MONTREAL – Quebec’s health care system has been defrauded of $500,000
through the alleged illegal use of the province’s health cards by 1,700
immigrants, the CBC reported on Thursday.
The fraud is the largest in the organization’s history.
The report stated that more than two-thirds of the group, the majority of
who are of Lebanese descent, were able to fake their presence in Quebec
thanks to the help of a single immigrations official.
This tactic has been used in the past to simulate Canadian residence during
the three-year required waiting period to obtain citizenship.
According to the CBC, the immigrants allegedly at fault obtained a Régie de
l'Assurance Maladie du Québec (RAMQ) health card and 750 of them used it to
obtain medical care with a total value of $500,000. The majority of these
people do not actually live in Quebec and the RAMQ has only been able to
recover $42,000 of the money that was billed to taxpayers.
“We’re taking steps starting from the last known address, we’re writing to
the people, we’re asking them to reimburse us,” said RAMQ spokesperson Marc
Lortie in an interview with the public broadcaster.
It is expected this type of health care fraud will become more difficult in
four years when new Quebec cards are issued that include a barcode.
The RAMQ has four inspectors in Quebec tasked with flushing health care
cheaters. The province allocates few resources to it, though Lortie cited as
an example the declaration that newcomers must now sign upon their arrival.
The CBC reported that Quebec and Ottawa had promised to better supervise
immigration officials.
