The provincial government announced on Thursday, August 1 that Medical Service Plan (MSP) premiums will be eliminated on January 1, 2020. However, starting Sunday, September 1, 2019, all international students in BC will pay a monthly health-care coverage fee of $37.50 as well as their current monthly MSP premium of $37.50. When the MSP premiums are eliminated in January, international students’ monthly health-care coverage fees will be raised to $75.
Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) external executive Fillette Umulisa says that the fee increase is not fair. She would prefer that international students didn’t have to pay health-care premiums at all.
“It’s unfortunate that they’re not getting the benefit of having free medical care or coverage,” says Umulisa. “I think it’s very unfortunate that this announcement just came out, and instead of eliminating the money that the international students have been paying, they doubled it, which, to me, is a little ridiculous and unfair. International students are getting to pay twice the amount because everybody else is not paying it. I find that very unfair.” (Provincial health minister Adrian Dix was unavailable for comment before press time.)
Umulisa says that from the perspective of the CCSS—an organization that represents students and runs campaigns for international students—this was not the right choice.
“Talking to my colleagues and Michel [Turcotte, CCSS executive director] as well, we’re thinking about ways in which we can kind of urge the government to maybe eliminate the fees,” says Umulisa, “and, if we cannot, reduce the price.”
The specifics of those ways have not yet been determined, says Umulisa; one campaign the CCSS is currently running that may help is called Fairness to International Students (international students currently pay more for tuition than domestic students do).
“I feel like expanding on that, and saying that fairness is not only through tuition but access to services the students get when they come here,” says Umulisa.
Camosun College manager of international student services Gulcan Barclay says that, like the health insurance the CCSS offers, the health insurance the province offers comes at a cost.
“It is unfortunate that, when the premiums are going away… international students still need to pay, but that comes from them being temporary in the country and finding a way to offer them these services, I suppose,” she says.
Barclay says that it’s important for students to plan ahead, and the college can assist with that.
“We also include health insurance information during orientation,” she says, “so we will say how it works and the fees associated to it during the orientation.”
Having MSP premiums eliminated is a good thing, she says, but it’s unfortunate that the onus now falls on international students.
“We were one of the last provinces that were charging [MSP premiums],” she says. “That’s a great development for British Columbians, I would say.”
It may seem as though international students are having to pay extra costs, says Barclay, but she says she doesn’t see it that way.
“Studying abroad is expensive,” she says. “It’s one of the important things anyone needs to plan when they’re going abroad—making sure that proper health insurance is in place, and plan ahead for that.”
Second-year English Language Development student Rick Susays that this increase is not good and it makes him feel bad because his parents worked hard so that he could come and study here.
“I [get] my money from my family, so they need to give me more money than before. My parents will have to work harder than before,” he says. “I feel so bad.”
First-year Economics student Tony Ho hadn’t heard about the increase.
“Wow; that’s too much. It’s way too much. They’re just taking our money,” he says. “I don’t think the international—some of the international students—could afford that much money, so I think government should work on it and lower the cost.”
First-year Arts and Science student Brhen Sandhu was notified of the increase by a letter from the government.
“Without MSP, we are going to pay a lot,” she says. “But MSP is a necessity to us even if we have to pay $35 or $75.”
Umulisa agrees that the elimination of MSP premiums is generally positive, and she says that health care is a “basic human right” for everybody.
“People should not have to struggle to pay for it, or access it; the elimination of the MSP [premiums] to me was a good thing,” she says.
Umulisa says that the CCSS is in solidarity with international students.
“We’re going to support them throughout all of this,” says Umulisa.