Owen Pallett says he lost OHIP coverage because he mistakenly told a ministry staffer he was out of the province for more than the minimum number of days to get OHIP.

A noted Toronto musician is reeling after OHIP revoked his health care coverage for doing his job -- touring.

"This whole situation has totally thrown me a curveball," said Owen Pallett, 28, a Canadian citizen. "How is it that I lost my health card?"

Pallett, whose solo act Final Fantasy debuted with the critically acclaimed 2005 album Has A Good Home, is stunned by how quickly a "dismissive" ministry staffer cancelled his coverage and wants to know why it's so easy to strip working Ontarians of health care.

The award-winning violinist has also won political support from NDP health critic France Gelinas, who told Health Minister George Smitherman in a letter that "no Ontarian should see his or her health care summarily revoked."

She also asked the minister to reinstate Pallett's coverage.

"Legitimate residents of Ontario should not have to go through this ordeal," Gelinas said.

Pallett, who is in Vienna for a gig, said before leaving Toronto on Tuesday he still didn't have OHIP coverage.

Smitherman spokesman Laurel Ostfield and health ministry spokesman Andrew Morrison both refused to say whether Pallett's coverage had been reinstated, citing privacy laws. Both refused to discuss details of Pallett's case.

Pallett followed up his debut with He Poos Clouds a year later. He won the inaugural Polaris Music Prize in 2006 and co-wrote the string arrangements for the Arcade Fire's well-received Funeral and Neon Bible albums.

Pallett said he went to an OHIP office on Bay St. last week to renew his expired card and that a staffer asked him what he does for a living.

After Pallett mentioned he's a working musician, the clerk asked him how long he had been out of the country in the past year. Pallett estimated he was probably in Toronto for about four months in the last year -- the rest of the time he'd spent on the road.

According to law, to be eligible for OHIP, residents must have their principal home in Ontario and be present in the province for 153 days in any 12-month period.

The clerk decided to revoke Pallett's health-care coverage and refused to renew his OHIP card, Pallett said.

"I was like, crying," he said. "I didn't know what to do."

A distraught Pallett later figured out he'd actually been in Ontario about 162 days in the past year -- more than the requisite 153 days to be eligible for coverage.

Armed with a stack of cellphone bills, bank records, and other documentation, he rushed back to the OHIP office -- only to be denied again.

Gelinas' assistant Dan O'Brien said Pallett's ordeal isn't unusual.

"We've certainly heard from other people across the province who have also had their OHIP abruptly revoked," O'Brien said. "... There should be more of a process for taking away somebody's health card. It shouldn't just be (based) on a conversation."

Ostfield said anyone who knows they're going to be outside of Ontario for extended periods of time needs to apply for an exemption from the 153-day rule before leaving. The law is geared to protect against people who don't live in Ontario and try to come back to get free health care.

"It's unfortunate that people aren't aware of the law, but it is there for an obvious reason. It's important that all Ontarians get good quality customer service ... but really, the law is the law. There are provisions for people who are going to be out of (Ontario) for extended periods of time."