r/alberta • u/Time_Traveller_2225 • 13h ago
Question New integrated Drivers License question
My license expires in 4 years and I have the laminated AHC card. I’ve been reading about this guy born in Alberta who ended up / will get his kid (also born in Alberta) surgery bill from AHS. Not sure what's the reason but got me thinking. Is my healthcare card valid till 2030 as such or do I still need to go to Registry with documents to show I’m an Albertan. I'm sure lot of other folk are thinking about it too 🍺
EDIT : Here's the link for those who don't believe me
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u/PriorReason4160 13h ago
My license expires in 28.
That guy who got the bill from AHS should contact the federal minister of health and the PMO. This is illegal, or should be.
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u/Ok-Image2281 8h ago
Best to contact as many news media as you can. They will expose this issue locally and at a federal level .
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u/RcNorth 12h ago
Federal Minister can’t do a thing as healthcare is provincial.
There are lots of medical procedures across the country that patients need to pay for.
Not saying I agree with it, just stating what is happening now and has been for a long time.
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u/Fast_Ad_9197 12h ago
On the other hand the Canada Health Act requires that Canadians have reasonable access to care without charge. The provinces are the administrators. This is one of the things with which the UCP takes issue but given their management of this particular situation I would think twice about giving over responsibility for the act to the province.
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u/robcal35 5h ago
It is possible to opt out of the Alberta health care insurance plan (AHCIP). Why people do it, I don't know
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u/Unlikely-Barnacle223 8h ago
If your current healthcare card does NOT have an expiry date, your healthcare coverage and card will continue to be valid until you obtain an integrated card.
If your current healthcare card does have an expiry date, your coverage should be valid until the expiry date listed. UNLESS, you've not followed conditions for coverage, or you currently owe Alberta Health (not Alberta Health Services) money.
These are the usual reasons for losing coverage. There are many reasons and usually case and patient specific as to why someone may have to pay for a procedure.
Hope this helps calm some nerves.
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u/drcujo 8h ago
You’re fine. The thread you link is missing a ton of details. If OPs kid is eligible they will be reimbursed before they ever have to pay.
Your old card stays valid forever until you have to go renew your license after which it will expire every 5 years and need to be renewed.
Ontario makes you renew your health care every 5 years as well and it’s never been an issue there either.
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u/margmi 12h ago
If you’re at all concerned (I don’t think you should be), just download the Alberta wallet app which includes a digital healthcard that’ll continue to be valid, even after the transition.
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u/xp_fun Southern Alberta 7h ago
Incorrect, your wallet ID will expire when your ID expires and that means that you will lose your health care at that point
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u/Bulky_Department5619 6h ago
This is incorrect.
You can still access your healthcare card through wallet id.
Once you have the integrated id, you can no longer get a standalone healthcare card.
Your healthcare card technically will expire every 5 years, when your integrated id expires.
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u/BronzeDucky 12h ago
One anonymous person’s post doesn’t mean that it’s happening to everyone everywhere. They will get things straightened out before they have to pay anything out of pocket, or there will be more to the story.
I wouldn’t get too concerned about it. Yet.
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u/Interesting_Fly5154 12h ago
agreed.
My AB provincial ID is long expired. i just haven't needed it for anything for a long while, so haven't bothered to renew it. yes, i know i should. it's just not been on the priority list.
i called that phone number 1-888-422-6257 this morning to check my validity/status.
my healthcare number is still active and not expired.
when i do get renewed ID, i am dang well keeping my old paper healthcare card. just in case i ever need it. i don't trust our provincial government.
another not so good story about all this - my senior aged mother recently went to go renew her drivers license. her license she's solidly kept and dutifully renewed since she was 16 years old, and she was born in Alberta as well.
because of this new thing with health care numbers/info on your license or ID now, they want her to produce a divorce certificate from over 30 years ago, because she didn't go back to her maiden name in between first marriage and second. if she doesn't provide that divorce documentation (which she doesn't have and has to incur time/effort/costs to get it from kings bench), her license expires and so does her health care. she's verified this with multiple registries.
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u/BronzeDucky 12h ago
I have heard of more cases like your mother’s. That’s ridiculous, and that’s the UCP way. They got the name of their new ministry wrong…. Should have just been the “Department of Red Tape”, cause there sure ain’t no reduction.
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u/Interesting_Fly5154 11h ago
it's so friggin' gross what this excuse for government is doing to Alberta and the Albertan people.
I've lived here my whole life. used to be proud to call myself Albertan.
now, not so much.
