Travel Insurance Traps

At this time of year, many snowbirds are preparing to take flight down south to avoid our cold and snowy winter. Or, if you are not lucky enough to be snowbird, you may be planning your winter holiday. As you pack your warm weather clothing, you should also draw your attention to the adoption of measures to protect themselves in case you have outside the country of medical emergency.

 

After a few days in hospital in Ontario could cost your family some parking expenses when they visit you, it will probably cost you no more than perhaps hire someone to feed your pet or your aquatic plants. After a few days in a hospital in the United States, where costs can be up to $ 4000 a day can lead you to file bankruptcy. OHIP will cover a percentage of the bill, however, the maximum number of them will reimburse you for comparable prices in the account it incurred in Ontario, which is about 10% of what the prosecution in the United States

 

The purpose of the visit is to provide insurance coverage for sudden, unexpected and unforeseen emergency care. A travel insurance policy is a smart buy, but before committing purchase, you should fear the restrictions, which are usually described in these types of policies. Many travelers do not realize until the end of emergency has occurred, that their insurance may be invalid from the very beginning, or that an insurance company can deny a claim for reimbursement, as the policy is loaded with exceptions and conditions. The insurance company will deny the claim in one of three situations: (a) your emergency care was associated with the existing (that is, prior to departure) medical condition, (b) there is another in the isolation policy that denies coverage, or (c ), you made "material misrepresentation" when you have completed the application.

 

The Application Process

 

Travel insurance is a form of retroactive underwriting. Typically, you fill out an application for insurance, and, more likely than not, you will be approved for coverage. This does not mean that the insurance company will reimburse you if you incur health care costs out of the country. "Adoption to highlight" simply means that this policy now. It is only after you have become ill, and on vacation, and then send the medical bills to the insurer, that insurance company is doing its investigation whether you have the right to compensation.

 

It is the use of documents that most people unwittingly trap. Often these application forms are no more than one or two pages, and ask you a very broad questions about his health before. In the Application Form can be stated very simply, and this is your responses, which will lead you to pages that accompany sets out the conditions for coverage (ie the conditions you have to meet before the insurance company agrees to pay the bill) and exceptions (ie, the circumstances where the insurance company will not pay for the medical expenses).

 

Pre-existing medical conditions

 

In exceptions for most policies are typically written in a small, dense print on the back of the form or in policy, a brochure is provided to you after you have paid for premium. By that time, most people did not even taking a comprehensive overview of the booklet.

 

The exception for existing medical conditions is the exception, which caused the most difficulties for passengers and is the primary insulation, that ultimately leads to a denial of coverage. This type of exclusion worded differently. For example, the Application Form may say that the policy would not cover:

 

"expenses that are directly or indirectly related to the medical condition for which you have already seen a doctor, or have been prescribed drugs in the past 12 months."

 

"expenditure on medical grounds on which you sought treatment of the condition within the 12 months before the date of departure."

 

"Medical expenses incurred as a result enough to be medically inadvisable."

 

"expenditure on medical grounds on which the case or symptoms that require medical consultation, treatment or prescription drugs in the 120 days preceding the date of departure."

 

These exceptions are so broad that they allow the insurance company to them fairly easily. I stressed above some of the more vague terminology and comprehensive. "indirectly related" medical condition could catch almost any pre-existing medical condition. Who decides what constitutes the "related" condition? There will be a brief visit to a reduction-in clinic for a disease considered to be the "medical advice" in order to avoid publicity? Will someone who has high blood pressure for many years, and in other cases, a perfect health, can be denied coverage for medical expenses incurred as a result of a heart attack in Florida, on the grounds that the high blood pressure "indirectly" associated with a heart condition, although it is no more than a risk factor? Or would the fact that you had an altercation bronchitis 12 months to travel, for which you have taken antibiotics, and then made a complete recovery, but that has been hospitalized with a collapsed lung, to the insurer to take a position that you have sought treatment earlier lung condition and therefore hospitalization the cost would not be covered by policies?

 

All of these examples may seem absurd, but they occur. So, if you are applying for insurance, see the application very carefully and make sure that you are aware of all conditions before paying bonuses. If you see similar wording, as I presented above, ask the insurance company and your doctor for clarification.

 

Other Exemptions

 

There might be other exceptions, not related to the prior medical conditions that would allow an insurer refuses to reimburse you. You must read and understand these exceptions so that you can purchase additional or supplementary lighting to your visit. Exceptions, which can ignore, and could damage include:

 

This policy may cover only inpatient treatment, but not for medical treatment in the clinic.

 

This policy may cover hospital expenses only when people recognize at least 48 hours (or 24 hours, depending on the policy).

 

This policy may require advance authorization from the insurer agrees to pay for treatment of medical expenses is deadly, where you have to go through emergency surgery, and the hospital is not your insurance information or could not contact the insurer.

 

Politics can give you a list of medical conditions, based on your age, length of trip or destination, are not covered, regardless of your trip to the history. You may not even realize that you are not covered, because you are not familiar with the medical terminology used in the application or policy booklet. Do you know what a temporary ischemic attack? What about the brain vascular diseases?

 

When questioned about the meaning of any provision of the policy or form, ask your insurance agent, your broker or person who sells you travel insurance, for further clarification.

 

Material Misrepresentations

 

If you provide information to the insurance company at the time to apply for insurance, but the insurance company based on this information in deciding to extend to you, but then learns that the information was wrong or inaccurate, an insurance company could announce policy invalid. Failure to disclose relevant information that is called a material misrepresentation. With travel insurance, a questionnaire is usually asks you questions about your past history. This is the place where the most distortion, though in my experience they will eventually not have to be "material". If you later make a claim for expenses, the insurance company would seek to visit his medical records and review them to ensure that you have not made any material misrepresentations.

 

Some people may forget that they are moderate heart attack 10 years ago, or that they once had blood tests to exclude certain diseases, or that they once suffered from a mysterious skin disease. Thus, they were not able to disclose these long-forgotten episodes of the questionnaire. Alternatively, the questionnaire can use medical terminology in foreign customary rights, for example, many people do not know that this is a myocardial infarction (heart attack is) that they do not show a heart attack against the insurer.

 

A misrepresentation or failure to disclose a sound basis for denying insurance only when distorted information is relevant to the medical emergency, during which people seeking coverage. If you travel seriously ill with pneumonia and require hospitalization and as a result, the fact that you did not disclose prior heart attack may be insignificant. However, the insurer will try to prove that he has the right to declare the policy invalid, and until the question is resolved, foreign hospital and / or its collection agency will be how you unpaid bill.

 

Tips and recommendations

 

The essence? If you need a magnifying glass, or dictionary guide will help you read the Application Form and accompanying exceptions, it is inevitable that you do not fully understand all the exclusions attached to the policy, you can make a mistake and you might find you without compensation if you have outside the country urgently medical assistance. There are ways to protect yourself so that you do not need to file bankruptcy, re-mortgage the house or start a claim.

 

Read the questionnaire and booklet policy very carefully before you pay the premium,

 

Go through the medical questionnaire with your doctor, especially if you are over 65 years and / or a history of medical problems

 

Do not buy a policy on the Internet, rather than in the shop for the cheapest premium,

 

Buying travel insurance from an insurance agent or broker. They will bear the burden of explaining all the conditions and exceptions to the policy to you and to ensure that you understand them,

 

Do you have health insurance through your job? If so, to know what the policy will pay for medical expenses out of the country. See if you can purchase additional coverage.