Canadian Health Insurance Cards

It is no secret that Canada has a universal health care system. In Canada, our health insurance cards give us access to the majority of personal health services that we need. It does this without the need for out-of-pocket expenses.

Canadian health insurance cards are issued to all Canadian citizens and residents. If they don’t come from the government, they are issued by provincial or territory health insurance providers. And hey are also one of the most overlooked items that we have for enjoying the standard of living that we do. However, it is also easy to forget that the majority of countries enjoy services like these.

List of Provincial and Territory Health Care Organizations

In Canada, there are both provincial and territory health care organizations that provide health insurance cards to citizens and residents. In addition, if a card is stolen or lost, that health insurance provider can issue a replacement card. Most Canadian health insurance cards are have unique bar codes or photos of the the card holder. They are very similar to a driver’s license in this way.

Health care providers in Canada ask users to have their insurance card and photo ID on them with each visit. This includes hospitals, clinics, and treatment facilities. Having those two forms of ID allows for more efficient service and helps to reduce delays.

Here is the list of health care organizations:

• Alberta Health Care
• British Columbia Medical Services Plan
• Manitoba Health
• New Brunswick Medicare
• Newfoundland Labrador Medical Care Plan
• NWT Health Care Plan
• Nova Scotia Health Card (MSI)
• Nunavut Health and Social Services
• Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)
• Health PEI
• Régie de l’assurance maladie Québec
• Government of Saskatchewan Health
• Yukon Health and Social Services

Additional Health Care Insurance Cards

Convenient as this may be, our provincial and territory plans aren’t always the quickest for health care services. Those services can include things like specialist consultation, surgery, and diagnostics, for instance. Some Canadian health insurance companies provide products to improve and expand access to health care services for all citizens and residents.

There are some insurance companies that issue cards for personal and employee policies. These policies provide free health care services to those Canadians. This allows Canadians on a long medical wait list the access to faster health services.

There are Canadian group benefit plans and private health services plans that provide coverage for those supplemental health insurance premiums. Also, many travel insurance policies and they are more detailed issue Canadian health insurance cards. They do this for policyholders to use so that they have access to medical services outside of the country and retain some coverage.

Canadian health insurance may not be perfect and has room for improvement, but it provides services at an affordable cost to its citizens. However, those Canadian insurance cards remind us of the benefits that we enjoy.