Thank you for sharing.

This post was edited by rob333 on Fri, Feb 28, 14 at 10:07

I think that was meant to inform travelers..and a very good way to market insurance. ;)

But it certainly is true..US has a very over inflated health care system. We all know that..and instead of insurance and cost reform..which we need, we got "get insurance" or else.

Now, personally the Affordable Health Care Act has benefited my family, but I would rather pay less for insurance and other medical costs..it didn't do that at all.

Terri, I don't think it was enjoyingspring's intention to market insurance.

He's just making sure that anyone travelling to the US is properly covered. It's often something that people don't think of in the excitement of their holiday.

Enjoyingspring has posted here a number of times.

Costly for those of us LIVING here, too! My DH and I pay over $9,000 a year for Medicare Part B, Medigap Insurance (with $2500 pp deductible), Medicare Part D, and three inflated-cost prescription drugs. (DH takes two meds; I have one.) DH's former employer subsidizes $3,900 of these costs.

Would any of our KT folks with single payer care to tell us their costs for the same?

I wasn't trying to market insurance, just an interesting article I found in todays paper. I thought it was a real eye opener for travellers.

I agree with jasdip. And from her profile enjoyingspring also lives in Canada. We have a multi-trip out of country/province plan because you never know what will happen. Definitely the article enjoyingspring linked has definite merit - but there are other horror stories out there where people had huge (and I mean $400,000 bills) that were not covered by their out of country insurance because the insurer found a way to connect the dots to some unrelated condition that the insurer said would have prevented the company from insuring said person.

It does make a person question leaving Canada. And then there are pre-existing conditions. In Canada, if you have coverage through your workplace (and often it will not be enough due to limitations on various conditions) and buy a separate policy, the claims will first be submitted for payment to your work place plan and then anything that is not covered will be submitted to the third party insurer. OHIP (at least in Ontario) is in the mix too. I had to see a doctor in Europe - and despite our out of country plan, my husband's work place plan paid the bill. Re ambulance rides - if you don't need one, don't take it. Our provincial plan will not pay for it and my husband's office plan will not either - unless it is 100% necessary according to the ER doctor. Cost is approximately! $456.00 - or it was last year. Re provincial coverage, every province has a different plan so you do not want something to happen to you in B.C. that OHIP (Ontario) does not cover. My plan is to hopefully get back to Ontario (or at least the Cdn. border) should something happen - I know, wishful thinking.

Be careful with insurance provided by credit cards - check the maximums and covered conditions - and how many days are covered, especially as you get older. Most policies include day of departure and return as part of the number of days.

Many Cdns. travel (well maybe were travelling to the U.S. before the Cdn. $ fell) to shop for a day. If someone from Canada was injured in a car crash etc. the financial impact could be ruinous. But people often don't think that just running across the border for a day could result in them having an accident. I used to book travel for a company through a small travel agency. Every week they would receive calls from clients who had declined travel insurance and had suffered accidents while out of Canada. Nothing the agency could do.

When we have traveled outside the US we have always had coverage. We are on Medicare and have a Gap policy as well...it always pays to have coverage when you are out of the country...One thing that isn't mentioned in those statistics is quality of service and how long one has to wait for those services...Even though it costs more here, I wouldn't travel outside the US for any surgery...

Terri wasn't speaking of Enjoying spring marketing insurance, she was talking about the author of the article!

I thought that Canadians had health care through the government, through all the taxes, etc... So why do they have to also buy health insurance plans on top of that?

Seems like a typical case of a journalist finding something to write about, but in doing so, he missed the story.

This is an insurance problem, not a healthcare cost problem. And from other comments, it seems like a specifically Canadian insurance problem.

As eccentric describes, a travelling Canadian needs to know the details of their coverage. (In her case, it sounds like the situation is pretty disappointing and full of pitfalls). Learning about coverage and non-coverage is probably something any traveller should check. I don't know if it's true of all US medical insurance policies, but I know that I have the same healthcare coverage outside the US as in.

It's too bad it needs to be so complicated and risky for some.

Everyone thinks that Canadian health insurance is a blanket coverage for everything. It's true, our taxes cover it, but as Eccentric stated, each province has their own individual insurance.

Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan (note, it's Hospital, not Health insurance, as most people think), covers all expenses while IN the hospital. Nothing is paid out of pocket....surgeries, meds, etc etc.

Once you are out of the hospital and need prescriptions, you're on your own. Either your work insurance covers it, you buy private insurance, or pay out of pocket.

My step-father got his bladder removed 5 years ago due to cancer. He now has an ostomy bag. It costs him $300/month for the bags, he can't live without them they are an essential part of his life, and they are not covered. Everyone outside of Canada thinks everything we have is covered, not at all the case.

It is not the case that everything is covered while you are in an Ontario hospital either. When I had my second mastectomy I had to pay for the dye used to identify my sentinel node. That wasn't covered by OHIP.

My son was teaching skiing in Japan a couple of years ago and we bought extra medical insurance through BCAA (CAA or AAA) as we always do. He had to have his appendix out while there and every penny was covered by the policy. There was a $100 deductible and the BCAA insurer even recovered it for us from our provincial med plan.

But, when he was buying the plan there was a question that asked whether or not his flight was stopping anywhere in the US, even if it was a direct flight. It was more expensive if the flight stopped there, even if you weren't leaving the airport, than if you didn't stop.

One son plays a sport that takes him to the U.S. for tournaments and he buys an annual excess policy from BCAA. A one day shopping trip we buy U.S. med insurance. It's done over the internet and is so cheap and so worth the piece of mind.

