Hello, I would like to share my recent dealings with Health Insurance BC as I hope you will be able to offer the information to others in our position to access health care for their spouses during the now 20 month wait for CIC to process applications for PR. My wife was denied Medical Services Plan coverage on my plan and we were told that this would remain the case until we received 'Approval in Principal' from CIC - I understand this denial of coverage is common in BC and Ontario. After checking the BC Laws and Regulations that determine coverage it became clear that HIBC were not following the rules and should be enrolling spouses as soon as an application is received by CIC. With this information I contacted my local MP, who's seceratary was very helpful but ultimately could only repeat the 'HIBC require proof of Approval in Principle' line. I also wrote to the BC Minister for Health Terry Lake on 28th May 2014, as yet unanswered, outlining the discrepancy between HIBC's actions and the Rules and Regulations that they are governed by. After exhausting the appeal process to no avail I submitted a Freedom of Information request to request documents regarding HIBC's decision to interpret the 'deemed residency' rules to require 'approval in principle' from CIC, as this is not in the Rules or Regulations. While I did not receive that, I was sent a copy of the HIBC Eligibility Manual and HIBC Enrolment and Account Maintenance Manual. When I then called HIBC - having been told previously on numerous occasions by them my wife was ineligible for coverage - I quoted page numbers and statements from the manual and asked from which page the operator was quoting when denying my wife coverage and was told by the operator that her supervisor would need to look at this and I would get a call back. One week later I called back, not having heard from HIBC, and after being put on hold for 15 minutes was told that my wife's enrolment had been granted and her card should be with us in two weeks. My wife is no further along the sponsorship process than she was all the other times HIBC denied her enrolment to my plan. Our sponsorship application has been received by but not been opened by CIC. The only thing that changed was that I had the book that told the operators who to enrol and who not to - and it is as clear as the Rules and Regulations in that spouses who have applied for PR are eligible for MSP coverage. I hope this information will be of use to others in BC in the same situation - awaiting sponsorship approval from CIC but without health coverage - and am very happy for you to share it as you see fit. The result of my FOI request was published on the 22nd July 2014 on the openinfo.gov.bc.ca website. I would appreciate it if you do not share my email address. Regards, Richard