OFW in Canada could be sent home over high medical costs for kidney treatment

MANILA, Philippines — A Filipina caregiver in Canada who contracted a chronic kidney disease could be sent home to the Philippines over expensive dialysis costs that exceeds what can be shouldered by the country's healthcare system.

Kherin Dimalanta, a 33-year-old helper for a family of two doctors in Ottawa, had been seeking permanent residency years since arriving in the country in 2017, per a report by the state-run Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Her new medical condition would cost $40,000 annually for dialysis, but per CBC's report, "prospective immigrants who would cost the health-care system more than $21,204 a year are ineligible for permanent residency because they're deemed an excessive burden."

"How could Canada send somebody home to die in front of their children, just because we have to pay for the medical treatment?" said Dimalanta's employer, Dr. Cathy Kyeremanteng.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party had eased the said rule in 2018, but did not completely end it, despite Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen admitting that it is "way out of date" with Canadian values.

Per the country's official website, excessive demand on health or social services is one of the three grounds for medical inadmissibility, apart from danger to public health and danger to public safety.

Under it, application may be denied if the required health or social service to treat a prospective immigrant's condition "would negatively affect wait times for services in Canada" or the services would go beyond the said threshold, which is the case with Dimalanta.

In Canada's legislature, Member of Parliament Raquel Dancho had raised the Filipina's ordeal, saying the Liberals had been "sitting on her humanitarian and compassionate" application for a year now.

"Without approval, she will be forced to return to the Philippines," she said, "where she will not have access to proper medical care and will die, leaving her two children motherless. Kherin is a taxpaying member of Canadian society and contributing to the COVID effort. The delay is completely un-Canadian."

To which, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, parliamentary secretary to the immigration minister, said every case would have to be studied on its merits, "fairly and in accordance with Canada's laws."

"We realize that decisions on immigration cases can have a profound effect on the lives of individuals," she said. "Every case is unique and is evaluated according to the individual circumstances."

Dimalanta's choice of leaving the Philippines is a decision millions of overseas Filipino workers have had to take to provide better lives for their families, which often comes with painful sacrifice. 

The Philippines has long been known as an exporter of human resources and dollar remittances play a significant role in the economy, with not enough jobs generated at home to keep them from leaving despite the promise of many presidencies to do so.

In 2019, the national statistics office estimated that there are 2.2 million OFWs across the globe. But while the said figure has likely changed years later, another certainty is Filipino workers have also been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, with over 600,000 repatriated since the health crisis began.

"It's hard because sometimes I feel like it's selfish," Dimalanta told CBC News. "But what is more selfish? Getting the medication here and sacrificing the time of not being able to see them, or just going home and risk your chance to live longer and see them grow?"

An online fundraising has since been launched in Canada, with 34 donors so far chipping in $1,220 at GoFundMe as of January 31, out of the $10,000 goal. — Christian Deiparine