Canadians no longer have Emergency Medical Travel Insurance coverage

[PatMunits]

I'm not aware of any Emergency Medical Travel Insurance policies that do not include a non-coverage clause such as this one from Manulife:


Due to the following statement made this afternoon there's no longer emergency medical travel insurance coverage for cruise travel outside of Canada for the time being:
"“My advice is to postpone or cancel all non-essential travel outside Canada,” said Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam."
https://www.richmond-news.com/news/coronavirus-postpone-cancel-all-non-essential-travel-outside-of-canada-says-federal-government-1.24097254

Edited March 13, 2020 by PatMunits
spelling

[Ourusualbeach]

12 minutes ago, PatMunits said:

I'm not aware of any Emergency Medical Travel Insurance policies that do not include a non-coverage clause such as this one form Manulife:


Due to the following statement made this afternoon there's no longer emergency medical travel insurance coverage for cruise travel outside of Canada for the time being:
"“My advice is to postpone or cancel all non-essential travel outside Canada,” said Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam."
https://www.richmond-news.com/news/coronavirus-postpone-cancel-all-non-essential-travel-outside-of-canada-says-federal-government-1.24097254

It’s not yet listed on the GC travel website.

[PatMunits]

1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It’s not yet listed on the GC travel website.

yes, you're correct. Unfortunately, it will likely going to be listed on on the site soon. Even if it doesn't get listed it will be very difficult to argue with an insurance adjuster while you're sick and out of country that you may qualify for coverage on a technicality even when every news agency in Canada passed on the message not to travel from the head official in the country.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, PatMunits said:

yes, you're correct. Unfortunately, it will likely going to be listed on on the site soon. Even if it doesn't get listed it will be very difficult to argue with an insurance adjuster while you're sick and out of country that you may qualify for coverage on a technicality even when every news agency in Canada passed on the message not to travel from the head official in the country.

While I agree that it will most likely get to that stage I think that they stopped just shy of making even the hint that it was mandatory.  Advice only.  Since the policy also dictates you to refer to the GC website for bulletins at this point I believe (just my personal opinion) that you would still be covered. 

 

My advice is to postpone or cancel all non-essential travel outside Canada,” said Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam.

[Chip and Dale]

I’m an Insurance Advisor dealing predominantly in group benefits. 
 

I receive daily updates from insurers. Some have stated that they will cover individuals on plans should they travel. HOWEVER!!! Please be sure if you decide to travel outside of Canada that you get it in writing that you are definitely covered for emergency medical PLUS any expense that could potentially arise from being quarantined, and the possible need for medical evacuation or repatriation. 
 

When calling your insurers you are typically speaking with a service rep in a call centre who is hopefully updated on what could potentially be covered should you or your family contract Covid19 or if you become quarantined. 
 

We have canceled our travel to San Juan for a cruise March 22. The medical people in my family reinforced the danger of traveling through conversations we had this week. We listened!
 

A dr who is a family member stated “this is just for now, it is not forever”. We all need to be smart!

 

The Region of Waterloo is posting positive cases of Covid19. A woman who cruised on the Celebrity Summit out of SAN Juan was diagnosed when she returned home March 8 and is in home quarantine. The Governor of Puerto Rico has declared a state of emergency while they await results of tests for Covid19.  The results are NOT coming quickly!

[dodgestang]

1 hour ago, PatMunits said:

I'm not aware of any Emergency Medical Travel Insurance policies that do not include a non-coverage clause such as this one from Manulife:


Due to the following statement made this afternoon there's no longer emergency medical travel insurance coverage for cruise travel outside of Canada for the time being:
"“My advice is to postpone or cancel all non-essential travel outside Canada,” said Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam."
https://www.richmond-news.com/news/coronavirus-postpone-cancel-all-non-essential-travel-outside-of-canada-says-federal-government-1.24097254

 

Not following what you are saying....if you had purchased insurance for a trip BEFORE the announcement you are still covered.  Says it right there....the effective date is when you took out the policy not the date of your travel.

 

But yes...moving forward you can not add/open a new policy for the time being.

