Healthy Understanding

This is clearly an example of what you don’t know, definitely hurting you.

In fact, the findings of a new survey by the Travel Health Insurance Association (THiA) makes it clear that Canadians need a better understanding of their travel health insurance policies if they want to be sure that they’re not going to be in debt for out-of-country medical expenses.

THiA’s survey found that 47% of those questioned had never reviewed their policies even though 23% of them have required medical care when travelling.

Alex Bittner, president of ThiA, commented: “Policies vary from provider to provider. It’s important to understand what will impact your coverage for medical expenses outside of Canada, or even within Canada. Everyone should have a carefree holiday and not worry about unexpected medical expenses”.

And while a survey of Canadian travel insurance providers indicates that over 95.3%t of travel health claims are successfully paid, THiA wants to see this number increase.

The new survey was designed to identify the public’s understanding of common factors that can lead to a claim being denied.

Some key points that travellers need to read and understand about their travel health insurance policies include diagnostic tests or prescription changes; travelling while pregnant; being intoxicated; business travel requires travel health insurance; and what constitutes an extreme sport as it relates to insurance coverage.

Bittner observed: “We want people to have confidence in their travel health insurance policies. Understanding your policy and coverage will help ensure that you are looked after in the event of unexpected medical emergencies.”

In fact, ThiA’s three golden rules include:

• Understand your travel insurance policy — insurance providers have staff available to answer any questions related to policies.
• Know your health and consult a health care provider if you have any questions.
• Know your trip – How long will you be gone? Are you a snowbird? Will you be travelling many times during the year? Do you plan to scuba dive? Some policies will be more suitable for you than others.

For more, go to http://www.thiaonline.com .