Some Manitoba post-secondary students from abroad are concerned that the NDP government has taken a promise made repeatedly during last year’s provincial election campaign off its priority list.
The party pledged to restore health-care coverage for international students in the days and weeks leading up to October’s vote.
And after forming government, Premier Wab Kinew’s mandate letter for Advanced Education and Training Minister Renée Cable included the task of “restoring international student health care.”
NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS
Ivan Nunez-Gamez graduated from U of M this year and has been a leading advocate for restoring international student health care.
Ivan Nunez-Gamez, a University of Manitoba international student from Honduras and former acting chair of the Manitoba Alliance of Post-Secondary Students, said the NDP’s inaction thus far “says a lot.”
“The whole point of having universal health care coverage in our province is to leave no one behind,” he said. “It’s just a slap in the face and it’s a two-tiered health-care system that’s perpetuating systemic inequality that many claim to be against.”
The previous Progressive Conservative government cut health-care coverage for international students in 2018, estimating the province’s annual savings at $3.1 million.
Since then, foreign students have been required to purchase private health insuarance in order to study at Manitoba schools. They have to be enrolled in specific qualifiying programs and courses to be eligible for the plan.
U of M , the University of Winnipeg and Brandon University require international students to pay aproximately $1,400 for extended health and dental insurance under Manitoba Blue Cross’s Manitoba International Student Health Plan.
The problem for many, however, is that many health-care providers don’t directly bill the insurance company, so students are required to pay out of pocket and then submit their claim.
That can be difficult for people living on shoestring budgets with little room for unplanned health expenses.
Nunez-Gamez, who graduated this year, recalled the anxiety he felt when he needed to see an eye doctor.
“I was going back and forth, and I was calling my mom, and I was calling a couple of friends that I have here,” he said.
“I wasn’t sure if I should go to the doctor or not because I knew that they were going to charge me about $300 just to check my eyes and then I would have to go through the whole Blue Cross processing.”
And when he he needed a cardiac exam, he had to pay $250 up front and file a claim; he wasn’t reimbursed until three months later.
“To a student who’s struggling, especially when they have to pay three times the (resident) tuition cost, it’s a lot of money,” said Nunez-Gamez.
Bolu Akindele, a U of M student from Lagos, Nigeria, had a severe dental issue in 2023. She sought out care but was told she’d be facing a $2,000 bill.
“I couldn’t afford to do it,” she said, adding she dealt with the pain as best she could with over-the-counter pain medication.
She said such difficulties are unfair and inhumane, because tuition fees and living expenses are already high.
“It shouldn’t be that hard to get help when you’re sick,” Akindele said.
As of last December there were 21,330 post-secondary international students in Manitoba.
Tuition for foreign students at the U of M costs an average of $22,830 annually and the cost is similar at the University of Winnipeg. International students at Brandon University pay an average $18,400.
In 2021, NDP MLA Uzoma Asagwara was vocal against the PC government for cutting health-care.
“We need to encourage students, newcomers to study here, live here, and work here in Manitoba,” said Asagwara in the legislature on Nov. 25, 2021. “They (the PC government) need to make it more than words and restore health care coverage.”
The Free Press was not granted an interview with Cable and was only given a statement from now Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara without a timeline.
“While it was not included in our government’s budget, it remains a key priority of our government and we are committed to giving students the care they need,” the email statement said.
matthew.frank@freepress.mb.ca