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Manitoba Health Refuses Coverage for Cancer Patient Due to Visitor Status
A health appeal in Manitoba has confirmed the denial of provincial health coverage to a woman, citing her status as a visitor as the reason for ineligibility. This decision has led to the cancellation of her surgery for advanced colorectal cancer.
According to a decision from the Health Appeal Board of Manitoba issued on January 2, 2025, the woman entered Canada in February 2024 with a visitor permit. Immigration authorities later extended this permit until October 2025. Canada immigration and Citizenship
The decision details that she began experiencing severe gastrointestinal pain
in December 2024 and was diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer. Surgery had been scheduled for July 13, 2025, but was cancelled due to her lack of provincial health coverage.
In a letter dated August 12,2024,Manitoba Health rejected the woman’s coverage submission,stating her ineligibility due to her legal status in Manitoba
,as outlined in the decision.
She subsequently appealed to the Manitoba Health Appeal Board, requesting the decision be overturned on humanitarian and compassionate grounds
.
The woman’s son, representing her before the board, argued that she would be unable to receive adequate cancer care in her home country, stating that the health care system there does not adequately meet [her] needs
.
The woman, referred to as the appellant
in the document, remains unnamed, and her country of origin is not specified.
Manitoba’s Health Coverage Rules
Manitoba Health’s Insurance Division maintained that it was applying the residency regulations under the Health Services insurance Act. Health Services Insurance Act The department asserts
