Travel Medical Insurance

Buying Travel Medical Insurance for a trip outside Canada or your home province  just makes sense. You never know what emergency will befall you and, in the United States especially, medical bills can mount quickly.

What Snowbirds need to know about Travel Medical Insurance

Did you know that if you need to see a doctor in Florida, you could be handed a bill for $1,200? OHIP would pay $50.12 of it — the price of the visit if it had happened in Ontario. An overnight stay in hospital could cost $10,000 in the U.S. OHIP would pay $400 if you were in a cardiac ward or ICU. A good reason to buy travel insurance. But even extra coverage won’t help if it’s decided what ails you is a ‘pre-existing’ condition.

 To help you plan your trip …

Here are some issues you need to think about when deciding what type of Travel Medical Insurance you’ll need:

• Do all insurers charge the same?
As for any kind of insurance, rates can vary widely among insurers.

Take, for example, the case of Jim, a 70-year-old man, and his 65-year-old wife, Mary, who plan to spend five weeks in Florida. Jim suffered a heart attack a few years ago and takes three daily medications to keep his condition under control. To the insurer, Jim has a pre-existing heart condition.

Naturally, Jim wishes to be covered for this pre-existing condition, just in case something goes wrong while he is away.

Mary was diagnosed with, and treated for asthma, also a few years ago. But with the two medications she takes, Mary’s condition is under control and she is confident that she won’t require any treatment while she is away.

Using one of the websites available to compare premiums among five potential insurers, Jim and Mary learn that three companies won’t even insure Jim, for any price. Mary’s coverage will be in the $150 range for their five-week vacation.

But do they want to take the chance of Jim going South without coverage? What are the alternatives?

Two other companies agree to cover both Jim and Mary, but due to Jim’s history of heart troubles, one will charge $713 for the two of them, while the other will offer coverage for $797. It seems expensive, but at least the couple can travel safe in the knowledge that if something goes wrong, they’ve got the insurance they need.

• Should I get single-trip or annual coverage Medical Travel Insurance?
Travellers should determine whether it is more economical to purchase single-trip travel Medical insurance or an annual policy, based on their unique circumstances. Generally, if you’re just going for a few days, a single-trip policy is best, while if you plan several trips outside the country during the year, an annual policy would be less expensive.

Keep this in mind if you like to go cross-border shopping, visit friends or family, or take in the odd entertainment or sports event. But in some cases, a traveller might pay less by purchasing an annual plan that covers them for 30 or 60 days a year, than they would if they bought a single-trip plan. Compare both.

• How much coverage should I pay for?
Coverage packages usually come in amounts of $1 million, $2 million or $5 million. You might assume the lower-valued package will save you a lot of money, but premiums often vary little between the lowest and the highest amount. For peace of mind, you might want to go with the $5-million coverage.

Be aware, too, that you might have automatic coverage through your credit card. But it’s likely to be for a limited time only and, if your visit extends longer, you’ll need to arrange additional coverage.

That raises another issue: if your trip coverage is split between two insurers and you develop a condition during the coverage period of the first, that condition becomes “pre-existing” for the purposes of the second insurer.

Travelling this Winter Snowbirds?

 

Here are Seven tips to review while getting the Medical Travel Insurance for your trip.

 

1. Know what the policy says Every policy has limitations and exclusions (and) “pre-existing-conditions” exemptions.  Read what is covered and under what conditions.

 

2. Know your medical conditions and medical history! Know your medical conditions when completing the medical questionnaire. Is best to have a list of all your medications and all you medical treatments in the past years to answer the medical questions correctly. Because it is a condition to having, your claims paid. This is the stability clause in all travel policies and it is the traveler’s responsibility to know about their illnesses and medical conditions or to check with their physician if they are not sure what they are. It may be as simple as having a list of their medicines and treatment in front of them or having the information written out in front of them.

 

3. Be scrupulously honest and accu­rate! While there is an insurance policy for just about everyone — it just tends to cost more for higher risk cases — don’t fudge or forget when it comes to spelling out their medical history. An example is a case last year in when a Vancouver retired couple was hit with a $50,000 hospital bill, because they filled out the insurance form in­correctly. “They say, ‘Well, we made a few little mistakes in our ques­tionnaire, but you shouldn’t hold that against us, you are just trying to get us on a technicality,” he said. ‘Well what the hell is a contract except a listing of technicalities?”

 

4. Some policies restrict where you go. Insurance policies can have lim­itations due to warnings issued by the Canadian Federal Department of Foreign Affairs or the U.S. State Depart­ment, noted Robin Ingle, chairman Toronto-based insurance company Ingle International. “You get situa­tions where even sections of coun­tries are no-goes, so destination is an issue.” As well, U.S.-style medical bills are becoming common in a lot of foreign destinations around the world, so travelers need to make sure they have adequate coverage wherever they go.

 

5. What you do can be an issue. A lot of people will travel and participate in things like para-sailing, hang-gliding, bungee jumping. mountain climbing.  These events are not covered normally but can be at additional cost at issuance of Travel Medical Insurance policy.

 

6. Worry about the fit, not the price! Competition among insurers means that prices for coverage should not vary greatly, so find the policy that covers your medical conditions. “The difference in price from one insurer to the other is so slight Make the policy is exclusively yours, which fits your health profile.

 

7. Be prepared to invest some time to double-check your coverage make sure it fits your health profile, travel plans and any activities you plan to do while travelling. Do not leave it to the last minute to arrange.