Travellers require health insurance

Whether your vacation will take you halfway around the world or halfway across Canada, you need travel health insurance.

You may have insurance coverage through your group plan, provincial coverage or credit card coverage, but it is wise to review the details and extent of the coverage.

Here’s why you can’t afford to take a vacation from travel health insurance:

• Provincial health plans provide only limited coverage for medical treatment and hospital costs outside Canada. Depending on your province or territory of residence, daily coverage could be capped at a maximum of just $150 to $400 a day. Treatment in a hospital outside of Canada could cost thousands of dollars a day.

• Provincial health plans are portable to all provinces and territories, but medical coverage can be limited when you travel beyond your province or territory. For instance, Quebec’s out-of-province coverage is limited to hospital costs and Ontario’s does not generally cover prescriptions and ambulance costs.

• Credit cards often offer or include travel insurance benefits. But they may have very low coverage limits and may include restrictions on your age or any pre-existing medical conditions.

• Your employer’s group medical insurance plan may include restrictions or limitations that could end up requiring you to pay substantial medical bills out of your own pocket if your costs exceed those limits.

The right travel health insurance plan can provide economical, peace-of-mind protection when you’re far from home and need it most. Many plans also include access to emergency travel assistance that can be an invaluable aid in locating hospitals, clinics, physicians, legal assistance and local interpreters as well as providing medical evacuation, family member travel assistance or assistance for unattended children.

A professional adviser can help make sure you have the medical coverage you need for the type of travelling you do. For example, if you travel out of Canada regularly for business or on extended vacations, your adviser can help ensure your other life, disability, accident, and critical illness policies cover you while you’re outside the country — or, if there are restrictions, that your travel health insurance plan fills in the gaps.

source:www.comoxvalleyrecord.com