Saturday 10 January 2009

Medical emergency without healthcard

Many wonder if it's worth it to get medical insurance in Canada while you don't have a health card, would I be save? How much would it cost to pay for the emergency?

Well, when my mother in law was here a few weeks ago we went to Barry to do some snow tubbing, but as soon as we arrived she slip in the snow! She was in a LOT of pain so we had to take her to the hospital and get her to the emergency room.

The wait wasn't that long, maybe around an hour, although when you are in pain, I can imagine that it feels eternal. They take care of people in order of how sick you are or arrival, depending of how big the emergency is. The nurse saw her ankle and said she was sure she broke it, so she had to go and see the minor injuries doctor and have some x-rays done.

When the doctor saw her x-rays, he told her that yes, she had broken her ankle in 2 places and that they had to talk about the options... options? in plural? Well, he called a surgeon because she needed a surgery to fix those bones :S

The surgeon told her that having it here would cost around $6.000! Ouch! Since we couldn't pay that kind of money and she had medical insurance back in Venezuela, they put some kind of cast and sent her home. We came back, changed the flight and she is now in Venezuela waiting for her surgery there.

How much was the hospital bill? A little over $700! $100 for the doctor in minor injuries, $150 for the surgeon consult, $30 for the crutches and everything else hospital charges. After this I'm more than sure that people should get medical insurance when they can.

4 comments:

Nelson said...

Feliz Año!
We have to meet some day Aiglee.

Sorry to hear about what happened to your mother-in-law.
But I guess it is good that it wasn't something worst.
A friend of a friend had her sister going into a comma and dying here. The bill: $60,000.

So it is always financial responsible to get medical insurance.
It sure is less than the $700 you guys paid.

Anonymous said...

This is a very unfortunate story, but it does show that it is worth taking travel insurance.

And still, canada isn`t too bad... I have heard US medical bills are crazy expensive.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear that her wonderful vacation ended in pain,
hope she gets well soon.
I think it's totally unhuman for a doctor to let the patent out of the door in pain, sorry my 2 cents.

Aiglee said...

Thank you so much for your wishes.

Nelson, wow, that is too much :(

Zhu, yeah, I know. The doctor told us that the surgery here would be $6.000 but in USA (where my brother in law lives) would be around $14.000!

Moe, true, I agree