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Medical Insurance
Travel health insurance policies vary greatly. Sufficient medical insurance coverage is a necessity for participants in work/study abroad and, as such, they should be encouraged to take full responsibility for becoming familiar with their insurance package. For example, participants should ascertain if injured must they pay up front and be reimbursed later or if the insurer will pay immediately after medical intervention.
Policy/Issues
Do participants have sufficient medical insurance coverage before their departure, including:
- Medical evacuation coverage, to ensure transportation to an appropriate medical facility. This may be a facility in the host country, a neighboring country, or Canada.
- Repatriation insurance, to cover the cost of transporting remains to Canada in the case that a participant dies while abroad.
Provincial health plans have specific provisions for travel coverage. Participants should be responsible for becoming familiar with the provisions of their provincial health plan and their travel health insurance package. For example,
- Recreational activities. Coverage of activities such as skiing, mountain climbing, scuba diving, white water rafting, etc are considered high risk and are normally not covered by the travel health insurance policy.
- Pre-existing conditions. Many insurance providers do not cover for pre-existing conditions. It is important for the participant to declare all pre-existing conditions otherwise s/he jeopardizes payment if a claim is later made.
Some provinces exclude residents who have been outside the province for more than six or seven months from coverage under their provincial health insurance plan. Participants should be encouraged to contact their provincial health insurance plan before departure to be informed of their health coverage eligibility. |
