Full moon. True story.
My youngest fell climbing up the stairs before dinner last night, and based on the plaintive wail, I suspected a broken bone. We went straight to the nearest clinic, but it was closed. From there we practically flew over to the nearest open clinic, where her Ontario health card was promptly refused. I was surprised to learn that it expired a few weeks ago.
There are many lingering complications related to my daughter's class of Canadian citizenship. When asked, I paid the $40 for the appointment. We spent our dinner hour in the clinic's waiting area, and that cost us our pocket change for peanut butter cups from the nearest vending machine (to bring my blood sugar levels up enough for the drive home.)
The injury turned out to be nothing more than a nasty bruise and thankfully did not require an x-ray. We were released by 6:45 pm and we stopped at Pesto's on the way home (an additional unbudgeted $25.) I treated her with a little Advil before bed. (supplies on hand)
This isn't a rant about unplanned costs or waiting times. It's a not so subtle reminder of how fortunate we are in Canada to not have to routinely budget for these items.
While Service Ontario was at a loss to explain what had happened with the health card, they were quick to resolve it this morning. I can get the cost of the appointment back.
Update, April 21:
I went back to the clinic with the new health card number to request the refund. They took the information that they needed to share with OHIP, and advised me to return to the clinic in 4 to 6 weeks (May 19 to June 2) to find out if OHIP had processed the refund. The clinic will repay me only after OHIP pays them.
