Travel Medical Coverage?

[brighteyes]

Well, it just occurred to me that I don't have trip insurance. Do you buy trip insurance? Is it worth it and who have you bought it through? If anyone has ever had to use their health insurance for their trip has it been worth it and what was your experience like?

Thanks!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We would NEVER travel to the States without it. That's a game of financial roulette I wouldn't want to play.

7 trips to Florida so far, and thank the Lord, we've never had to use it (came close once, though, when Jake's asthma plagued him for an entire vacation and caused some breathing issues that I thought may end up sending us to hospital). Its good peace of mind for us to know that we won't be forced into bankruptcy should we meet with an unexpected illness or injury while on holiday.

In the grand scheme of the price of a vacation, the cost of medical insurance is minimal. I, personally, know many folks who have suffered everything from a broken leg to a burst appendix while across the border, and their medical costs would have been crippling if they didn't have insurance.

Edited to add.....we have purchased travel insurance through RBC, Manulife and Desjardins for past trips, but now its an include benefit with our RBC Visa (it is well worth paying the steeper annual fee for our credit card to have that coverage...with multiple trips in a year, we come out way ahead in the end). Should we suffer any illness in the days prior to our travel, we would also get a separate underwritten policy to ensure those specific and otherwise excluded ailments are also covered.

 

[thr33boys]

I'm a federal gov't employee so I have medical and dental coverage through my employer. Like Gina, I also have add'l coverage through my credit card, which includes trip cancellation if the trip is paid using the credit card - well worth the annual and forex fees, for me.

If I didn't have those, I would definitely purchase insurance for our cross border travels. There are 5 of us and it's just not worth the risk.

 

[Donald - my hero]

We never even travel out of the PROVINCE without coverage!! It is simply not worth the risk ... know this, if you choose not to and do end up in an ER in the states, they can & will charge you for every little thing, right down to the alcohol swab they use before giving you a needle or inserting an IV. In the grand scheme of things the cost is minimal whichever carrier you go with! Also consider this, if you end up in an accident before your holiday that will mean you can't go and your cancellation dates have past, you will want that covered as well. Here's wishing you perfect health while you travel

 

[Gigi22]

I'm a federal gov't employee so I have medical and dental coverage through my employer. Like Gina, I also have add'l coverage through my credit card, which includes trip cancellation if the trip is paid using the credit card - well worth the annual and forex fees, for me.

If I didn't have those, I would definitely purchase insurance for our cross border travels. There are 5 of us and it's just not worth the risk.

Not to be an alarmist, but especially given the state of the Canadian $ these days, you may want to check the dollar value on the upper limits of your coverage. For example, your federal employer coverage is in Canadian $, so has gone down significantly in value for purposes of foreign travel.

 

[LemonNeko]

I rarely buy trip insurance but always have medical insurance. My grandfather was hospitalized for 3 days in Florida in the '80's and it was over $30K. I have mine through my work plan but the last time I bought it was through my bank.

 

[dancin Disney style]

We have insurance through work that covers everything and also have additional coverage through our CC. In the past when we had to purchase a plan we did it through CAA. They sell plans that cover a single trip and also plans that cover a full year.

We have never had to use any of this insurance but 16 years ago we were in Quebec and my, then infant, was hospitalized for a week. Thankfully, Quebec and Ontario have reciprocal agreements. It was a terrifying experience and up to that point we never even thought about travel insurance but you can bet that since then we have never even taken a day trip across the border without it.

 

[thr33boys]

Not to be an alarmist, but especially given the state of the Canadian $ these days, you may want to check the dollar value on the upper limits of your coverage. For example, your federal employer coverage is in Canadian $, so has gone down significantly in value for purposes of foreign travel.

Thanks, that's a good point and we are aware of that. We're still comfortable with our coverage.

 

[starvenger]

Agreed with everyone - travel medical is a must when going abroad. It really doesn't cost a lot, and if you travel a bit (like I do) it is nice to have that annual plan to cover the majority of your trips.

The best thing about the insurance is that you can shop around online for what suits you best, and you should be able to get the insurance processed the same day (or in 24 hours).

 

[brighteyes]

Thanks everyone. I guess I wasn't as clear.I will be getting coverage, I'm just not sure what kind. I am thinking emergency medical. We are five days out from our trip and I don't see anything causing us to cancel our flights, unless we have an emergency there preventing us from travelling home which would be covered by our emergency medical I think?

I have been reading up on Rbc and TD's travel insurance but might check out CAA as I am about to sign up with them for a membership.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

We always get trip cancellation, interruption, and emergency medical. We have aging parents so you never know when something might go wrong back home. We also often travel during hurricane season and the winter, when weather can be an issue.

 

[Donald - my hero]

5 days worth of "living" left till you leave though! Anything from a simple fall down the stairs to (god forbid) a car accident can force you to cancel your trip. I second going with CAA, good sound coverage that has been around for Eons, so you know it will be accepted

(am i an alarmist mentioning potential accidents this close to departure? Nope, a realist with experience who needed to use it because one child got too sick to safely fly -- less than 24 hours out!!)

