Travel Insurance FAQ
While some definitions may differ between plans, and may not apply to all types of plans, we define deductible as “the portion of eligible expenses you must pay from your own pocket when an eligible claim occurs. For all medical insurance plans (except our Visitors to Canada plan), the deductible applies to the expenses remaining after the payment by your provincial or territorial government healthcare plan.”
It is extremely important to notify your insurance company of your emergency and admission to a hospital within 24 hours. Policy number may be required at the time of call – carry the wallet card all the time.
Representative will help you open up a claim and give you instructions of how to manage the situation. Failure of doing this may result in the denial of your late claim.
Allianz 24/7 emergency assistance:
Toll-free Canada/USA: 1-800-995-1662
Toll-free Worldwide: country access code + 00-800-842-08420
Tugo:
Toll-free Canada/USA: 1-800-663-0399
Toll-free Mexico: 001-800-514-9976
Toll-free Outside North America & Mexico: country access code + 800-663-0399
A health problem like, asthma, diabetes, or cancer, which you had before the new health coverage start date. Insurance companies can refuse to cover treatment for your pre-existing condition or charge you more.
Your expenses for medical care that aren’t reimbursed by insurance. Out-of-pocket costs include deductibles, coinsurance, and copayments for covered services plus all costs for services that aren’t covered.
Benefits of buying health insurance online
As purchasing health insurance online comes with a numerous benefits, it is becoming a preferable method for more and more individuals. Some of the major benefits include:
Comparison of policies is easy
The very first benefit is the easy comparison of the policies of various health insurance companies with a click of few buttons. An individual doesn’t need to contact the agents of different companies or visit their office to receive information. A lot of third-party portals also assist the individuals by letting them compare the features, premiums and insurance coverage of different companies. This saves a lot of energy and time that are otherwise wasted in conducting the research.
The terms and conditions of policies from reputable companies are available in a detailed manner. A lot of websites also offer a free quote through their online tools. The comments and reviews further empower the individuals to make a well-informed decision when purchasing a plan.
Simply put, the easy availability of information and transparency makes the screening process hassle-free.
Lower Premiums
The health insurance becomes cheaper in the case of an online transaction due to the absence of middlemen and agents. The insurance companies also cut down their administrative costs to a greater extent by executing their operations online. This further reduces the cost of the policies.
- Full name in English of each traveler plus date of birth and gender
- Your address and phone number in Canada
- Your email address
- Your departure and return dates (you have to insure the entire trip)
- Beneficiary Name & relationship with you
- Eligible medical conditions to travel – Canadian Travelers may require to fill out medical questions.
Group Benefits FAQ
Group employee benefits are provided by an employer to employees in addition to salary and wages. They provide funds for employees and their dependents that help pay the cost of health and dental expenses. They are a before-tax expense for the employer and received as a tax-free benefit by the employee. The-tax free status of these benefits is the main reason they are widely used by employers across Canada.
Employee benefits can also include insurance such as employee and dependent life, long and short-term disability, critical illness, and accidental death and dismemberment. These insurance benefits do not enjoy the same tax-free status as the health and dental benefits. Therefore, the cost of the insurance benefits is usually paid by the employee when included in a group employee benefit plan.
Employee total compensation is determined as the annual salary or wage paid to the employee plus the dollar value of the employer paid benefits. The cost of employee benefits is usually expressed as a percentage of payroll.
Health insurance is a type of insurance coverage that pays for medical and surgical expenses incurred by the insured. Health insurance can reimburse the insured for expenses incurred from illness or injury, or pay the care provider directly.
A Health Spending Account is a cost-effective alternative to traditional health insurance. Used by thousands of small business owners and their employees across Canada, an HSA is a special non-taxable employee benefit that is established to exclusively pay for health care services. The HSA is 100% tax free to employees and 100% tax deductible for the employer.
Since most emergency and accident health insurance risks are covered and paid by provincial governments, an HSA is an excellent supplement to provincial health plans. The HSA provides tax-free funds that employees can use to help pay for routine health expenses they incur.
Health insurance under traditional ‘insured plans’ provides specified dollar amounts that are listed in a schedule of benefits. Coverage limits tend to be low and restrict what can be claimed.
Unlike traditional insurance plans, the HSA has no premiums. Instead of a premium, a fixed administration fee is charged on the dollar value of claimed medical expenses.
With an HSA you get cost control, budget certainty, and more flexibility with your benefit dollars.
Here’s a short list of key points to keep in mind when comparing the two options:
1. Premium Creep
Traditional Insurance Plan
- Monthly premium for coverage regardless of access or usage to the plan
- Monthly premium rate often increased at the annual renewal of the policy (premium creep)
- Age of the individual will affect the price of your plan
HSA
- Avoid a premium creep due to usage or age factors
- Most Health Spending Accounts have fixed fees as opposed to a premium
- Pay for the expenses you incur, eliminating a situation where you have paid into a program that you did not use
2. Eligible Expenses and Pre-existing Conditions
Traditional Insurance Plan
- Eligible medical expenses are restricted
- Items you wish to claim under this policy may be restricted by an annual or lifetime maximum or require special authorization in order to obtain eligibility.
- At time of enrollment, medical history will be requested and pre-existing conditions may be excluded or reduced from coverage.
HSA
- Expenses are not restricted by type of expense, only on the dollar amount
- You will have access to a wider range of eligible expenses
- Will not restrict or limit benefits due to a pre-existing medical condition
3. Complexity
Traditional Insurance Plan
- Under a fully insured program, you will receive a plan booklet outlining the items that are covered and also the ones restricted or excluded by definition, co-insurance, deductibles or fee guides. Figuring out what your coverage is and if it will be reimbursed partially or in full can get complicated.
HSA
- An HSA is typically only restricted by dollar amount. You will have 100% coverage for all eligible expenses up to your spending account limit. Your account balance is updated by the administrator every time a claim is processed, eliminating the need to keep track of this information manually.
4. Deductibles
Traditional Insurance Plan
- Your benefits may be restricted by an annual single/family deductible
- Benefits can be restricted by a co-insurance of 50%-80%
- There is a limit for the number of visits and treatments.
HSA
- No deductible
- You are not restricted by co-insurance
No limits for the number of visits and treatments
An ideal set up is to use the employer’s available health and dental benefits budget and to allocate the funds to employees proportionately. This ensures that funds earmarked for employee health and dental benefits are received by the employee without exception. This type of benefit arrangement ensures money is never paid out and not received by the employee.
An HSA puts the benefit dollars into the employee’s hands. The employee can then decide where and when to use the funds as needed. This provides certainty for the employer while providing flexibility and choice for the employees. In many cases, not all benefit dollars are used which means the plan will come in under-budget.
Contrast this to a traditional premium health and dental plan where premiums are paid and dollars lost because of low usage or denied claims for items that are not on the insurer’s schedule of benefits. Traditional plans add in complexities and restrictions in the form of high co-payments, dental fee guides, recall limitations and low coverage limits on items.
The traditional plan removes the employee from the decision-making process. The result is an inefficient, low impact, high cost plan with no choice for the employee and the inability to control prices and stay within a budget for the employer.
