12.24.07
robotbait: BC MSP and visa extensions
As I mentioned before, I scalded my hand and ended up feeling very foolish about a resulting trip to the emergency room. Well, I now feel very good about that trip. On Saturday, I got a bill for $130 for that trip because I wasn’t covered. With a bit of exploring, we discovered that the British Columbia Medical Services Plan didn’t think that Jim and I existed. This was disconcerting.
Apparently, when you get a study permit extension, or extend your work visa in Canada, you also have to tell the provincial health care plan that you got an extension. It’s not enough to just keep paying your bills.
In BC, you have to fax your new study permit or work permit to the head MSP office at 250-405-3595. Be sure to include your Care Card number somewhere on the fax so that they know whose file this regards.
You have 90 days to reinstate your same number; if you take more than 90 days, they have to issue you a new number. We faxed in our permits today, 24 December, one entire week before the 90 days would have been up.
If I hadn’t gone to the emergency room for what turned out to be a trivial matter, I would not have found out that my Care Card had expired before the 90 days was up. I would have had to go through even more paperwork… so now I’m glad that I went!
Keywords: British Columbia Medical Services Plan, Canadian study permit extension, Canadian work permit extension, health care, health insurance.
