With summer finally here, it is hard to believe (and I hate to remind you), but it is time to start thinking about travel health insurance, if your winter plans include a trip to warmer climates. I get very upset when I see "back-to-school" flyers in early August, so you can imagine how I felt when I saw the new MEDIPAC Travel Insurance Guide with an early bird discount deadline of Aug. 11, 2008.
Remember, whenever you travel outside of Canada, you need to have comprehensive medical emergency travel health insurance. An illness or accident in the United States can be financially disastrous.
Several years ago, an official of an insurance underwriter told me that they had paid a claim in excess of $300,000 for a client who had a heart attack while travelling in the United States. The American hospital actually wanted more money than that, but they were able to negotiate a settlement.
If something like that happened to you without insurance, you can imagine the ramifications.
Your provincial health care will reimburse you for costs incurred based on your provincial rates for the same service. However, this is only a fraction of the actual costs for American medical services. Provincial coverage is capped at rates between $150 and $450 per day, while the actual costs for full service in the U.S. hospital can run as much as $10,000 per day.
So, if you are convinced of the need, let's look at some of the options and issues.
The first issue for you may be pre-existing conditions. If you have had any serious illness or you are being treated for a medical condition, be sure to disclose all of that on your application form. You may get the bad news that your condition will not be covered, but better to know that now rather than after something happens on a trip and you find yourself unprotected. Failure to fully disclose all conditions potentially gives the insurance company grounds to withhold reimbursement for the entire policy.
Having said that, insurance providers maintain that many pre-existing situations can be covered if the condition has been stable and the medication consistent for an extended period of time. MEDIPAC states as much in their brochure.
However, the basic application (and preferred pricing) is only available to people who have not had any treatments for stroke, heart or lung disease, diabetes or cancer in the last year, or lung cancer or other metastatic cancers in the previous five years. People with such conditions need to have a personalized insurance quotation prepared, but are usually accepted on some basis. If you have such a condition, consider applying with more than one company, as underwriting criteria vary.
MEDIPAC is the insurance plan provided by the Canadian Snowbird Association. Their toll-free number is 1-800-265-3200 and information is available at www.snowbirds.org. Their plans have been designed for Canadians travelling to the U.S., and their membership is primarily seniors, so this may be a good place to start your shopping.
Many professional travel agents have excellent training (and an abundance of experience) with travel insurance, so if you are booking through a travel agent, be sure to discuss your insurance options with them. If you can find an insurance broker who specializes in travel insurance, they will have information on a variety of companies.
Other suppliers include:
Manitoba Blue Cross, 775-0151, www.mb.bluecross.ca
CAA Travel, 1-800-992-8143, www.caamanitoba.com
Continental Travel 989-9323, www.continentaltravel.ca
www.ecanadianinsurance.com\snowbirds.html, a travel insurance website run by a broker in Callander, Ontario named Ray Battiston. (1-800-526-7420)
www.rbcinsurance.com/travel/
If your travels will not include the United States, you can qualify for much cheaper coverage with some companies, so make sure you look into that. This just makes sense, because most other countries, like Mexico, have very reasonable costs for health care, compared to America.
Some insurance companies offer really comprehensive plans, meaning they include trip cancellation, baggage loss and other protection, on top of emergency medical.
If you have had particularly good (or bad) experiences with insurance companies or the application and claims process, please let me know. I would be happy to pass along the advice of the well-informed.
Bon voyage!
David Christianson is a fee-only financial planner and investment counsel with Wellington West Total Wealth Management Inc. His column appears Fridays. You can e-mail him at dchristianson@wellwest.ca
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