The Ontario government is proposing to end the Ontario Health Insurance Plan’s coverage of emergency out-ofcountry medical costs. I haven’t seen Ontario snowbirds this angry about an issue in almost 30 years. The Out-of-Country Travellers Program (OOC) currently reimburses Ontario residents travelling outside of Canada between $200 and $400 per day for emergency in-patient services and up to $50 per day for emergency outpatient services. The Ontario government’s plan is scheduled to come into effect on October 1, 2019. While travel medical insurance remains a necessity for all Ontarians travelling abroad, terminating out-of-country emergency medical coverage will ultimately increase premiums for private travel medical insurance coverage. This will not only impact the snowbirds who travel south during the winter months, it will also affect cross-border shoppers and Ontarians planning family vacations. We estimate that the elimination of this program will increase travel medical insurance premiums in Ontario by 7.5%. Ultimately, the financial burden will fall on Ontario travellers including seniors, many of whom are on fixed or limited incomes. The elimination of the OOC Travellers Program also runs counter to the government’s goal of cutting costs. The Ministry of Health states that these measures are being proposed as part of a broader strategy to restore accountability and trust in taxpayer dollars. However, implementation of these proposed amendments would have the opposite effect. By increasing the price of private insurance, the Ontario government is making it more expensive for travellers to be adequately covered for their trips outside of Canada. If travel insurance prices become prohibitive, it will prevent a significant number of seniors from being able to travel abroad. In turn, this will place an even heavier burden on Ontario’s already strained medical system. If retired Ontarians opt not to travel abroad, and they encounter a medical emergency, the Ontario government will shoulder 100% of the costs of medical services. Whereas, if the same emergency were to occur outside of Canada, the Ontario government would only need to reimburse a small portion of the overall health costs − approximately 6%, according to the government’s own proposal summary. Every province and territory in Canada provides reimbursement to residents who require emergency medical assistance while travelling outside of the country. Under the portability provision of the Canada Health Act, government health insurance plans are required to provide reimbursement for outof-country emergencies at in-province rates. The Ontario government’s move to scrap all emergency reimbursement for travellers is unprecedented in this country and will further burden residents with increased insurance costs. Frankly, it doesn’t sound as if a great deal of thought went into this proposal and, rest assured, we will do everything we can to prevent or reverse this…no matter how long it takes. On December 13, 2018, Bill C-21, An Act to amend the Customs Act received Royal Assent in the Parliament of Canada. As I have discussed in previous reports, Bill C-21 allows Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to collect basic biographic information, such as the full name, date of birth and citizenship or nationality, on all travellers departing Canada by land and air. Passage of Bill C-21 is a necessary step towards the full implementation of the Entry/Exit Initiative. For those who are unfamiliar with this program, the Entry/ Exit Initiative is a co-ordinated entry-exit information system between Canada and the United States. This system permits sharing information so that the record of a land entry into one country can be used to establish an exit record from the other. Currently, Canada and the U.S. exchange biographic information at land ports of entry, on third-country nationals (non-U.S. or non-Canadian citizens), permanent residents of Canada who are not U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents of the U.S. who are not Canadian citizens. Canada also shares with the U.S. biographic entry information on U.S. citizens and nationals who enter Canada. The third phase of the Entry/Exit Initiative, which has not yet been fully implemented, will expand the systematic exchange of biographic entry data on all travellers, including Canadian citizens, at all automated land border ports of entry. For snowbirds and other Canadian travellers, this means that when travelling to and from the United States by vehicle, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will know precisely how many days they have been in the United States. For the vast majority of our members, who adhere to U.S. immigration and tax laws, this will have no impact on their annual travel to the United States. While Bill C-21 has been passed, corresponding regulations need to be adopted and an information-sharing agreement between CBSA and U.S. CBP must be put in place before the information about Canadian citizens can be exchanged. We are tracking these developments closely and will alert all CSAmembers when the Entry/Exit Initiative becomes fully operational. Government Relations Report Ron Steeves First Vice-President CSANews | SPRING 2019 | 11
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