Posted at 5:00 a.m.
In January 2020, Katerine Forero had to give birth in Montreal in difficult conditions: without health insurance or money, because she was a migrant woman with precarious status. The Médecins du Monde organization, which takes care of marginalized people, reports witnessing around 300 similar cases a year.
Originally from Venezuela, Katerine gave birth to her first daughter at Maisonneuve-Rosemont Hospital. At the time, she did not have a Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) card. It was her husband, Emmanuel Bencosme, who paid all the medical bills.
In Quebec, an uncomplicated delivery costs $8,934 to $17,280 for a person who does not have health insurance. Since Emmanuel was covered by RAMQ, certain costs for the treatment of the baby may have been deducted from his bill.
But the amount for the doctor’s work was still around $3,000. “I only had $500 left in my account,” he says. I did not know what to do. My wife gives life to a human being, they act like it’s an object that we have to pay for. I totally disagree. »
Emmanuel Bencosme says he was put under pressure by the hospital administration to pay a sum he did not have on hand. “They asked me for the last 500 dollars I had,” he says. I couldn’t pay my rent. The CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, of which the establishment is a member, told The Press that he would not publicly comment on the case.
I could make millions, I’ll never give them a penny. For me, before, Canada was a place where people could find some inner or economic peace. This kind of stuff makes me change my mind.
Emmanuel Bencosme
Katerine Forero now thinks that the government should be more attentive to migrant women with precarious status. This is what she was, before obtaining her permanent residence shortly before the birth of her second daughter, in September 2021.
“I find it unfair the way the women who come here are treated,” she told The Press. No matter where they come from, you must not leave a person without care. »
Submission of a brief
The Minister of Health and Social Services, Christian Dubé, entrusted the RAMQ last year with the mandate to work on a possible amendment to Bill 83, which allowed access to health insurance for certain children. whose parents have a precarious migration status.
On March 17, Médecins du monde submitted a brief to the Bill 83 working committee. Supported by some twenty medical specialists, this document recommends that “the government of Quebec act without delay to guarantee, to all women living in Québec, the benefit of health services insured by the public health insurance and prescription drug insurance plans”. It mainly deals with sexual and reproductive health.
Precarious migratory status includes several categories of people, says Ms.and Pearl Eliadis, associate professor at the Max Bell Public Policy School at McGill University. Foreign students, women awaiting sponsorship, those on temporary work visas, women who arrived illegally or whose status has expired are all included.
“The average salary of a family with precarious status is around $900 per month. Some of these people don’t eat because they are paying medical bills. It’s a spiral that pulls people towards vulnerability, ”explains the director general of Doctors of the World, Nadja Pollaert.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Nadja Pollaert, Director General of Doctors of the World, and Pénélope Boudreault, Director of National Operations of Doctors of the World
“When they [les femmes migrantes à statut précaire qui sont enceintes] come to their medical appointment, they are given metro tickets, ”denounces his colleague Pénélope Boudreault, director of national operations for Doctors of the World and nurse. “It’s a choice: they pay for a lab and prenatal vitamins, or they endure their vomiting so they don’t have to pay. »
Often, these women arrive at an advanced stage of their pregnancy without having had a single ultrasound. “These are often women who are not going to campaign for their rights, who are afraid of disturbing, afraid of immigration, who think they are abusing the system, explains Pénélope Boudreault. I once had a woman who waited 28 weeks for her first ultrasound. Her baby had died in utero. »
The RAMQ has confirmed to The Press that she was going to issue her recommendations before the end of June, as requested by Minister Dubé.
Learn more
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- 50,000
- Approximate number of migrants with precarious status who have no health coverage in Quebec. This represents 0.6% of the population.
Source: Sherpa University Institute