Pregnancy & Benefits in the US vs. Canada?

[Colleens 40]

If you are lucky enough to "time" your pregnancy there is a chance that you can claim your maternity benefits from Canada. I had my baby nearly a year ago and I was able to recieve my benefits (although I only got 6 months because of a severance package from my last employer in Canada). If you are considering trying to get pregnant soon I would either call or go into a service Canada office and find out how you would have to "time" your pregnancy to recieve your benefits. We were just lucky that it worked out for us since we were not really trying at the time we got pregnant.

The way it works in Canada is you get 15 weeks of maternity leave then 35 weeks of parental leave making 50 weeks. In the US you generally get 6 weeks to 3 months and most often it is unpaid. It is also dependant on the size of the company that you work for. I think if it is less than 50 employees they do not have to provide FMLA benefits, so that is something to look into as well.

[dukeandduchess 141]

Yeah I read on the BC government website that EI pays for your Maternity leave. I don't plan to get pregnant for a year or more (we want to spend some alone time together) so I doubt they would let me claim it through EI, which seems weird because I should be able to get it whenever I get pregnant. I think I'll definitely contact someone and ask about that.

Thank you everyone again for the excellent information!

[Kimbear 53]

My friend just had a baby a copule weeks ago. She had to quit her job during pregnancy as the stress almost caused her to have a couple of miscarriages. she did not get any sort of benefits, and she ended up losing the job completely. Now the birth was very hard and she went in to labour a few times during the last two months, which the hospital mananged to stall with some drugs or something. Shef inally gave birth 100% naturally no c-section etc, to a beautiful 9lb baby boy. But the bills she got nailed with were outrageous.

she was refused for health insurance, and she tried to get some sort of family aid, was refused at first for making too much money, now she got refused again. She has had miscarriages in the past , and her medical bills from the pregnancy make me want to cry. they area good people, that just wanted a baby and tried for many years. now they are struggling to even pay rent. and she is unable to go back to work for a while as she lost alot of blood and is very weak according to her doctor who wont even let her drive a car atm.

Its a shame that the government does not value families as much as they say they do.

[Minu Luvs Pinu 2]

Ridiculous. This why I hate america so much sometimes. They expect everyone to act like robots. #### off with that ###### for real!

Sorry for my language that just really bothers me.

So sorry about your friend Kim.

[Flames9_RN 358]

Not sure about FMLA (never used it) But I was told that you had to have worked so many hours at ur present job to qualify for it?? I thought it was like 1 year (if u worked full time) But not sure about that.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Awesome, since you're in California I can give you more specific advice!

It's called "parental leave" here because its not just the woman that just gave birth that can use it (people who adopt are eligible, dads as well). FMLA protects your job for up to 12 weeks but whether any of that is paid is company dependant.

I assume most would make you use your annual leave, or sick leave but outside of that, nada.

Correct, the father is also eligible to take Family Medical Leave.

And, a company may require you to use any accrued PTO, too. However, this is only to a maximum of 2 weeks, at least in California.

In California, so long as dukeandduchess has been paying SDI (State Disability Insurance, usually comes out of the paycheck and is easy to spot on a W-2), they'll be eligible for 6 paid weeks of Family Medical Leave (both mother and father). So at least six weeks is not company dependent.

Not sure about FMLA (never used it) But I was told that you had to have worked so many hours at ur present job to qualify for it?? I thought it was like 1 year (if u worked full time) But not sure about that.

At least in California, there is no minimum amount of hours you have to work in order to qualify for FML.

Does an employee have to work a minimum number of hours or days before becoming eligible for Paid Family Leave insurance benefits?

No, eligibility for Paid Family Leave insurance benefits is based on the earnings shown in an employee’s base period and not a specific number of days or months worked. Wages earned approximately 5 to 18 months before the beginning of a Paid Family Leave insurance claim are included in the base period.

