Does that mean I have to stay him in the snow?
Not entirely. But you have to look at your options carefully. Here’s the way it works. If you recently had a heart bypass, most insurers will require at least one year of “stability” before they will cover you, which does not mean your doctor saying it’s OK for you to travel, or you testifying that you feel great and you walk three miles a day. It means meeting certain criteria like having no change of medication (type or dosage), no symptoms, no medical intervention other than just monitoring, nothing on that chart that suggests the need for further investigation. Some may give you a shorter stability period but will cover only for other, unrelated conditions, not your heart—or anything related to it—which covers a lot of territory.

I also suggested to a couple who have a winter home in Arizona that they might want to look at air ambulance plans as an option—but they must realize their limitations. They must be prepared to shoulder a good deal of cost of there is a heart-related emergency.

Air ambulance plans bought on a six-month or one-year enrollment basis are quite cheap and they do guarantee to get you to a hospital at home—but they too have pre-existing conditions limitations and they don’t operate like taxi cabs. You can’t just call them and say, I’m not feeling too well, will you fly me home?

They operate mostly on a hospital-to-hospital basis, so your emergency has to be serious enough for you to be hospitalized first and then a determination is made if you really need the air ambulance to get you home. If not, and you can do it on your own, or with trained assistance, that’s the way it will be done. And you will have to pay the initial costs of your hospital admission up to that point. So it’s not the same as insurance, but thousands of travelers use such services and are very satisfied with them because they do preclude the need for you to endure a long confinement if instead, once you are stabilized, you can be flown home. That’s a big advantage.

There are always options to almost any situation. But sometimes you just have to be patient.

Answer: Two recent visitors to this site, Noel and Bob, asked essentially the same question and they were wise in doing so because many of these so called extended plans are not designed for repeated or long term out-of-country travel. What’s worse, is that they don’t clearly define the limitations of their coverage and they can leave the snowbird retiree high and dry should they encounter a serious medical emergency abroad.

In Noel’s case, his employee benefits insurance administrator at Manulife couldn’t give him a satisfactory answer about the extent of his travel insurance benefits: nothing that satisfied him anyway. The administrator just wasn’t a specialist in travel insurance. I’ve heard the same complaint from others. He would have liked to use the plan as a basis for his coverage, topping it up with supplementary single trip insurance as that might have saved him money. He opted instead for buying full service travel insurance created for snowbirds from Day One and left his employee benefits plan for another day. A wise choice. Many employee and pension plans have quite a few limitations, but even if they were extensive enough, if the administrator can’t give you a clearly written contract telling you what is or is not covered, Stay Away.

With Bob, who was a retired provincial civil servant, it was only after several extended trips that he realized his plan covered him for only 40 consecutive days per trip. He didn’t know that. Again, there was no clear detailed explanation of benefits. He too, has now gone to the full-service travel insurance marketplace for coverage from Day One.

That’s not to say you can’t get good “top up” insurance for retiree or civil service pension plans. You can. Some of them are specifically crafted to tie in with these plans so there are no gaps. But you have to be careful. Not all plans interlock. Some do not allow “top ups.” Make sure both your primary and your secondary insurers know your intention and can give you written assurance of the extent of your coverage—nothing less than $1 million, assurance of repatriation to a hospital at home if medically necessary, 24/7 contact numbers, and direct payment to the hospitals and doctors treating you abroad.

Answer: Yes, and it is available from several Canadian travel insurers. Ask for it if you’re sure you won’t be travelling to the U.S. For example, for short-term coverage for Canadians, the Non-USA travel insurance Plan (worldwide excluding USA) by T.I.C. (Travel Insurance Coordinators) costs $1.15 per day for an individual up to 30 years of age, whereas the USA plan (worldwide including USA) costs $1.75 for the same age bracket. But be careful.

If your travel takes you to the Caribbean, or Central America or Mexico or if you’re going on a cruise, and you suffer a life-threatening medical emergency and you have to be evacuated to the closest hospital, which may well be in the U.S., you may get stuck with a huge hospital bill that the insurer is not responsible for. And whatever plan you buy, make sure it provides repatriation to a hospital at home as a benefit—not just evacuation to the closest available hospital.

Milan says…
You would think so. But the short answer is NO. First of all, most American-licensed companies can only sell to American residents. You need insurers who are not only licensed to sell in your home province, but who have out-of-country travel plans that are supplemental to the benefits offered by your provincial health insurance which pays some—albeit quite little—of the cost of your emergency medical care in foreign hospitals. Your Canadian plans can also file for reimbursement from your provincial health insurance, and are prepared to repatriate you to a hospital back in Canada by air ambulance or commercial flight if medically necessary and not just evacuate you to a nearby hospital and leave you to your own devices to get back home. Getting a hospital bed in Canada is no easy task so you need so you need an assistance service that normally deals with Canadian hospitals. In short, Canadian travel insurance is designed specifically for Canadian travelers in foreign countries and covers only emergency medical care. American travel plans are designed for Americans who have more limited basic health insurance coverage. And as for the cost, unless you’re very, very sick, or very, very old, Canadian travel insurance, is a bargain.

June
If your heart condition is stable and you have had no change in medication for two years and have no other health problems, you should have no problem finding insurance. But make sure you have a plan that covers “stable” pre-existing conditions and if you are asked medical questions, which is likely, make sure you disclose the details of your angina, what medications you are taking and their dosages. Then get an endorsement that says you are covered for your angina. If you fail to disclose anything about your health on a medical questionnaire—even if it has nothing to do with a medical emergency you may encounter—your entire policy might be voided and you might be disqualified from coverage. If you are going on a cruise, your best bet is to insure with a travel insurance specialist that offers at least $1 million, will repatriate you to a hospital at home if medically required (evacuation to a nearby hospital is not good enough), and has an emergency service you can access 24/7 no matter where you are, even at sea. Most insurance plans offered by cruise lines are not good enough.

Shirley:
If your husband has no other problems besides his diabetes, which is “extremely well controlled” he should have no problem getting a medically-underwritten policy which is based on his health status at the time he applies. But it requires that he answer all medical questions completely and accurately. It would be best if his doctor look over the application and how he has answered it. Most Canadian insurers who specialize in travel health insurance plans will be able to accommodate him even at the age of 77, so long as he truly “Has no other problems.” It’s not surprising your former employer’s insurance would not offer coverage. You need a company that specializes in travel insurance, particularly one that has plans for snowbirds, who are traditionally older. There are plenty of good companies in Canada who can do that. Click on any of our advertisers for further information.