Pregnant woman's visa change left her ineligible for Quebec health coverage

Four months shy of giving birth to her first child, a Chinese woman who has lived in Quebec for two years is staring down some potentially huge medical bills after learning she won't be able to renew her government health coverage.

"I feel stressed, but I have to try and be less because it will affect my health and my baby's health," Liang Zhong said from the home she shares with her husband Jason Lizotte in Brossard, on Montreal's South Shore.

"Maybe we spend a fortune on the delivery, and after, I'm in debt ... and don't even have money for the baby."

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The couple has had to put plans to buy a home on hold because of the looming mountain of medical bills.

"Right now, the deposit you have to give is $12,000," said Lizotte, a Canadian citizen.

Permanent residency application 

At issue is the type of visa Liang holds. The problem arose after she applied for permanent residency last summer and at the same time applied for a new work permit.

While it wouldn't comment on this specific case, Quebec's health authority, the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec, said all Canadian work permits aren't equal when it comes to eligibility for health care.

Liang has been studying and working legally in Canada since 2008, when she moved to St. Catharines, Ont. to attend Brock University. She met her husband, who was looking for a Mandarin tutor, while they were both students, and they started dating a few years after graduating.

After finishing school, Liang obtained a three-year post-graduate open work permit and got a job in a restaurant.

During that time, she had an Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) card, which she was able to obtain with a letter from her employer saying she intended to work for the next six months.

When the couple moved to Quebec in 2014, she was able to trade in her OHIP card for one from RAMQ while still on the same work permit. She currently works as a cashier and has a seasonal job preparing tax returns.

Liang applied for permanent residency last summer and for another open work permit so hers wouldn't expire while she was waiting for word on her residency application.

She received another permit to continue working which takes effect next month, but it is a different class of permit than her previous post-university permit. She learned in February that Quebec won't provide health-care coverage for someone with this class of permit.

In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for RAMQ said "not all work permits are recognized for the purpose of eligibility for the health insurance plan in Quebec," and referred to the province's requirements for eligibility and registration.

Lizotte said he has appealed to Quebec Health Minister Gaétan Barrette, who happens to be the couple's MNA, as well as to federal Health Minister Jane Philpott.

The couple did consider returning to Ontario and reapplying for OHIP, but Lizotte isn't able to leave Quebec.

"Now we're putting a pregnant lady in stress and an environment where she's alone, so we thought of that idea, but we cancelled because we have to stay positive for the baby," Lizotte said.

"If it costs money, we're still going to fight, but we have to make sure health is number one."