Moncton woman's medicare benefits arrive just days ahead of baby
With her second child on the way, the last thing Giselle Bertolacini thought she'd have to worry about was paying for her scheduled C-section.
But after her visa expired in March, that's exactly what she was facing.
She began to panic about how she was going to pay the mounting prenatal fees and the cost of her June 2 delivery.
"It was a tough situation because every time I went to my doctor, the secretary was there to say that they were not being paid, and I would have to pay for my consultation."
Bertolacini was frustrated because she thought she had done everything right.
She moved to Moncton from Brazil in 2018 with her husband and young son. As temporary residents, they were covered under New Brunswick's medicare program.
In December, she applied to renew her visa — three months before it was set to expire.
She never dreamed it would take so long to process her application.
When her visa expired in March, so did her medicare.
But because she applied before her visa expired, she believed she was covered by "implied status," which stipulates that as long as a temporary resident applies before their visa expires, their status is automatically extended until a formal decision is issued.
Bertolacini believed that extension would also apply to medicare benefits.
"But that's not what happens in real life because when your visa expires, you SIN number and your medicare expire at the same time," she said.
Bertolacini wasn't exactly sure how much it would cost her family to deliver their second child, but she knew it would be more than she could afford — $3,000 per day for her hospital stay, another $2,000 per day for her baby, she was told. Add to that, the cost of the physician, the anesthesiologist, and other related fees.
"It was tough because we felt like we were left all alone here. Even though we worked full time and we paid our taxes just like any other Canadian or any other immigrant, we didn't have access to the benefits we were supposed to have," she said.
But good news arrived last week.
The Bertolacinis got a call from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to tell them their application had been approved. That meant — with only days to spare before the scheduled C-section — their medicare benefits were reinstated.
And more good news arrived his week.
On Tuesday, Noah Bertolacini arrived by caesarean section, weighing in at 3.83 kg (eight pounds seven ounces) — and all costs were paid by medicare, said Giselle Bertolacini.
She said she and Noah are doing well. She just wishes she didn't have to fight so hard in the latter stages of her pregnancy, and she hopes her experience will help other families — and perhaps even change the system.
"I hope that other families will not have to struggle the way we struggled in such a special moment. When you prepare to receive a newborn, it's a moment of happiness."
She said the last thing expectant mothers need is the added stress of wondering how to pay the bills.
"I hope other families will not have to struggle with this kind of situation in the future and I also hope that my kids will learn from it as well — that you have to fight for what is right and being successful in life requires lots of effort."
Not alone
The executive director of the Multicultural Association of Greater Moncton says she knows of other women who find themselves in a similar position.
Myriam Mekni is worried that if the processing system continues to plod along at the current rate, other people will find themselves having to pay for medical care out of pocket.
Mekni said she also experienced "implied status" as she waited for her application to be processed.
She said the federal government, which is responsible for immigration, has left it up to provinces to decide what to do about medicare coverage during the implied status period.
Some provinces, including Alberta, have decided to extend coverage, but Mekni said New Brunswick has not.
She said her organization has been trying to convince the province to do so.
"There was a lot of conversations," she told CBC's Information Morning in Moncton on Monday.
"We haven't had a lot of response from the health department or medicare when we tried to resolve this situation and when we tried to advocate for other clients."
She said her group has only received "generic responses" from government officials.
"So I don't know if the health department, or medicare specifically, are making an effort to change this."
Attempts by CBC to clarify the situation with New Brunswick's Department of Health weren't successful.
On Friday, department spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane said, "For privacy purposes, medicare cannot comment on individual cases. Should an individual have new information on their status such as a VISA, the individual should contact medicare immediately with the most-up-to-date information."
He did not answer the question of whether medicare coverage is extended during the "implied status" period.
