TRAVELLER'S AREA > TRAVEL TIPS

Key Points and Reminders

• If your health changes between the time you book your insurance and the date you depart on your trip, your coverage may change. Call us to find out how.
• Read your policy and know the exclusions and limitations. Ensure you are on the correct plan according to your medical conditions. If you have received a medical questionnaire with your policy, fill it out immediately and return to us. If there is an error, contact us immediately.
• Carry your wallet cards with you at all times. Prior to seeking medical assistance (e.g. doctor visit, emergency visit, hospital/clinic), it is extremely important that you call the emergency number first (i.e. the Assistance Center, not Snowbird Medi-Quote).
• If you must change your departure dates, call us before the policy comes into effect. If you don’t, you risk your policy becoming null and void for your whole trip. We cannot change the dates after the policy is in force.
• Should you make a temporary trip home at any time during the period of your coverage, please call us before you resume your trip so we can ensure that you are not paying for days you don't need.
• To extend your policy while you are away, call us within 7 days of your original policy expiring. We will extend your policy for you if you have had no claims. Please remember to call before your original policy expires.
• If you return home early and request a refund, we must have proof of the date you returned to Canada. A refund will be issued if you have had no claims subject to some conditions.
• There is NO REFUND on Multi-Trip Plans once they become effective.

IMPORTANT: Proof of Departure and Return Date

It is a very important requirement of all travel insurance policies that you can provide proof of your departure as well as your scheduled return date.

Most insurance companies will ask for this information in the event of a claim during the adjudication process. This proof ensures you have fulfilled this requirement of your policy. All claims can be more paperwork than you would imagine, not just in travel insurance, but any claim under any insurance policy you may have.

If you have questions about this topic or you would like assistance understanding your claim forms, please contact Shirley or Lori at 1-800-661-3098. We are here to help.

Emergency Care In The United States

We often see clients frustration, if they have a small emergency while on their trip, that a lot of Urgent Care clinics do not accept Canadian insurance. This means, if they used an Urgent Care clinic to seek treatment from a doctor, they had to pay the physician fees out of pocket.

The reason Urgent Care Clinics don't often accept Canadian insurance, is that they are typically privately owned, and there is no requirement for them to provide a direct billing service, and everyone knows that 'medical tourism', especially from Canadians, can mean big business for American health services providers.

Back home in Canada, our mindset would always be to go to a 'Minor Emergency Clinic' whenever possible in case of a minor medical problem, and only ever to go to a hospital emergency room if the severity of the situation would warrant it. To translate this same mindset to seeking treatment in the US is actually the opposite of what you should do.

Canadians equate a hospital emergency room to long lines, severe medical emergencies, and general overcrowding. Canadians also equate Minor Emergency Clinics with shorter lines, less severe emergencies and better service for those emergencies.

In the US, you all know that hospitals are not government owned or funded, so they are run as for-profit businesses. That means that large hospital emergency rooms in the US are not plagued with he problems that most Canadian Emergency Room have. They typically are not underfunded, short-staffed or overcrowded. They don't have long line-ups, and you don't feel that you are using up a spot that could be better used on someone more sick than you are.

And, the good news is that most American hospitals allow direct billing arrangements with Canadian insurance companies which means you won't have to pay out of pocket, or can more readily negotiate one if you show up at an Emergency Room of a hospital that they don't have a direct billing arrangement with. They can handle all sort of medical emergencies, large and small. And, they are, on average, more likely to allow the insurance company to negotiate the price down in a volume discount than an Urgent Care clinic.

This translates into better, faster service as well as savings for you, the consumer, by way of reduced premium increases on next year's travel insurance premium.

So next time you are faced with a minor emergency while traveling in the US, you may consider seeking treatment at a hospital emergency room rather than an Urgent Care clinic. Its a win-win situation for everyone involved.