Montreal man faces massive medical bills after emergency spinal surgery

A Montreal man from the Philippines says he could face more than $1 million in medical bills after undergoing major spinal surgery without provincial health insurance.

Alvin John Reyes, who came to Canada in 2023 and is living in Montreal on a work permit, underwent back surgery in mid-September after being diagnosed with spinal stenosis.

Alvin is now bedridden and says he will need months of rehabilitation before he is able to walk again. His brother, Allan Reyes, said the family already owes close to $200,000 to the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

Alvin’s wife and three children are in Canada on study permits, while his work permit is tied to his wife’s student permit. His family is eligible for government health insurance, but he is not.

Alvin, who says he works in marketing and pays taxes, said he applied three times for coverage through Quebec’s health insurance board, the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ). “I got rejected every time,” he told Global News.

Earlier this year, he began experiencing weakness in his legs and eventually had difficulty walking. He went to the emergency room, where he said he had to pay $1,600 because he did not have RAMQ coverage.

He was diagnosed with spinal stenosis and was told he needed a major operation. The family says a doctor waived most of the fees associated with the surgery, but Alvin still needed to be hospitalized for a month at a cost of $7,000 a day.

“Money is money. I can always earn it in the future and pay for it,” he said. “But the problem is, if I don’t get to walk, that’s a bigger issue. Because who will pay for my family’s bills?”

He now needs medication, round-the-clock care and as much as six months of rehabilitation, which the family says could cost another $7,000 a day.

His brother said the resulting bill could reach between $1.2 million and $1.4 million.

“It’ll take us like two lifetimes to pay that,” Allan said.

Allan, a Canadian citizen who has been in the country for 16 years, said to help pay for his brother’s care, he sold a house he purchased for his mother.

The brothers said they hope health authorities will agree to cover at least some of the rehabilitation costs. “Sometimes there’s special reasons or special cases that they can give exemptions for,” Alvin said.

The RAMQ said in an email to Global News that it does not have discretionary power to make exceptions to the law. The agency outlined its eligibility requirements and said people whose work permits are tied to a spouse’s student permit are not among those eligible.

Immigrant advocate Frantz Andre said cases such as Alvin’s are “definitely more common than we think.” Andre said he believes taxpaying workers such as Alvin should be given more flexibility, but said current anti-immigrant sentiment is pushing policy in the opposite direction.

“It’s only going to get worse,” he said.

Alvin is now advising others in similar situations to purchase adequate private health insurance. His own policy only covers $25,000.

He has also launched a GoFundMe to help cover his expenses.

Alvin said he had dreamed of buying a house in Canada, but his financial future now looks very different. “It looks more like paying a medical bill my entire life.”