 

[starvenger]

I had a similar experience last year - my daughter broke her arm the Wednesday before we were flying out for a cruise. Spent 2 nights at Sick Kids because she needed pins put in and since it wasn't a life threatening injury, we got put in the queue for surgery.

Fortunately, she got the surgery done Friday morning and got a half cast - meaning we could make our flight on Saturday. But since we had the full insurance package I would've been able to use the trip cancellation to recoup some of the cost had we not been able to make the Sunday embarkation (I always try to arrive at least one day before boarding).

Moral of the story - stuff happens.

 

[coastgirl]

We had to use travel medical on our March break trip. It was an option with my work benefits, and for $15 for the family for the year, I said what the heck...We typically do purchase it, though I can't tell you who now. Anyway, I thought the work stuff would do us, and boy did it ever. Dh ended up hospitalized overnight, and our return trip had to be rebooked. The hospital stay along was $14,000! That works out to more than $500/hr!! Then the airfare was a couple thousand more (last minute booking--I could have flown us RT 3 times for the amount it cost!), hotel I didn't get to research, etc. The insurance was through Sunlife, and it was great. It was a bit of a hassle to file the paperwork for our own expenses, but they were really good to work with, and kept me from freaking out at the time by being reassuring and helpful. (Note it was even a pre-existing condition, that was stable, and we didn't get one minute of grief.)

Not sure if that helps as my option--through work--doesn't seem to be a choice for you at this point. But with a dh suddenly in the hospital 12 hrs before we (2 kids and a dog) were to fly home, I was so, so grateful for it.

For the record, we ended up at Celebration Hospital because it was closest. It was a lovely facility, but they seemed VERY cautious, and my local friend told me later she wouldn't have sent us there if she'd known.

 

[brighteyes]

well trip cancellation insurance had to be bought within 48 hours of buying my flights so I am outta luck for that one. But I did buy emergency medical insurance at CAA. Thank you all for your help. Next time I will know to buy trip cancellation insurance when I buy my flights.

 

[Donald - my hero]

well trip cancellation insurance had to be bought within 48 hours of buying my flights so I am outta luck for that one. But I did buy emergency medical insurance at CAA. Thank you all for your help. Next time I will know to buy trip cancellation insurance when I buy my flights.

I would contact CAA and see if you can ADD the trip cancellation to the medical ... i just checked their site and it said you can combine it to make a package plan ... it isn't clear as to WHEN you can do this though .. BUT the worry wart in me would check it out. HECK i know that the coverage from WDW can be added at any point since the last trip i did that about 10 days out when my dad was suddenly given a very serious diagnosis. If i had looked closer at CAA i would have gone to them first since we always get our medical coverage thru them.

 

[prairiesarah]

One thing to note about CAA (and possibly others although I can't comment on them as I have only purchased through CAA) is that if you will be making more than one trip during the year, check the rate for a whole year package vrs one trip. We did that a couple of years ago as we knew we would be travelling to the US twice during that 12 month period and it ended up being cheaper to buy a package for the year than for 2 separate trips. Now we have coverage through GMS (extended health) so don't have to buy a package, but something to think about for anyone who does.

 

[dsneygirl]

5 days worth of "living" left till you leave though! Anything from a simple fall down the stairs to (god forbid) a car accident can force you to cancel your trip. I second going with CAA, good sound coverage that has been around for Eons, so you know it will be accepted

(am i an alarmist mentioning potential accidents this close to departure? Nope, a realist with experience who needed to use it because one child got too sick to safely fly -- less than 24 hours out!!)

Doesn't even have to be major. My DH got shingles on our trip to DL last year. It was only a few hundred $$$ for the visit and meds but insurance covered it all.

 

[kiford]

We don't normally get medical insurance as both DH and I have medical coverage for out-of-country that covers a large number of issues. However, we do get trip interruption insurance especially if we're cruising because of the potential costs of evacuation and the possibility of having to cancel due to a family member illness (my dad is over 80 and my mother was very ill in 2010 before we left for a European trip). We've never had to use it, fortunately but I like to know that I have it available.

My father did buy trip interruption insurance 2 years ago for his South American cruise. It was leaving from Santiago and was staying three nights prior to the cruise in Santiago. He got caught in a snow storm and ended up losing two nights of his three night stay. His insurance covered the two nights plus some of the costs of rearranging his flight plans (he had to stay an additional night in Buffalo). I don't know the price differential between what he paid for the insurance and the costs of two nights in Santiago plus that he was reimbursed but he did say that it was definitely worth it. If it had been another day, he would have had considerably more costs incurred. He made it to the airport for his rescheduled flight about 2 hours before it left so it was a close thing.

 

[BlueberryPi]

If you have even 'basic' benefits through work, it really is worthwhile to check. I work at a small work place with pretty bare bones coverage and I was stunned to find out that I have travel insurance for both cancellation/interruption and medical.

So if you have any work benefits at all I'd check with your manager (or HR if you have it) to see what is included in your benefits package.