Travel health insurance question

[lmk]

Just wondering if any of you have had any experience with the health care system in Florida in terms of using insurance. Any advice on plans that are generally accepted in the States and those that may not be would be helpful. I usually don't worry so much but we'll be taking our baby across the border for the first time so we want to make sure everything is in place. Thanks!

 

[lmk]

for those of you that read my post and then see that this is Elise's second visit...... her first visit was in my tummy!

 

[ducklite]

Well, obviously Canadian Health Care cards aren't accepted.

Many of the "walk-in" types of places, and any doctor that comes to your room won't accept any insurance, you have to pay with cash or credit card and then submit the bill to your insurance for reimbursement.

Of course if something major happened that your child (or you) were hospitalized, the hospitals can't refuse to treat you if you are uninsured. They will bill you though.

I'm not sure how that would work for a Canadian.

My advice is to call your local CAA office and ask them how to purchase a travel insurance policy. It might not cover a minor office visit cost, but would cover major hospitalization costs.

Anne

 

[Susan--Ontario]

We have used the Walk In clinic just outside of Disney on three different occassions. They won't accept our out of country, but the first time they did call the company because I think they must accept some of them. We just paid for the visit with our credit card and then got reimbursed when we got home. First you send it to OHIP and then our company paid the difference.

If you were in serious shape I believe that they would call your company. We have an American Express with no limit just for this reason. One time we travelled with Blue Cross which was very well known at the time and they didn't accept it.

When my DD was one and we were there she got a very bad flu bug and we took her to make sure she wasn't dehydrated and the visit cost us $119 US. To me it was a small price to pay for the peace of mind it offered.

You can always ask your insurer, before you go, for a list of doctors/clinics/hospitals in the Orlando area that will take their card. That should give you some peace of mind.

 

[lmk]

Anyone else have any experience with this? We have no insurance as of yet and would just like to know if anyone has used their travel health insurance, which company you used and how easy it was to get your money back. Thanks again

 

[Amberle3]

The three main companies are Blue Cross, RBC and Travelguard.

The first thing that all three will want you to be aware of is that medical insurance is for emergency use only. That means that if you think you're really sick by all means go and see the doctor and it will be covered one way or another. If you have a little tummy ache and want a prescription for an antacid, that's probably not going to be covered.

RBC and Travelguard are both very good with working with the hospitals. Both will pay the hospital directly. I've heard mixed things about Blue Cross, and I personally won't sell them.

You'll want to check what the policies on pre-existing conditions are, and make sure you mention anything like asthma etc. Anything, no matter how small it seems now, that might possibly become something complicated.

Oh, and CAA sells their own brand of insurance - since I don't work for CAA I've neither sold nor purchased it so I don't know what their rules, restrictions or regulations are.

Just an aside about insurance: I can't find my notes on it at the moment but a while ago I was at an RBC training seminar at they mentioned some case studies of people who did or did not have travel insurance. One was a guy who was in florida and had a little too much to drink, attempted to walk out to the patio from his hotel room and didn't realize the glass door was closed. I believe that one did have insurance, it was covered, and it was a horrendous amount as well as a huge number of stitches.

 

[Toad]

The company I work for has an included out-of-country travel insurance so I never buy it - I pay into it in payroll deductions.

My parents always purchased CAA Travel Insurance. As they were seniors, I think it cost a bit more - about $120 for a three week trip. I'll tell you why it was worth every penny....my mother passed away in Kentucky. She (and my frantic father) were treated beautifully by the hospital staff. When my sister and I flew down to get my Dad and make arrangements to get my mother's body home, we were greeted at the door of the hospital - a social worker (I think that is what she was) was waiting for us to arrive. How they knew who we were I'll never know - probably the looks on our faces. They took us to where my father was waiting - they had put him in a private waiting room, provided him with blankets, food, a phone, etc. Except that it was the worst experience of our lives, it was made all the easier by they way we were treated.

Now here comes the kick - the bill came about two weeks later. For the less than 3 hours my mother was alive and treated in that hospital, the bill was over $25,000 US.

I should also tell you that the insurance company did not want to pay out. They insisted she had a pre-existing condition (she did not). All worked out in the end and everything was covered. But if they had not bought that insurance, my father would have had to sell his house to pay that bill.

Thank god for health care - and buy out-of-country insurance.

 

[maxie]

Yup can relate to that Toad. My father passed away 2 years ago in a resort in Mexico. My Mom had to pay for the hospital bill and funeral home upfront and than get reimbursed.

I was actually hospitalized in Anaheim when we went to DL in 1984.

So you just never know...

 

[lmk]

Toad and Maxie - I'm sorry to hear about your losses. I'm completely floored by the cost of the care of your mother. I am an ER physician in Canada and that just makes no sense to me. I think your story should make people thankful that we have Universal Health Care flawed as it may be.

 

[Toad]

I should say that the $25K included two ambulance trips, and an operation for her aneurysm. Ultimately she had heart failure during the operation. They sent us a very detailed "invoice" which we forwarded on to the insurance co. I never wanted to look at it but my sisters did and said it seemed reasonable when you break it all down. The $25K did NOT include the funeral home services which were covered under a seperate policy my parents had with their union.

 

[OntFamily]

Unfortunately, on our last trip we had to make two visits to a walk in clinic, and an Emergency room visit (via ambulance). We have travel insurance through Blue Cross and Great West Life (both through employer health plans).

We paid Visa for the walk in clinics ($70 and $131 USD), and submitted claims to our insurance company upon return. All was paid back to us quickly (2 - 3 weeks)

We're still receiving bills for the Emergency room visit (5 hour visit, and the running total is now at approx $2300 USD). We paid $300 USD when we left the hospital (hospital said we had to pay something). Our insurer (Blue Cross) told us we should not have paid anything. They paid the hospital (and doctors) directly, and gave us back our $300, quickly (approx 3 weeks).


I've used Blue Cross on another occassion for out of country coverage, and they also paid the claim quickly.




All in all, a relatively easy exercise.