International students plead for promised health coverage

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This article was published 14/02/2024 (605 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

International students and recent graduates who call Manitoba home are urging the NDP government to immediately fulfil a campaign promise to reinstate universal health coverage.

Healthcare for All Manitoba hosted a news conference Wednesday to promote a new report and renew calls for the province to cover the cost of all post-secondary students’ visits to the doctor, regardless of a patient’s citizenship status.

The group announced an expansion of its advocacy efforts to secure coverage for migrant workers and undocumented immigrants.

“We cannot afford to wait,” spokeswoman Judith Oviosun-Smith told reporters gathered on the University of Winnipeg downtown campus.

“Every day that passes by without access to health-care coverage jeopardizes the well-being and lives of countless individuals within our community.”

Oviosun-Smith, who is from Nigeria, was mid-way through her undergraduate degree when the then-PC government announced it was stripping her and her peers of health-care coverage in 2018.

At the time, the Pallister government indicated the policy change would save the provincial treasury $3.1 million annually. International students have since had to pay out of pocket for private insurance that costs about $1,000 extra per academic year.

Citing concerns about the limitations of her private plan, Oviosun-Smith said she began actively avoiding the hospital — a shared experience among international students, even when they become severely ill, according to a recent report.

Oviosun-Smith, who graduated from the University of Manitoba in 2021 and is now a permanent resident, is one of four researchers who studied the effect of COVID-19 on international students and the population’s broader challenges in accessing health services over the last five years.

“This policy (change) has led to an increase in the uninsured migrant population and overall unmet health needs in Manitoba, raising the question as to why health-care access is viewed as a human right for some and treated as a commodity, or an incentive that can be turned on and off, for others,” states an excerpt of their 31-page report, published by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

In 2021, the Canadian Federation of Students — a founding member of Healthcare for All Manitoba — launched a poll in which about 30 temporary residents participated in the anonymous survey.

Common themes included financial stress as a result of the 2018 policy change, in addition to reports of fear, uncertainty and risk in connection to dealing with personal health issues.

In one testimonial, a student reported becoming ill with COVID-19 and praying for death instead of racking up a hefty hospital bill.

Participants also disclosed how their ineligibility for public coverage made them feel excluded and unequal to their peers.

Nigerian student Olusewa Olanubi said it is not uncommon for front-line workers to be unsure how to proceed with private insurance, and subsequent intake delays at a clinic breed fear, apprehension and alienate patients like herself.

“This is a matter of equity, compassion and social justice,” said Olanubi, a master’s candidate at U of M who co-authored the report.

Given the high cost of international student tuition fees, Shaluckie Boatswain said “the least (the province) can do is make sure that our health — physical health and mental health — is well taken care of.”

“Not having good physical and mental health, of course, it will affect our (academic) performances. If you don’t perform well, of course, you will be kicked out of the course. It’s like a ripple effect,” said the Guyanese-Canadian who graduated from U of W in 2017 and is pursuing another degree at U of M.

Advocates collected dozens of signed postcards from supporters to be dropped off at the offices of Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara and Advanced Education Minister Renée Cable.

In a statement, Asagwara indicated their office is working with Cable’s office to address the issue.

“Our government has committed to restoring health coverage for international students,” the health minister said. “The former PC government cut this coverage for students, putting many young people in very difficult and precarious positions.”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca