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Don’t Canadians also have to pay for prescriptions and dental work? Some of that is included in the US benefit cap.


Yes. But I've never worked for a company that didn't provide coverage for that as well. My current plan provides $1500/yr for routine dental coverage, $15k for dental emergencies and accidents. $30k/yr prescription coverage. Massage, chiro, accupuncture up to $1k/yr. Counseling for up to 6 sessions free, then 50% coverage. This is not an unusual benefits package as far as I can tell. My last company even provided a $400 wellness spending account on top of all that. Anything I could justify as 'wellness' was covered to that amount. Running shoes, ski passes, recreational classes. This isn't some special package for high value employees. This is standard for any FT employee.

My out of pocket expenses this year for all health related stuff is around $100. That is made up mostly of prescription dispensing fees ($10 for a 3 month supply), and massage fees that were over the per visit limit (they only cover the first $100/hour. My massage therapist is $115/hr)

Benefits in Canada blew my mind when I moved up here.

The downside is that I make $80k ($62kUSD) as a mid level web dev, and that is not really considered low for the position.


In Canada it varies. Dentists are terrible and always covered by private insurance. In BC pharmacare is capped out-of-pocket by the province but it's a high cap so you will generally have employer insurance just like you have in the US - while as Ontario has full prescription coverage.

Oh the same thing goes for vision insurance, alternative medicine (RMTs and acupuncture) and some medical devices - i.e. a CPAP for Sleep Apnea.


Hundreds out of pocket is better than thousands out of pocket though.

(I'm not Canadian, but here in Europe, without insurance, I've never paid more than a few hundred for dental work or tens for prescriptions. Even if its more in Canada, I imagine its still less than "thousands")




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