Summary of Issue: Medical Treatment

Decision 77010 Full Text of Decision 77010

The claimant submitted that, from November 18 to December 4, 2009, he was in Romania, his country of origin, to receive dental treatment. He indicated that the dentist in Canada wanted to extract his tooth and that the dentist in Romania was able to save his tooth at a lower price. The Commission determined that the claimant was not entitled to receive EI benefits for that period because he was outside the country to undergo dental treatment that he could have received in Canada. Consequently, the Commission imposed a disentitlement for that period. The claimant appealed from the Commission's decision. He submitted that the dental treatment, without tooth extraction, was not available in Canada. The general rule under the legislation is that claimants who are not in Canada are not entitled to receive benefits. However, Regulations 55(1)(a) provides an exemption from this general rule whereby a claimant who is outside Canada receiving medical treatment not readily or immediately available in the claimant's area of residence in Canada qualifies to receive benefits. The only difference was the manner in which it was done. The claimant made the personal choice to undergo treatment in Romania because he wanted to avoid an extraction. Consequently, the claimant's appeal is dismissed by the Umpire.