My brother is an international student in Halifax (NS, Canada). He graduated from his English course last week and so his health insurance expired then and there. He had three weeks till he goes back home to his country, however he got himself badly injured and had to undergo surgery for a broken cheekbone. The medical bill will be around $3000 and he has no health insurance to help him out.

We're not sure how to appraoch this - $3000 is too much and we're thinking: Is it possible to obtain temporary health insurance for him now to help us pay for his surgery???

Any information would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Companies require up to a 12-month waiting period on pre-existing conditions.

And there's no way you could get a company to pay for surgery that has already happened.

Check with the previous insurer and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; there may be some COBRA coverage that could kick in.