Yes, maybe Canada is no saint, but from what I see (also based on a 2 week consulting with an insurance company), the US business model purely evil. The insurance business wants to cut costs and maximize profits, and the people at top do not care about a health condition, they only care about the health of their balance sheet, and their bonuses.

 

[anxiouscdn2]

sanjoseaug20, I'm with you. Furthermore, all my family is in Canada, where they've been treated for various cancers, heart attacks, etc. etc. with speed and efficiency, and they didn't have to worry about the cost. My own child is a Canadian-born IVF baby. But most Americans and many ex-Canadians believe that, despite Canada's higher life expectancy, Americans have better health care. (I don't think these folks countAmerica's working poor who lack health insurance). It's an argument that can't be won and it's off-topic here. I'll say no more.