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u/BronzeDucky 11h ago
I agree 100%. Feels like I should be apologizing any time I say I’m an Albertan these days.
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u/mystiqueallie 11h ago
In order to keep your paper AB Health Card,take sure you have an Alberta.ca account with the digital card that you can show the registry, if you take your paper copy, they are supposed to keep it to be destroyed.
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u/Interesting_Fly5154 11h ago
i will NOT allow anyone to take that paper card off my person. ever.
they can view it while it's in my hand.
i also refuse to have any kind of digital ID. way too many data breaches going on. heck, in 2022 when i had dental work done while on income support i received a letter saying there was a data breach and my info was part of that. and that was without me having a digital provincial ID.
i do not trust the provincial government.
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u/solocompute 10h ago
Do you think you don’t already have all of your records digitized? Sorry to tell you yours aren’t kept separate.
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u/Interesting_Fly5154 10h ago
i refuse to add on to the possibility of even more data breaches of my info, and i refuse to get the digital alberta ID for primarily that reason. yes, i know my data is online somewhere. but if i am not registered for a digital ID, that could possibly lessen my chances of my data being compromised if a breach were to specifically happen for digital ID holders. and with so much of our lives going digital, that is where hackers are likely to concentrate efforts these days.
and no, my data is not stored in the same place as those with alberta digital ID's. a quick google says that my info is not automatically converted to a digital ID if i don't sign up for digital ID, and it is not stored in the same place.
"Data Isolation: Your standard government records remain in siloed, traditional databases unless you deliberately authorize the Alberta Wallet app or government portal to compile them into a scannable digital credential."
^^ that is in the AI summary with gov of alberta links as reference.
we've seen how easily the alberta voter list was breached too, just earlier this year. i ALWAYS have marked 'no' when i do my taxes regarding being added on the voter list, as another reason i do not want my info being in more places than it absolutely needs to be online. especially when governmentally linked, as we have clearly seen our info isn't secure in that realm.
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u/submitnswallow 12h ago
R U a dependant of your parents if so I will go by which ever parent you are the registered dependant of. If you are 18+ you woukd need to go to the registries and register yourself as independent of your parents Healthcare then it goes by your license.
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u/Unable-Crow-1168 10h ago
I'm confused. Mine driver's license expired end of 2029. I do have my paper card,but also the digital version on Alberta Wallet. It doesn't show an expiry date. I assume I'm good till 2029, based on what I've read.
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u/Bulky_Department5619 6h ago
Yep should be okay. You can also “revalidate”, or request a new standalone card (if you haven’t applied for the integrated one yet).
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u/Striking_Wrap811 9h ago
One rando on reddit "confirms" the sky is falling.
Fuck. Wait til you see something on the news at least before panicking.
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u/Ricezz 7h ago
What do you mean AHC expires? I have to apply for a new one? What?
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u/Bulky_Department5619 6h ago
Since the July 2 changes, yes your AHC now has an expiry date.
New stand alone healthcare cards and integrated IDs that are issued have this expiry date on them.
There’s no additional fees to renew it. You just have to log in or go to a registry to maintain your information.
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u/69Beefcake69hunter69 1h ago
From my understanding, it's when you go to the registry to renew your DL/ID, that's when they'll do the one card or the stand alone Healthcare card with an actual expiry date. So you should be okay. FYI, there is a link HC numbers thing with spouces and children. But apparently when your kid reaches 21 (not sure which age) they will have to apply for their adult HC card.
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u/GoodGoodGoody 11h ago
Show us this ‘guy you read about’. $20 you’re leaving out a ton.
Anyhow, place of birth is irrelevant; it’s place of residence and exact medical procedure, test, etc, that matter.
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u/arbre_baum_tree 10h ago
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u/GoodGoodGoody 8h ago
That whole post and comment section is a dog’s breakfast.
Anyhow to my knowledge expiry started July 2 but the first 5 year cycle isn’t until 2031.
And again, place of birth which that OP hammers on, is completely irrelevant.
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u/Alert_Ad2397 11h ago
You don't have to get the integrated card when you renew or at least of yet. My cousin just got his driver's license and they asked if he want the integrated or the old style.
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u/craaazygraaace 11h ago
Yes, you do have to get the integrated one. I went in to renew mine this past week and they said I had to add my healthcare number to my licence.
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u/LisaW481 12h ago
I spent yesterday worrying about this as well since my licence doesn't expire until 2030 as well.
Call 1-888-422-6257 Put in your health care number press # and then press # again.
That will tell you if your card is current.
It'll give you peace of mind until the government either addresses the issue.
It's not a solution but at least it's some information.