{"id":4003,"date":"2025-07-17T23:19:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T23:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/4003\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T23:19:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T23:19:18","slug":"some-manitobans-can-now-obtain-medical-services-in-hospital-without-a-health-card","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/4003\/","title":{"rendered":"Some Manitobans can now obtain medical services in hospital without a health card"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some Manitobans\u00a0without health cards can now see doctors in hospitals, thanks to\u00a0a change intended to ensure vulnerable patients receive better medical care.<\/p>\n

Hospital physicians can now bill the health-care system for certain patients without a health card, Doctors Manitoba said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The change applies to people who are eligible for coverage but don’t have a personal health ID number, such as\u00a0newborns, people experiencing homelessness, new residents to Canada and people who’ve recently been incarcerated.<\/p>\n

Doctors Manitoba president Nichelle Desilets said\u00a0the move will reduce the administrative burdens on physicians and allow\u00a0them to get reimbursed faster, all\u00a0while ensuring more patients receive medical care.<\/p>\n

“I’ve seen dramatic, life-threatening situations develop due to folks not seeking care as early as they could have for this reason,” she said. “The good faith billing option is really helpful. It\u00a0definitely puts us more in line with other provinces.”<\/p>\n

In a written statement, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara\u00a0said the billing change is “a small and simple step that will give physicians more time to focus on their patients instead of chasing down paper work.<\/p>\n

“Plus, patients who for whatever reason are not able to present their health card will have a smoother experience knowing the RHA\u00a0[regional health authority]\u00a0will sort out the details with their family doctor later,” Asagwara added.<\/p>\n

Tobi Jolly, community wellness director at Siloam\u00a0Mission, said while people without health cards can usually access emergency medical services, they find it difficult to receive ongoing care or visit specialists.<\/p>\n

“We’ve had community members who have come in and been fearful of going to the hospital, because, ‘They’re going to ask for my health card,'” Jolly said, adding she hopes\u00a0the new good faith billing process changes this.<\/p>\n

“It’s really exciting for us to know that our community members will get the care they need at the hospital as well.”<\/p>\n

Jolly said\u00a0expanding good faith billings\u00a0to clinics and other settings outside hospitals, including Siloam,\u00a0would alleviate even more barriers to health care.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Some Manitobans without health cards now have hospital visits covered<\/p>\n

Doctors Manitoba says hospital physicians can now bill the province’s health-care system for certain patients who don’t have a health card, including newcomers to Canada and people who are homeless, bringing relief to at least one organization that works with vulnerable patients.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some Manitobans\u00a0without health cards can now see doctors in hospitals, thanks to\u00a0a change intended to ensure vulnerable patients…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4004,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-4003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4004"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}