# Travel Medical Insurance - Canada



## riverdees05 (Aug 20, 2013)

I am leaving for Whistler, BC Northstar resort this weekend.  I am on Medicare and have been looking at various medical and evac policies.  Does Canada provide coverage for visitors?  And if I have medical coverage on a travel insurance policy will be useable?


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## Passepartout (Aug 20, 2013)

riverdees05 said:


> Does Canada provide coverage for visitors?  And if I have medical coverage on a travel insurance policy will be useable?



You will not be turned away. However Canada's gov't health plan is for Canadian citizens. Visitors should expect to be charged. If you have medical coverage on your travel insurance poilcy, why not read the policy and see for yourself what your coverages are? Every policy from every carrier is different. It's like timeshare contracts. What is printed on the contract governs what's covered, not what some salesman says or what some well-intentioned TUGger writes.

Also, if you have supplemental Medicare insurance- like Medicare Advantage or similar, call the number on the back of the card and talk to the customer service desk. I called mine and found I am covered worldwide for reimbursement as long as I can give them an itemized billing in English.

Jim


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## Chrisky (Aug 20, 2013)

Passepartout is correct.  Canadian health care is for Canadians only.  If you have to be treated for anything, the Canadian hospital or Doctor will ask you for your provincial health care card. If you are not Canadian, usually you will have to pay for the medical services you received and then claim them from your own medical insurance.


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## simpsontruckdriver (Aug 20, 2013)

As a Medicare Advantage sales agent (Central Florida only), the way Medicare Advantage plans work out of the country is this: they will only pay Medicare prices. So, if a hospital in Canada charges non-residents $15000 (USD), but Medicare only pays $12000 to an American hospital for the same procedures, that is all they will pay, and you will be responsible for the balance.

Buying travel insurance would be a better bet. If you're hospitalized out of the country, you can see if your Medicare Advantage plan will pay what the travel insurance doesn't (up to the maximum).

TS


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## Passepartout (Aug 20, 2013)

simpsontruckdriver said:


> As a Medicare Advantage sales agent (Central Florida only), the way Medicare Advantage plans work out of the country is this: they will only pay Medicare prices. So, if a hospital in Canada charges non-residents $15000 (USD), but Medicare only pays $12000 to an American hospital for the same procedures, that is all they will pay, and you will be responsible for the balance.



What you say is correct as my carrier told me. I'm OK with that as we are in pretty good health and could afford the difference. That, combined with the fact that health care elsewhere in the world is FAR less expensive than in the USA.

You would be hard pressed to find any country in the world that has health care charges anywhere close to U.S. prices. What Medicare pays (for instance) for a knee replacement in the USA, will pay for the flights, the procedure, the lodging for patient and spouse, and rehab in Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Thailand, and much of S. America. I'm comfortable taking my chances, as long as I have coverage that will get repatriate me home if there is an accident or sudden serious illness.

Jim
Jim


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## AlvinHolmes (Aug 22, 2013)

To whom should I contact for medical insurance ? Actually I want to make my medical coverage policy. I don't know much about this, I hope anybody if possible please help me.


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## Passepartout (Aug 22, 2013)

I am not sure I understand your question but if it is about travel insurance, there is a 'sticky' at the top of the Travel forum that allows you to compare different companies and policies they offer. Start there.

Yours was an unusual question for a first time poster and it seems  English is not your first language.

I hope you find what you are looking for.


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## eal (Aug 22, 2013)

Whistler has excellent health care facilities and there is no way that any service would cost more than what Medicare pays in the US. 

AlvinHolmes is likely a spammer looking to establish himself on TUG.


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## Passepartout (Aug 22, 2013)

eal said:


> AlvinHolmes is likely a spammer looking to establish himself on TUG.



That was my guess too, but you don't know when it comes to those without a good grasp of the language. Most of the time spammers 'shotgun' lots of threads at once. We'll see if ol' Alvin returns. The address he showed for himself is an assisted living facility in a commercial zone.


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## ricoba (Aug 22, 2013)

From personal experience, I can tell you that Canadian health care providers (in our case Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, BC) will be just as ornery, nasty and as persistent as any health care collections agency in the US! 

So, as others have suggested look into supplemental insurance plans.

Oh, BTW, just to clarify, Canadian health insurance isn't for "citizens" of Canada, it's for "residents" (both citizens and immigrants) of Canada.  My daughter who had to be hospitalized as an infant in BC is a Canadian citizen, who resides in the US and so she was not on the "rolls" for BC Medical, thus our little run in with Royal Columbian.


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## riverdees05 (Aug 22, 2013)

Thanks for all the help. I did check and my supplemental health insurance does cover out of country, but you have to pay and submit for repayment. Jim, I signed up for the Good Sam TravelAssist Premier Plan since we do a lot of traveling with children and grandchildren.


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## AKE (Aug 26, 2013)

Chrisky said:


> Passepartout is correct.  Canadian health care is for Canadians only.  If you have to be treated for anything, the Canadian hospital or Doctor will ask you for your provincial health care card. If you are not Canadian, usually you will have to pay for the medical services you received and then claim them from your own medical insurance.



Actually it is more restrictive than this and is province-based, even for legal (i.e. citizens or landed immigrants) Canadian residents as to what is covered, and to what amount. I live close to the Quebec-Ontario border and doctors in Ontario do not accept health cards from Quebec as Quebec pays less for services.  As such Quebec residents are required to pay upfront and then submit the charges to their provincial plan.  This type of scenario applies to other provinces as well.  Residency requirements vary by province but none I believe is less than 3 months.

Out-of-country visitors, even with additional health insurance, may be required to pay upfront and then submit the claim to their insurer.  Read your policy very carefully as each one is different and almost all (if not all) do not cover pre-existing conditions without a number of caveats.


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## TAG (Aug 31, 2013)

*Great care*

Several years ago we were on Vancouver Island.  My wife caught the nail of her great toe on the edge of the hot tub.  We went to a clinic and had to wait all of about 10 minutes to see a doctor.  The doc numbed her toe, took an x-ray to make sure nothing was broken, then removed the toe nail.  First class care.  The cost?  $27.:whoopie:


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