We hear about many Canadians who travel out-of-province and internationally without health insurance. Often, things go according to plan: they come home healthy, and everything is fine. Sometimes, they aren’t so lucky.
Emergency medical travel insurance protects Canadians who are travelling outside of their province from the medical costs of illness and injury. Our emergency travel insurance can also protect any guests to Canada who want the security of health benefits while they’re visiting.
Who Should Purchase Emergency Medical Travel Insurance? Anyone travelling to or from Canada should be purchasing travel insurance. Provincial health care only goes as far as the border, if you live in Alberta and get injured in B.C. you may find your coverage greatly reduced. This also applies to friends and family members visiting from other provinces (or abroad!). Be sure to encourage them to buy the coverage they need to complement any provincial care. Fortunately, around 70% of Canadians already know they need travel insurance and are already buying it before they go on vacations.
As far as we’re concerned, the only people who shouldn’t look for travel insurance before leaving their province are Canadians already covered through their work. However, not all work plans cover all destinations or trip durations. Others may not cover family members while abroad. It’s important to check if you and your family will be protected.
What Does Emergency Medical Travel Insurance Cover? When you’re insured through Health Risk, you can expect that, even when you’re abroad, you’ll have the same, affordable access to the medical facilities you need that you’d have if you’d stayed at home. Any hospital stays, ambulance services, doctor appointments, x-rays and other diagnostic tests, prescription drugs, and essential medical devices (like crutches) are going to be covered. Similarly if you need emergency dental care, you can be confident that you can receive the care you need without being left penniless. With approval, you may also have access to emergency air transportation services.
Our travel insurance goes beyond just mandatory health care though. We’ll provide a small hospital allowance for incidental charges. We also offer to pay out-of-pocket expenses for the accommodations and meals of insured family members. We’ll return your baggage to your home, and we’ll arrange an escort back to Canada for any accompanying dependent children or grandchildren. We’ll make sure to return any rented vehicles, or if you drove your own car, your family vehicle will be returned to your home province. Our coverage also includes transportation for your family and any accompanying pets.
We like to think of our emergency medical travel insurance as a holistic package that includes everything you’ll need medically and a lot of things that are simply nice to have. If you have any questions about insurance in regards to travelling in and out of Canada, contact Health Risk today!
