Illegal border crossers and asylum claimants whose cases have not yet been heard in front of an immigration judge are in some cases being given 20 years of all-access to gold-plated healthcare services, the Sun has learned.
This provides access to every medical procedure available under the Canada Health Act, as well as full dental coverage and tax-payer funded prescription drugs, according to a medical assistant who is blowing the whistle on these exorbitant freebees.
The medical assistant, who spoke to the Sun on condition of anonymity and provided supporting documentation to back these claims, works at a medical clinic in York Region that takes patients covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP). This one office in a town north of Toronto sees 30 to 40 migrants with 20-year permits each week, said the source.
According to the whistleblower, migrants walk into the clinic and provide a government-issued identification number. When the number is inputted into the OHIP computer system, it shows what services the person is qualified to receive.
“They are eligible for everything. Everything. For 20 years,” said the medical assistant, who sent an example of a government certificate dated Feb. 13, 2020 that appears to provide health care until Feb. 12, 2040.
The source sent a client profile page from Blue Cross, a medical insurance company that provides supplemental coverage that Canadians pay for out of pocket, which shows 20 years of coverage.
The documents, issued to an Iranian woman in her 70s, make it clear that she is an asylum claimant and has not yet been granted refugee status in Canada.
The certificate was issued by the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and it outlines the basis for providing free, unlimited, all-access healthcare to people who are not Canadian citizens or even permanent residents.
“The above named individual is eligible for the coverage of health-care costs under the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP). This coverage can be cancelled without notice if the individual’s immigration status changes,” reads the document.
The Interim Federal Health Program has become a political punching bag in recent years.
The previous Conservative government cancelled the program for migrants coming from safe countries and for bogus asylum seekers whose refugee claim had been rejected by an immigration judge.
In a head-scratching ruling, a Liberal-appointed federal judge struck down the changes, stating it was “cruel and unusual” for the government to withhold free healthcare from illegal immigrants.
The Trudeau Liberals and much of the media doubled down on this twisted line of reasoning, insisting that the Conservatives had cut healthcare for refugees – even though the cuts only applied to individuals who were explicitly found not to be refugees.
Trudeau has made significant changes to the refugee determination program, including eliminating a process that fast-tracked hearings and deportations for asylum claimants coming from safe countries.
He pledged to keep the IFHP in place, even for bogus refugees and illegal migrants.
According to the government’s website, IFHP coverage is “limited and temporary.” But while it claims to be limited, it also outlines why migrants receive better coverage than Canadians.
“While basic coverage in Canada is similar to health-care coverage provided by provincial and territorial health insurance plans … the benefits are not exactly the same. Benefits reflect the temporary nature of the program.”
Twenty years isn’t exactly temporary.
“I truly believe the general public is unaware of this.” said the whistleblower. “I was shocked when I learned about it, that we as taxpayers are paying for this kind of coverage, and for that amount of time.”
“Our veterans, indigenous communities, single mothers, homeless and elderly do not receive such benefits,” said the medical assistant. “We all pay out of pocket for a lot of this stuff.”
The government acknowledged questions from the Sun about this 20-year access, but did not provide any comment or explanation as of the time of publication.
