Emergency spinal surgery could leave a man in Montreal who isn’t eligible for Quebec health insurance facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
While Alvin Reyes has a permit to work in the province — where he has resided for three years — the type he has does not qualify him for coverage under the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec. The private insurance he got as an alternative will cover only a fraction of the costs related to his recent medical emergency, including spinal rehab for him to be able to walk again.
“The biggest problem that I have is that I’m the only one that supports my family,” Reyes said in a phone interview from the Montreal General Hospital on Tuesday. “What will happen to us?”