Forgoing travel insurance and paying out of pocket
View the video here on your mobile device.
The Canadian Snowbirds Association, which represents thousands of older traveling Canadians, officially endorses Medipac Travel Insurance as its insurer as choice. The Royal Canadian Legion also selected Medipac as its exclusive Travel Insurance Member Benefit Partner. As a result, Medipac knows a thing or two about seniors’ travel habits.
Some older Canadians have lamented that as they age and develop certain medical conditions, their travel insurance premiums rise accordingly. But while it may be tempting for some to forgo getting travel insurance, Medipac’s Vice President Christopher Bradbury says that may not be the best idea.
Christopher Bradbury: To consider yourself able to pay out of pocket could be a rather foolhardy decision. We underwrite people with pre-existing medical conditions who are “on in years” in their life and we find that it’s actually the people who have the most capital at their disposal, that have the most money, that are willing to pay the high premiums of travel insurance coverage because they are aware of the dire consequences of being faced with a prolonged medical emergency outside of the country. It’s not getting a treatment in a clinic that’s going to bankrupt you, it’s not responding to a broken arm or a broken leg that’s going to bankrupt you. It’s getting caught in a catastrophic accident that’s going to leave you perhaps unconscious and in need of 24 hour intensive care for a prolonged period of time that is going to cost your estate and your family and you a lot of money. That can often result in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in medical services that are going to be paid for eventually one way or another, so if you don’t have the money to pay for it then maybe you’ll start having to liquidate your lifetime assets in order to pay for them and that can be very, very scary for somebody.
Related story: Canadians travelling tend to expect travel problems
In 2009 i applied for your travel insurance for 5 month period for travel to usa. after lot of info sent to your company , I was totally declined any coverage. I requested coverage for preexisitng conditions that had been stable for years. I understand the snowbird assoc. endorses your company, however I dont understand how they could possibly endorse a company that refuses to write for someone with prexisitng conditions. I believe in the insurance industry they call this creaming. In any rate I have been able to obtain the coverage for much less. Part of the reason I joined the snow bird was to be able to obtain coverage on a group basis. this is not the case with your company.. A reply to this email would be appreciated. ALLAN FORD
[...] You might also be interested in: Forgoing travel insurance and paying out of pocket [...]