From: http://www.edd.ca.gov/Disability/FAQ_PFL_Eligibility.htm

For pregnancy, yes, a doctor has to sign off on disability, but I have to imagine nearly all doctors will do so.

Information on disability insurance:

http://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/disability_insurance.htm

Basically, if you're on pregnancy-related disability leave, once your six weeks are up, they automatically send the form for Family Medical Leave.

[Alex & Rachel 78]

Additionally, I read the information Vanessa & Tony linked and it's still accurate as far as California is concerned.

[dukeandduchess 141]

Additionally, I read the information Vanessa & Tony linked and it's still accurate as far as California is concerned.

Excellent info! Thanks very much for your replies!!

ps. Kimbear that's sooo sad I hope everything works out for your friend!

[Canadiandggal 49]

For my husband it he was basically told he could take up to 12 weeks UNPAID leave, so He used 10 days vacation time then went back to work. Im sure it depends on the state.

[Canadiandggal 49]

My friend just had a baby a copule weeks ago. She had to quit her job during pregnancy as the stress almost caused her to have a couple of miscarriages. she did not get any sort of benefits, and she ended up losing the job completely. Now the birth was very hard and she went in to labour a few times during the last two months, which the hospital mananged to stall with some drugs or something. Shef inally gave birth 100% naturally no c-section etc, to a beautiful 9lb baby boy. But the bills she got nailed with were outrageous.

she was refused for health insurance, and she tried to get some sort of family aid, was refused at first for making too much money, now she got refused again. She has had miscarriages in the past , and her medical bills from the pregnancy make me want to cry. they area good people, that just wanted a baby and tried for many years. now they are struggling to even pay rent. and she is unable to go back to work for a while as she lost alot of blood and is very weak according to her doctor who wont even let her drive a car atm.

Its a shame that the government does not value families as much as they say they do.

That is just horrible. Please pass on my T&P for her

I know as A one income family Our hospital bills are frigging outrageous and it truly makes me miss Canada, We have health insurance and it still cost thousands of dollars. I can tell you that it will take us a few years just to pay off this child and we would love to have a third by then. Its hard to have children in the United states and I am unsure how most people do it

[TheFantastics09 19]

Not to hijack this thread (sorry OP), but after pregnancy and child birth how much debt are most of you left with (if you don't mind me asking)?

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Not to hijack this thread (sorry OP), but after pregnancy and child birth how much debt are most of you left with (if you don't mind me asking)?

It really has everything to do with how good comprehensive your health coverage is.....have a good comprehensive plan (ie: and of course higher premiums) and you'll find much of it is covered. D a high deductible plan and yes, your out of pocket will be significantly different.

Someone elses cost will not be reflective of yours if it's not an apples to apples comparison

editted - replaced the word good with 'comprehensive'

Edited December 1, 2011 by Udella&Wiz

[Canadiandggal 49]

Not to hijack this thread (sorry OP), but after pregnancy and child birth how much debt are most of you left with (if you don't mind me asking)?

we have a 600 deductible per person then 80 percent was covered after the initial 600. I owe just over 3500.00 to varoius people (ob,epidural dude,hospital,pediatrician.

However it would have been over 10,000 if i didn't have insurance

[TheFantastics09 19]

It really has everything to do with how good comprehensive your health coverage is.....have a good comprehensive plan (ie: and of course higher premiums) and you'll find much of it is covered. D a high deductible plan and yes, your out of pocket will be significantly different.

Someone elses cost will not be reflective of yours if it's not an apples to apples comparison

editted - replaced the word good with 'comprehensive'

Thank-You, very helpful!

[TheFantastics09 19]

we have a 600 deductible per person then 80 percent was covered after the initial 600. I owe just over 3500.00 to varoius people (ob,epidural dude,hospital,pediatrician.

However it would have been over 10,000 if i didn't have insurance

I always assumed it would be the 10,000 after insurance. After reading this, I checked and it is much cheaper than expected. Thanks for your help!!

Edited December 2, 2011 by TheFantastics09