From the articles:
intensive care unit is extremely expensive, but mainly because of overhead and equipment costs
It doesn't cost the hospital anything near that amount of money to have an additional patient staying in the ICU...


The couples sound nice enough to pay out whatever they could atm, and work out some monthly payment (however small) with the hospital...
it would suck for a family to be destroyed financially because of an accident like that...

I read that 60% of bc residnts have earthquake insurance. Please elaborate.

My wife is 27 weeks pregnant right now and I wouldn't even consider traveling outside of Canada until after the baby is born. No point in taking that kind of risk.

^congratulations, btw.

First time?

Teh Doucher, explain!

for some reason i googled this after reading that article.

HowStuffWorks "If a child is born on an airplane, what's his citizenship?"

lol

learn something new everyday.. didn't know it was actually that complicated.

That number is really surprising to me.

I don't have it, if an earthquake crumbles my home to the ground I think we'll all have way bigger problems as a Province and Country. If somehow my home was destroyed it would mean that most if homes between Langley and Vancouver would be toast as well in which case we're all fucked. If my home takes slight damage I'll either fix it myself or if it's something I can't do the company I work for will fix it on the cheap. I could never ever see myself buying earthquake insurance but I can understand why some people might want peace of mind.

Now life insurance, well that's something else.

an earthquake strong enough to destroy your home will probably destroy hundreds of homes (hopefully all of richmond). If one company has written insurance policies on a large number of homes in a particular area, then a devastating earthquake will quickly drain all the company's resources. Especially given the construction costs in lower mainland.

If its a minor quake the damage might not even be worth paying the deductilbe.

overall better off to save your money and cover earthquake costs out of pocket if it ever happens.

I'm really curious about what's happening here. Obviously, something is not right. If the insured was specifically advised that they would be covered for birth then this is an estoppel situation.

I've worked for multiple insurance companies over a number of years. In Canada many insurers operate at an underwriting loss (at least where I've worked). Any profit is generated by premium investments. And this is not a result of exorbitant overhead. It tends to be a stressful place to work, partly because of how tightly they run their operations.

The title of that article should be renamed: "Aussie baby costs BC taxpayers $1,000,000"

No it wouldn't. God forbid people be held accountable for their own lack of planning or stupidity.

There are no good solutions in a situation like this, but pain has to be felt both ways. Being "destroyed financially" is a good start.

People can't have it both ways - complain about high taxes yet feel entitled to live in a society that takes care of the poor.

I think our government needs to be better prepared for situations like this.
Mainland mommies can fly to Canada, give birth, get citizenship for the child, claim they can't pay the hospital bill, and fly right back to China. What's stopping them? It happens in the U.S. all the time with illegal aliens from Mexico.

One solution would be for the government to purchase private sector insurance for uninsured foreigners needing emergency medical treatment. Anyone finding themselves in a situation to need this emergency insurance would be charged a proportional cost of the insurance so the program breaks even. The cost to the patient would be a whole lot less than $1M, but much more than if they had private insurance in the first place.

Second solution: Any foriegner not able to pay their hospital bill does not get citizenship for their child until debts are paid.

Problem solved.

First off, Insurance in Canada is different from the rest of the world. They have enough funds to back up what they insurance, no to mention an Earthquake will only destroy PART of a country. If an EQ hit Vancouver, SK and East would only feel a tremmor and their premiums will then be used to reimburse everyone else. Over all if u wanna cover ur own house in the event of an EQ go ahead, if u Have $100+K cash or bank loan(thats if they will in an emeregency). Bylaws might force you to tear down ur house due to damages sustained even if it does not look like it needs to be. Something to think about. ( this is not calculating additional cost ie. rent for the time being)

I personally have EQ insurance, cuz i know i wont have $200+k just to rebuild my house.

Moving On:

Im an insurance agent, and all im gonna say is that the agent the delt with fked up.

Insurance companies aren't all evil, please read ur damn policy booklet that is given to you every time, if u have a question please ask BEFORE u leave the country.

If everything happend as they said, and the agent over the phone confirmed they have coverage then later said they dont. The couple has every right to sue the brokerage/agent to get their reinbursment. Brokerages buy insurance for this called E&O.

Sry prob tons of spelling mistakes, but hopefully u get the picture.
(btw, make sure when u buy travel insurance, u tell them every thing ie. if ur gonna be drinking while u are away. Some companies dont cover any blood alcohol)