- Definitions
Elective services are insured services and insured hospital services that are pre-authorized, medically required, and not available inside Canada and meet the acceptable standards of practice in Alberta.
Similarly, emergency services are also insured services and insured hospital services that are available during an emergency from an acute and unexpected illness, disease, condition or injury that required medically required treatment outside Canada without delay.
- Regulation
Section 2(1) of the Out-of-Country Health Services Regulation outlines the requirements for an individual to apply to the Out-of-Country Health Services Committee (“OOCHSC”) for approval of expenses concerning insured services or insured hospital services received outside of Canada. Per section 2(1), the applicant must meet the following conditions:
- The applicant must be registered and covered under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan;
- The applicant has attempted to receive the services in Canada, however the services are not available and all the other appropriate options have been exhausted;
- The service(s) are medically necessary;
- The service(s) are insured under the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan;
- The service(s) will meet the standards of practice in Alberta; and
- The service(s) are not related to a research study or clinical trial and are not experimental service.
Further, there are additional requirements under the OOCHSC with respect to the application process. Section 2(2) highlights that an application can only be submitted under subsection (2) for elective services and emergency services. Additionally, under elective services, the application must be submitted before receiving the service. For emergency services, the application must be submitted before receiving the service or no later than 365 days following the service.
Lastly, section 2(3) highlights requirements related to the format of the application and the role of health care professionals in the application process. First, section 2(3) states that the application must be in a form provided by OOCHSC and contain information required under section 7(1)(b), which highlights that the application must contain any other information that the OOCHSC considers appropriate for proper review. Second, the application must be submitted on the behalf of an applicant by a physician registered under the Health Professions Act assuming that the service is insured.
50%urban points of service |50%rural points of service*
85% urban population |15% rural population*
13 points of service per 1,003,785 women of reproductive age*
23unregulated pregnancy centre(s)*
13publicly listed point of service offering both medication and procedural abortion*publicly listed points of service*
10point(s) of service for medication abortion
6point(s) of service for procedural abortion
Functional gestational limit of24 weeksFunctional gestational limit of24 weeks*
No centralized system to assist the public in connecting with abortion services
Information about abortion is available on aprovincial/territorial website
Information about abortion is not available on the provincial/territorial website
