Pregnant Peruvian woman fights for Quebec health card
An expectant Peruvian woman who faced a bumpy road to get health coverage in Ontario during her first pregnancy now says bureaucratic bungling between the federal and Quebec governments has left her without coverage again.
Rosa Callalli moved from Ottawa to Gatineau two years ago with her husband and young child and has been working and paying health premiums in Quebec. Callalli is now four-months pregnant with her second child.
Callalli had health care coverage in Ontario but said she has repeatedly been denied coverage in Quebec.
"Well, it's very stressful," she told CBC News. "I haven't seen any doctor yet. I'd like to know if everything is alright. I'm taking my vitamins but I'd like to know how my baby is growing inside, also."
Caroline Dupont, a spokesperson for Regie de l'assurance maladie Quebec, said a person must be a permanent resident to qualify for health care coverage in Quebec. She declined to speak about Callalli's case specifically due to privacy reasons.
Callalli said her application for permanent residency was supposed to be transferred last fall from the federal government to the Quebec Ministry of Immigration for completion. Five months later, Callalli said she just found out those documents were never sent.
It's the second time that Callalli has had to fight for health care coverage, she said.
In April 2013, when Callalli was living in Ottawa and pregnant with her first child, she told CBC News that her health care coverage in Ontario was cancelled due to a change in her visa status.
Callalli started working in Canada as a live-in caregiver on a legal visa in 2008. In January 2013, she was granted an "open working visa" with an extension to 2017.
After CBC News told her story, the office of Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne helped Callali get a new health card.
Callalli is now frustrated that even though she has been working and paying health premiums in Quebec, she is left without health care coverage.
"I don't understand why do I have to pay this amount when I don't have a health card. How can they leave us unprotected?" she said. "I feel like I'm begging. I am someone who came to Canada to work. I feel like an immigrant that is not welcome."
