I realized in my last video that I talked a little bit about travel insurance and some do’s and don’ts and things to watch out for before you leave on your vacation. But what I didn’t talk about is how we actually make a claim. So, I wanted to go through that today. But first I wanted to talk to you about how I prepare. I’m heading camping next week with my kids. My wife isn’t coming it’s just going to be dad and the three kids…I think you can roughly see the kids here. But I want to go over what I’m doing to prepare.
First and foremost, Care cards. Care cards are an obvious one because if there are out of province problems you’re going to need your care card with you. I actually also have photos of them on my own so that it allows me easy access to it. A couple other things that you’ll need are your emergency travel cards. I need two different ones one for my kids because they’re on my wife’s plan as well as well as mine (but that’s coordination of benefits and that’s another story for another time).
And this thing right here is the coolest thing ever. This is brand new and my first time that I’m taking this, but this is a clinicloud. You’re going to have to check back on that other post to see what that’s about.
But more importantly what happens if you should ever have to make an emergency claim? This is really important, especially if you’re down in the U.S. What happens in the U.S. is when you go into a hospital the first thing they’re going to do is to say hold out your credit cards. I never want you to pull out that credit card. This is very important. You’ve got these travel insurance cards, and on the back, there are telephone numbers that you can use. Call those numbers as soon as possible. Of course, if you’ve been hurt in a car accident, you’re not going to be on the call right away. However, as soon as you can call those phone numbers. They’re going to do a few things for you.
Number one: they’re going to make sure that you do not have to pay for any of your expenses-that’s up to them to manage. That’s why we have you insured for your travel insurance.
Number two: they’re going to make sure that you’re in the best facility possible in the U.S. you’re going to be OK. But if you’re traveling in some third world country you want to make sure that you’re in a hospital within the region that’s going to give you the best possible care.
Number three: (and this is very important as well) is they’re going to get you home as soon as safely possible! I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced an injury when you’ve been out of the province but it can be a very scary thing and you want to get home as soon as possible. Now, I will tell you about my experience that we had.
My wife was traveling in Phoenix with my son and he started having some lung issues called RSV’s… lots of kids come down with it, and had to be in the hospital for two and a half days. We were getting bill collectors calls within hours of them checking out of the hospital even though we had provided. So, here’s the thing to remember these travel companies are going to take a little while to get those bills negotiated and pay off. Don’t freak out if you start getting bill collectors calling you. Just tell them your travel insurers are taking care of it. If you do make the mistake of paying with your credit card here’s the problem you’re going to run into: these travel insurance companies will coordinate payment with our government programs because our government programs will pay a portion of those. If you pay it upfront they can no longer coordinate it. Now you’ve got to go to MSP and you’ve got to try to get those funds back and it turns into an absolute Gong Show. My tips are make sure you’ve got your MSP and your care card with you always. Next, make sure you get your travel insurance card with you. If you’re lucky enough to have one of these, check back later to find out what that’s about. Otherwise travel safe, and if you do find yourself injured or sick then make sure you call those numbers as soon as possible!
