Effective January 1, 2020 the Ontario government terminated their “out of country” coverage for residents. Until that time OHIP covered a maximum of $400 per day for high level services and up to $50 per day for emergency outpatient and doctor services. Although the government will continue to reimburse for claims prior to the start of the year there is no longer coverage available beyond that. Personally I had no idea that OHIP covered any amount of out of country medical. The OHIP limits seem negligible for international travel, and more importantly, for travel in the United States where health care costs are exorbitant. Some folks have expressed concern that the loss of even this small amount of coverage will make individual plans more expensive but so far that does not seem to be the case.
As frequent travelers we have always purchased our own plan. Not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, I have done some research on this topic. I would never recommend any one policy over another, but I do hope my research will help you ask the right questions to make the best decision for you. In doing so remember that an unforeseen accident or illness while travelling can be a major drain on retirement savings, perhaps devastatingly so. Purchasing insurance should always be on the top of your packing list.
Insurance providers are as numerous as travel destinations. We purchase ours through a broker who accesses an insurance carrier for us. We have also approached CAA for a travel insurance quote and have been offered the insurance package through our cruise line or tour operator. Some of our travel friends have good coverage through their benefits package at work or have the coverage as part of their credit card benefits. Start by finding out what you may or may not have and whom you wish to approach. The cost varies broadly, and again is based on the type of coverage you are purchasing. Be wary of free coverage as you will get exactly what you pay for.
You can purchase a single trip plan to cover just the days you are away or an annual plan that protects you year round for any type of travel. Most annual plans have a single trip consecutive day limit so be aware of what that is and purchase more days if you need them for a longer journey. The annual plan may be more cost effective and better protects those who travel on the spur of the moment and may not always remember to arrange insurance.
The term “Travel Insurance” can be somewhat deceiving as well. It is a blanket term that covers many insurable losses that can happen while traveling including emergency medical coverage, trip cancellation or trip interruption and delay, flight delay, lost baggage or baggage delay, car rental collision damage waiver insurance, hotel/motel burglary insurance and more. If you are purchasing a bundle be sure to check out the limits for each, especially the emergency medical coverage. I have seen policies that range from a paltry $10,000 limit to $5,000,000 for the emergency medical insurance alone.
Before we get to the discussion about out of country emergency medical insurance, let’s look at the other options available in most Travel Insurance packages. The trip cancellation / interruption can be a very expensive add on but an important one, especially if you book well in advance of your travel dates. If something unforeseen were to happen, such as an illness or family emergency that prevents you from going on your trip than the cost of the insurance will be well spent to get back the money paid for flights, cruises or tours. The new Canadian Passenger Bill of Rights covers costs associated with flight delays but recovering those losses may take a while, wherein your own insurance pays with more immediacy.
We personally are not as concerned about lost luggage as our belongings are always with us as carry on so we will often forgo that type of coverage. Keep in mind lost belongings are also covered under your property insurance policy. If you plan to rent a vehicle check out the cost of the collision insurance waiver with the rental company compared to the cost in your plan. Our total cost benefit analysis considers the cost of the different types of insurance against how financially devastated we would be for the loss.
Next week we will continue our discussion about insurance for travelers when we look more in depth at emergency medical insurance and what you must know about this very important coverage.