Jackson says that the only saving grace for her is that the government is allowing her to pay back the amount in installments. She had been getting calls but looked up the number and saw it was frequently reported for spam, so assumed it was fake. Revenue Services was a scam when she saw that she owed $975. “On the MSP invoices that I was receiving leading up to 2020, they were all saying that on January, 2020 you won’t have to pay anything,” Andres Byun, an international student in computer science, told the Martlet.Īlyssa Jackson, a third-year international student in political science, told the Martlet that at first she thought the notice from B.C. “Like they’re taking advantage of my ignorance in this situation.” “It genuinely feels predatory,” Byun said. Many of those contacted were left wondering how they had missed the raise and how they were going to pay off the overdue invoices. In December, Revenue Services of British Columbia began contacting international students about their overdue MSP payments. They admitted that international students who have out-of-date mailing addresses registered with the province and their post-secondary institution may not have received these notices. Ministry of Finance stated that they informed international students about the MSP raise by updating all provincial and post-secondary websites, posting a news release, and mailing monthly letters to all international students. Without this information to the contrary, these students thought that the elimination of the premiums applied to everyone. Although statements may have been sent through the mail, they say they did not receive a letter. None of them received an email informing them of the change. MSP users are able to view their account balances online. residents receive subsidized health care from the government. The MSP is the vehicle through which B.C. The Martlet spoke with several international students that did not receive MSP notifications about the changes to their account. Several international students say they were not informed about the raise until months after the fact, and now face bills of over $900. At the same time, however, the province raised MSP fees from $37.50 to $75 per month for the more than 130 000 international students currently living in B.C. residents, fulfilling a 2017 campaign promise by Premier John Horgan. did away with Medical Services Plan (MSP) premiums for B.C.