Edited March 13, 2020 by dodgestang

[PatMunits]

Effective date for Emergency Medical coverage is the date covered insured leaves province of residence. 

 

Effective date for Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage is the date of insurance purchase.

 

These are the standard terms for a travel insurance.

 

Consequently leaving Canada to an affected region after health travel advisory has been announced essentially voids any emergency medical health insurance coverage. This doesn't cover any possible financial losses as those one are covered by Trip Interruption and Cancellation coverages (which could be a part of a comprehensive insurance plan). 

Edited March 13, 2020 by PatMunits

[PatMunits]

I'm not a licensed insurance advisor. I can be partially wrong in what I claim. I was, however, a programmer who coded the business rules into the Travel Insurance applications used by essentially all companies in Canada that offer Travel Insurance plans underwritten by Manulife. This took place some years ago but I don't believe that rules of coverage have changed much.

 

If you call Manulife and they confirm your emergency medical coverage from today until further notice then kudos to them and I'm very happy to be wrong. Unfortunately, based on my training this would contradict the business rules that I'm aware of with relation to the travel insurance coverage in Canada. 

[squadron]

6 hours ago, PatMunits said:

Effective date for Emergency Medical coverage is the date covered insured leaves province of residence. 

 

Effective date for Trip Cancellation and Interruption coverage is the date of insurance purchase.

 

These are the standard terms for a travel insurance.

 

Consequently leaving Canada to an affected region after health travel advisory has been announced essentially voids any emergency medical health insurance coverage. This doesn't cover any possible financial losses as those one are covered by Trip Interruption and Cancellation coverages (which could be a part of a comprehensive insurance plan). 

Thank you for the clear explanation of the two parts of policies.

[Ourusualbeach]

Update today directly from Maunlife

 

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

March 13, 2020

On March 13th, 2020, the Government of Canada has announced and is planning to issue a formal High-Level Warning (Level 3) to Canadians to Avoid Non-Essential International Travel.

Manulife has made the following decisions to assist with your March Break Travel arrangements:

Policies with Emergency Medical Coverage

For travelers that are departing on Friday, March 13th, through and including
Monday, March 16th, 2020, Manulife will provide coverage for expenses related to COVID -19 as per the terms and conditions of the policy, provided they are travelling to a country or region that was not previously a under Level 3 or Level 4 travel advisory.
As a reminder, those who departed prior to this announcement and are currently at destination, we will continue to provide coverage for emergency medical expenses related to COVID-19 provided they are in a country or a region that was not under a
Level 3 or Level 4 travel advisory prior to their departure.

[essgee_ca]

This was emailed to me by my TA on March 11th:

 

 

Sent: Wednesday, March 11, 2020, 1:50 p.m.
Subject: Manulife Statement

 

So far, the statement below applies to our cruise customers who purchased a Manulife policy prior to March 5. I recommend that  you reach out to your Manulife customers with this statement. I also recommend that you reach out to your cruise customers who did not purchase Manulife insurance because they should check with their insurer.

 

 

Please see below message from Manulife:

 

We are amassing frequently asked Q & A’s that we plan to release at a later date.  We can now officially release the following;

 

We have received official notice,  in light of the March 9, 2020 Canadian Governments announcement posted on travel.gc.ca advising Canadians to “Avoid all cruise ship travel due to COVID-19”, all cruising is indeed now considered as a Level 4 travel warning.

The ramifications of this are;    

Clients may cancel their trip and submit a claim for any policies that were issued prior to March 5, 2020, the insured will  have the option to cancel under the PPP, All-Inclusive, Non-Medical and Trip Cancellation and Annual All-Inclusive Plans.  If clients choose to travel there will be no interruption coverage for anything related to COVID-19. 

Also, if the insured client chooses to travel there is now an official travel advisory (Level 4) in effect for COVID-19, there will be no emergency medical coverage for anything related to the Coronavirus while on that cruise or in destination.  If the medical condition is NOT related to the travel advisory, medical coverage would apply according to the terms and conditions of the policy.

 

So this would imply that if we sail, we would NOT be covered for any COVID-19 related illness or quarantine.