In an article in "Canadian MoneySaver" magazine late last year, which many ... most? Canadians can find in a local library, there was an article recommending that one check the travel insurance coverage carefully, as many companies try a number of stratagems to avoid paying ... that quite a number of us might think that we were covered but end up not being nearly as well covered as we'd thought.

ole joyful

I live in a border city with the US, there is no way I wouldn't have medical insurance when I go cross the border even to shop for a few hours. My passport needs to be renewed so I don't worry about going over right now but it isn't uncommon for people to go over a few times a week to fill up on gas or to buy groceries or to go to a hockey or baseball game.

I used to buy insurance for a year so I didn't worry about having to get it every time I went over. My friend always says don't worry I will get you home in time. Well no you can't if we were in a car accident together.

You have to really read your policies too. Most of the Insurance holders need to be contacted before you seek medical attention. Next time I go over I will be getting the coverage again. Last time I bought it a Sears Travel this time I will get it from my bank.

In Canada we do have health care. In most provinces and territories, it is free (we do pay through our taxes though), but in some they have a monthly payment. Alberta (where I live) only stopped sending us premium bills about five years ago. *Almost* everything is covered. Surgeries, hospital stays, doctors visits, etc.. My broken hand was paid for through my coverage. All my babies were covered 100%, including when two of my babies had to be in the NICU for 9 weeks and 6 weeks. BUT, if I go to the doctor today and he prescribes me a medication, I have to pay for the drug. I don't pay for any drugs that I get while a patient in a hospital. Everything I get while a patient, is covered. But not when I see my doctor in his office. His visit is covered, but not the prescription. For that, I either pay with cash, or if I work full time and my employer offers benefits, I will pay for my benefits and it will cover usually on average 80% of the prescription, some dental, eye glasses, massages, stuff like that. Because I work for a major drug store chain, my coverage is 100% for prescriptions, but ONLY if I get them filled at my drug store chain. Otherwise they only cover 65%! We just got $200 for eye care. $100 of that will pay for the eye doctor visit (which is 100% not covered by health care), and the other $100 will go towards glasses if I need them. My dental coverage is about 80% but then it depends on what the dentist is doing. If I need braces, I pay 100%. If I need a root canal, it pays about 50%. Fillings are 80%. I am always afraid to walk to the receptionists desk at the end of a visit to see what I owe. LOL Travel insurance to any country is a must for anyone who travels anywhere. Trust me, if an American comes to Canada and gets hurt here, you WILL have a bill to pay. It only covers those who live here. My travel insurance to The Netherlands 8 years ago was only about $45. I bought it. Didn't need it, but if I hadn't bought it, I can't imagine the bill if I had gotten hurt. Once you hit a certain age, insurance sky rockets. My dad refuses to buy insurance now. Why? When his vacation is less expensive than the insurance because he's 81. Last time he went on a cruise to Hawaii, he was told insurance would be $1200. Moms was $150 because she was still 79. Mom bought insurance. Dad said to throw him overboard if something happened. :)

Thank you Kat. :) that is what I was referring to.

Maybe I shouldn't post at 5:30 am..only awake for 10 min and no coffee..and am usually NEVER up that early. And then have a super busy day so I can't stop back in.

I know enjoyingspring is from Canada. :) and I also figured the reason she was posting.

When we travel province-to-province, many/most get insurance, as most provinces only pay for a (small?) percentage of the actual cost if we need care in another province.

Same for visiting othe countries ... and especially the U.S., where health costs for identical services seem to be much higher than in many other parts of the world.

In some of our provinces, there is a fee, usually payable annually or monthly, to help cover the cost of the health care in that province. In some provinces, there is no fee specifically to deal with in-province health care. In Ontario, we used to have an Ontario Health Insurtance Plan fee, then it was cancelled for a few years, and recently reinstituted ... as a Health Levy - not a tax, you understand (as the re-elected Premier of our Province had promised, prior to an election, not to increase taxes). But we calculate the Health Levy on our annual federal and provincial income tax form, it varies with the level of our net income, and is payable along with the income tax remittance.

Just so you know.

ol(der) joyful

Costly for tourists from any country to get sick out of their country. I can't even afford to get sick at home! IN the US!

" Last time he went on a cruise to Hawaii, he was told insurance would be $1200. Moms was $150 because she was still 79. Mom bought insurance. Dad said to throw him overboard if something happened. :)"

Debby-AB, nice thought, but it doesn't work like that. If your 81 yr old father fell and broke his hip or had a heart-attack while away from Canada, he'd still get all the medical treatment available. And then he would get the bill.

Yes, but it was a funny thing to say--made me smile. :)

My mom was very fortunate to have traveler's health insurance when she visited Portugal.. She tripped over an elevator floor [hadn't stopped level w/lobby floor] and broke her right femur... Was going to be spending 10 days there, well she did it all in a hospital. She was flown home w/attending nurse, taken to local hospital via ambulance from Chicago [4 hours]... She didn't have to pay for any of it...I do think the overseas hospital swiped her credit card at first but it was never needed..
If you travel out-of-country buy the insurance!!!!

It's a simple matter of people who are willing to take risks and people who are not...we always have coverage no matter where we go....

Some people still think they don't need to wear their seat belts...

This post was edited by ruthieg__tx on Sun, Mar 2, 14 at 15:00

sushipup, my father was being sarcastic. hello?

I understand that, and I get the joke. But it's worth repeating that uninsured medical care can be extremely expensive in the US.

My parents are seasoned travellers. They have travelled all through Europe (not the far northern countries though), Bali, China, Australia, Alaska several times, Hawaii several times, various trips through the islands of the Caribbean. There is NOTHING you can tell them about travel insurance they don't already know. They're not idiots. And if my dad did have a heart attack or fell and broke a hip, he could pay the hospital bills: in one lump sum. They're not poor.