Medoc, administered by Johnson Inc, is underwrtitten by Royal and Sun Alliance with emergency assistance by Global Excel. All are sound, reliable companies. You appear to be well covered. But, since I don’t know your health status, I suggest you pay particular attention to the pre-existing donditions requirements of Medoc and also be sure you know the “overlap” conditions of coverage. Top ups can be tricky if you have a sudden medical emergency arise toward the end of your primary insurer’s coverage period that becomes an excludable pre-existing condition for your top up insurer. For more on this
see my headline article Travel Insurance Top Ups Can Be Money Savers—But You Must Know The Rules in this current posting.

A few years ago I made a travel insurance claim that was approved. Will Past claims effect future claims

thanks.

Christina

I read your Moneysense article with interest. I hope you can lend some insight to my question.

My wife has the option to apply for US Medicare. She is a dual citizen. The question that I have is: Would a combination of US Medicare and our Cdn BC Health medicare be a reasonable replacement for travel medical insurance? When traveling in the US, she would use her US Medicare and then send in bills not covered by US Medicare to the BC medicare when we returned to Canada.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. My wife has pre-existing asthma.

Thanks very much, Paul

The travel insurance sponsored by CARP is a good plan as are many travel health insurance policies sold across Canada. The fact that
both you and your husband are in your seventies suggests one or both of you may have some medical conditions, take some medications, or see a doctor occasionally for some health concerns. Finding a plan that fits those needs is your first priority. Only then should you start comparing prices. If your health is not perfect, you may need a medically-underwritten plan which is based on your health status as determined from a medical questionnaire. Most Canadian single-trip or annual multi-trip plans carry comparable benefits, but you also need to look at their exclusions (what they don’t cover.) They also have different requirements about pre-existing conditions and you need to know how they apply to you. Premiums will differ according ot your age, health and the length of your trip. The CARP plan may very well fit all of your needs at a premium you are happy with. Ask a lot of questions and if you need some help go to a broker who specializes in travel insurance. Many of them carry different products and they can help you make reasonable comparisons.This is not a product you should buy off a shelf–not a your ages.

Milan

Your question is a good one. I just didn’t have the space to cover that issue in my MoneySense column. The bottom line is that the advice you were given is not adequate for your purposes. You need to see the terms of your out-of-country coveraqe and not take an administrator’s word that you are, in fact, covered as you need to be. Most employer/pension plan administrators are not experts in travel insurance and so you need better advice. Employer plans differ.
They have different covereage periods: 30 days, 60, 90, 180. Most say they cover pre-existing conditions, but there are limitations on what qualifies as a pre-ex: Is it stable or unstable? Has it required treatment within a certain period before travel? Are you taking medications for it? etc. etc. You need to know what those qaualifiers are and how they apply to your own health status. You also need to know if your insurer will pay your out-of-country hospitals and doctors directly or will you have to pay and then wait for reimbursement? Are you prepared for that if you wind up with a $70,000 bill for a five day confinement? Will they repatriate you to a hospital at home at their expense if necessary?

Also, I know of plans that offer, say, $100,000 of coverage, which is totally inadequate. And even if it’s more, is that meant to be lifetime cover or is it per incident? You need to know. I consider any plan that covers less than $1 million per incident, that does not pay foreign hospitals dfirectly, and does not offer air amublance repatriation if necessary, inadequate. The trouble is that many employer/pension plan administrators cannot answer those questions and even if they can, you need to see them in print. A contract is still a contract. Your best bet is to ask a broker specializing in travel insurance to have a look at your plan, to point ourt the questions you need to ask, and to top it up, if necessary, so that it does meet your requirements. I’ll try to deal with this issue in more depth in a future column.

Milan

Milan Korcok
Editor & Publisher
http://www.travelinsurancefile.com

Milan