BIRD TALK

Dear Bird Talk:

I hope you will consider alerting other snowbirds to a terrible experience we had down south this winter.

My friend was not feeling well, so I took her to the hospital. We were told that we could use their fast-track facility, which is like a clinic. After registering with the receptionist, she asked if we had insurance. When we told her that we did not and that we were from Ontario, she recommended that my friend use her OHIP coverage.

We questioned her about using the card and she informed us that they have many Ontarians coming in and using them. When I asked how much this would cost, she said that they would send the bill to OHIP for reimbursement and that there would be no cost to us.

Much to our dismay, after several weeks we got a letter from OHIP saying that they need signatures on the invoice to avoid fraud. So we went back to the hospital and had them sign the invoices and returned them to OHIP. Upon our return home, we received invoices from the hospital for services.

We contacted OHIP in Oshawa and they told us that they will pay us $90.00 CDN of the bill for $650.00 US after they have received a “paid” invoice for the whole amount.

This is beyond confusing ­ it is entirely inconsistent with what the receptionist at the clinic told us. Snowbirds beware….

Sincerely,
F. Rowland
Minden

Response:
Mr. Rowland was “lucky” he had a small claim and OHIP covered a much higher percentage of the bill than they normally do. Snowbirds beware – indeed.