Term: Coverage Start Date

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Glossary Definition

Last Updated: 2022-09-20

Definition:

The date a Manitoba resident’s provincial healthcare insurance coverage started. This is recorded in the variable "Continuous Coverage from date" (COVDT) in the Manitoba Health Insurance Registry data. Additional coverage information recorded in the variable "Coverage added code" (COVCODE) provides information about why someone was added to the Registry, as described below.

Some of the different reasons for coverage include:

• coverage begins at birth (COVCODE="1")
  
• upon registration after becoming a new resident of Manitoba. Individuals who migrate into the province from another province are not eligible for coverage until residential status is achieved (three months after the move into the province), meaning that their Coverage Start Date will be three months after moving to Manitoba, and in that three-month period they retain the healthcare coverage from the province or territory they migrated from. The COVCODE value recorded identifies what province they came from.
  
• people who immigrate to Manitoba from outside of Canada. In this case, the three-month waiting period does not apply and they are immediately covered for healthcare services. For landed immigrants or those with a work permit, a value of "E" will be recorded in the COVCODE variable. Immigrants from the United States have a value of "D" recorded in the COVCODE variable.

Nearly all residents of Manitoba are covered under the Manitoba Health Insurance Registry with the exception being people covered under a federal healthcare plan, such as military personnel or members of the RCMP. NOTE: As of April 1, 2013 members of the RCMP living in Manitoba are covered by the Manitoba Health Insurance Plan. Prior to this, they were covered under federal healthcare plans.

Related concepts 

• Duration of Residence
• Immigration / Migration Overview - Links to Immigration / Migration Data and Related Concepts and Glossary Terms
• Manitoba Health Insurance Registry / MCHP Research Registry - Overview
• Number of Years of Permanent Residence in Manitoba
• Outmigration or Emigration
• Retention - Immigration / Migration related
• Return Migration
• Time to First Healthcare Contact in Manitoba

Related terms 

• Coverage End Date
• Manitoba Health Insurance Registry Data

References 

• Urquia M, Walld R, Prior H, Detillieux G, Eze N, Koseva I. The Diversity of Immigrants to Manitoba, Migration Dynamics and Basic Healthcare Service Use. Winnipeg, MB: Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, 2020. [Report] [Summary] [Additional Materials] (View)