Hi fellow members,
If your health card is going to expire in end of 2008 ,but you might enter us before that .What are the options you have {1)Renew before leaving (thats would be way early)}2)Come back on a visit and renew it3)Renew in US at canadian consulate(i dont know how that works)

OR As we leaving country we dont need it and we surrender it and is no longer valid after we enter us.

Thanks

I don't think you are required to surrender it when you move; however, once you are not a resident of the province that issued it, you technically lose the benefits. Not sure what province you are in, but Ontario has a website where you can renew it/change address etc online. I don't know how close you have to be to the expiration date to renew though, but I suggest finding the provincial website and reading the info there.

In Alberta we had to terminate coverage otherwise they would continue to charge us premiums (which were covered by my employer anyways); but then again; we had no plans on returning to Canada.

Once you become a resident of the US you are no longer a resident of Canada and no longer eligible for Provincial health coverage. If you do put in a claim when you no longer live in Canada, you will eventually be required to pay them back out of your own pocket. You should arrange for coverage in the US to cover you when you arrive. You have to be actually living in Canada in order to use Canadian health insurance.