jfdes Posted June 20, 2018 Report Share Posted June 20, 2018 As many are aware, MSP premiums are assessed to all residents of BC based on their income tax assessments from the previous taxation year. Does anyone know if we are still required to pay the premiums even if we resign from our jobs to start medical school in the fall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchpress Posted June 21, 2018 Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 1 hour ago, jfdes said: As many are aware, MSP premiums are assessed to all residents of BC based on their income tax assessments from the previous taxation year. Does anyone know if we are still required to pay the premiums even if we resign from our jobs to start medical school in the fall? Yes, you are. If you’re not eligible for premium assistance through the regular rules, then you can apply for temporary premium assistance for situations like being laid off — but if you leave your job willingly, they won’t reassess you. You just have to wait until enough tax years have passed without income that you become eligible again. You could always give it a shot yourself. But I never got anywhere with it when I tried. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/premiums/temporary-premium-assistance The process for determining premiums is annoying, but keep in mind that it also means you won’t have to immediately starting paying them once you’re employed again. So in the end it probably largely balances out. You may be able to get an income review to adjust your eligible assistance for fair pharmacare. If you (or a dependent) have a lot of prescriptions it might be worth the process of getting an adjustment, because they will cover much/all of the portion that what the student health plan doesn’t cover: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/forms/5355fil.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfdes Posted June 21, 2018 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2018 12 hours ago, frenchpress said: Yes, you are. If you’re not eligible for premium assistance through the regular rules, then you can apply for temporary premium assistance for situations like being laid off — but if you leave your job willingly, they won’t reassess you. You just have to wait until enough tax years have passed without income that you become eligible again. You could always give it a shot yourself. But I never got anywhere with it when I tried. https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/health-drug-coverage/msp/bc-residents/premiums/temporary-premium-assistance The process for determining premiums is annoying, but keep in mind that it also means you won’t have to immediately starting paying them once you’re employed again. So in the end it probably largely balances out. You may be able to get an income review to adjust your eligible assistance for fair pharmacare. If you (or a dependent) have a lot of prescriptions it might be worth the process of getting an adjustment, because they will cover much/all of the portion that what the student health plan doesn’t cover: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/forms/5355fil.pdf Thanks. That's a bummer, but I guess it does make sense -- I didn't start paying MSP until the July after I started working, but I had started working the September the previous year, so that was quite a few months of free MSP. Don't really have a lot of prescriptions so I think the UBC plan should be sufficient for me, but thanks for the heads up on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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