RAMQ Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over Health Insurance Discrimination

A proposed class action lawsuit was filed in Quebec Superior Court alleging that the provincial government violated the Health Insurance Act as well as the Canadian and Quebec Charters of Rights and Freedoms by discriminating against children born in Canada to immigrant parents. The plaintiffs’ daughter, like many other children born to immigrants in Quebec, was denied provincial health insurance coverage due to her parents’ migratory status.

The request for authorization was filed against the Quebec government to encourage the provincial health insurer, the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), to review its practices to ensure that children of immigrants living in the province have access to health care on the same basis as other children living in Quebec.

According to the Quebec health insurance discrimination class action proposal, over 100 children of foreign parents find themselves on the margins of the province’s health care system each year because of the lack of health insurance coverage. The precarious state of these children consequently further destabilizes the situation of their parents, who very often have to pay astronomical sums to ensure their children receive medical treatment.

The request for authorization of the health insurance discrimination class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of plaintiffs, Ridwan and Hiqmat Sulaïman’s daughter, who was born in Quebec, yet does not benefit from RAMQ coverage because of her parents’ immigrant status.

Ridwan, a PhD candidate at Concordia University in Montreal, and his wife immigrated to Canada from Nigeria in 2017. The couple had their daughter almost three years later. Soon after her birth, the plaintiffs noticed a growth on their newborn daughter’s back and sought medical treatment at Montreal’s Saint-Justine hospital.

Following their daughter’s treatment, the couple was billed over $15,000 in medical expenses because their daughter was not covered under the provincial health insurance plan.

Ridwan sought to obtain health insurance coverage for his daughter, but was denied on claims that his daughter was “not domiciled, meaning, established in a permanent manner” in Quebec, although she was born in Quebec and her parents continually and legally lived in the province for almost three years. 

Provincial Health Insurance and Discrimination

Each province and territory has its own health insurance plan. Provincial and territorial health insurance plans are expected to meet national principles set out under the Canada Health Act, but must also comply with provincial health insurance laws.

Provincial and territorial health insurance plans cover medically necessary hospital and doctors’ services that are provided on a pre-paid basis, without direct charges at the point of service. The plaintiffs’ daughter’s medical treatments would have been covered under the RAMQ.

As per Canada’s constitutional division of powers, provinces and territories have jurisdiction over health care as it regards:

• The administration of their health insurance plans;
• Planning and funding care in hospitals and other health facilities;
• Services provided by doctors and other health professionals;
• Planning and implementing health promotion and public health initiatives; and
• The negotiation of fee schedules with health professionals.

There is no national standard requiring provinces or territories to provide free health insurance to every person residing in the province or territory. Quebec is among Canada’s provinces that do not offer health care coverage to some children due to the migratory status of their parents, which the plaintiffs deem discriminatory.

The Quebec health insurance discrimination class action lawsuit alleges that the RAMQ’s decision violates the plaintiffs’ federal and provincial Charter rights of security and integrity.

The Quebec health insurance discrimination  class action lawsuit includes all children who have been refused health insurance coverage by the RAMQ and who are unjustly deprived of the medical care essential to their well-being. All cases of refusal are included, even if the child is currently covered by the RAMQ.

Class Members covered by the health insurance discrimination class action lawsuit include two categories of potential Class Members:

• Any non-emancipated minor born in Canada and residing in Quebec who has been refused access to coverage under the RAMQ plan because of the immigration status of his or her parents; or
• Any legal guardian of a minor member included in the first category.

The Quebec health insurance discrimination class action lawsuit is seeking $5,000 in Charter damages and $2,000 in punitive damages to be awarded to each Class Member.

Did your province’s public health insurance refuse you or your child coverage due to your or your parents’ immigrant status? Do you think the RAMQ should cover all children born in Canada who live in Quebec? Share your story with us in the comments below!

The plaintiffs and proposed Class Members are represented by Trudel Johnston & Lespérance.

The Quebec Health Insurance Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Ridwan Sulaimon, et al., v. Procureur général du Québec, Case No. 500-06-001084-207, in the  Superior Court of Québec, Canada.

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