I'm so very disappointed -- I've been planning for months to take my mother to Italy this year, as a gift to mark her 80th birthday. (Stella's fabulous trip report with her mom inspired me!)
Everything was planned and booked for us to go this September. But Mom fell ill in February with a heart condition (irregular heartbeat). She's feeling much better, thanks to her new medication, but now I've just found that with this condition and her age, we can't get her travel medical insurance. I haven't had the heart yet to tell Mom -- she has been SO excited about this trip, I just hate to disappoint her.
The only way I can think to break it to her is to come up with an alternate travel plan within Canada (where she's fully covered by our public healthy system. Perhaps out to Vancouver Island this summer. But it will still be a blow for her not to be able to see Italy. She has never really had a chance to travel and in recent years, she was tied down caring for my father who had been very ill before he died last July.
Any ideas on how to break the news to her? Will it make it worse if I still plan a solo trip in the fall to Italy? I don't know exactly where I'll go this year, maybe Umbria, but I couldn't stand to not visit Italy this year.
Dear Sandra, Don't give up yet. My father traveled in his 80s and he had pre-existing conditions (one of which required oxygen on the plane). I always have used Travel Guard:
If you purchase their insurance within a specified period of time after purchasing your trip (tickets, hotel, car, etc.), you can be covered with pre-exisiting conditions. Call them to make sure. You might need to cancel your reservations and rebook all over again; but it might mean the difference between going to Italy or staying home. Also, if you go, you might want to request a wheelchair for your mother at the airport, or rent one here to take with you. Buona fortuna! Anne Marie
Posts: 67 | Location: New Orleans, USA | Registered: 16 April 2003
Which type of travel insurance are you interested in? If it's cancellation insurance, then try to arrange a trip with the least amount of pre-paid, nonrefundable arrangements as possible. If it's insurance to cover medical costs on the trip if she becomes ill and requires treatment, then I'd say go ahead and go to Italy. Italy has a national health care system with relatively low costs, and it's my understanding that your Provincial health care system will cover her up to the cost of what equivalent treatment would be in Canada. And although you can't count on this, I have had several different clients who required emergency medical or dental care in Italy and were never presented with a bill! - Marie
Anne Marie, I've had a look at the TravelGuard website but it seems it won't coverage pre-existing conditions. How did you and your father work around that? Is it necessarily to deal with an agent rather than apply over the Internet? I suppose it might make a difference whether it's a Canadian or U.S. citizen, although that seems surprising!
And Marie, it is emergency medical insurance that Mom needs, although that's an interesting idea of going without insurance. Mom actually lives in Alberta, in the Red Deer area (which is where I grew up and later lived several years in both Edmonton and Calgary!) But I don't think Alberta offers more than $200 a day in out of country insurance coverage (darn that Ralph Klein) athough I should perhaps double check that!!
Sandra, Here is a link to the Alberta Health Care page on traveling outside of Canada. I found this statement: "Out-of-country practitioner services are payable at the rate an Alberta practitioner would receive on a fee-for-service basis or the amount billed, whichever is less.
To be eligible for coverage, hospital services must be provided in an active-treatment general or auxiliary hospital. The maximum amount paid for hospital in-patient care provided outside Canada is $100 (Canadian) per day, not including the day of discharge. The maximum amount paid for routine hospital outpatient services is $50 (Canadian) per visit with a limit of one visit per day. The in-patient and out-patient hospital rates are all-inclusive."
Someone who lives in the area of Italy where you will be visiting may be able to tell you how this compares to costs in Italy. If you were planning a trip to the U.S. without supplemental medical coverage, that would be verrry risky given the much-higher medical costs there, but for Italy... I think that you should check first before cancelling your trip! - Marie (PS - darn that Ralph Klein indeed! Although happily it looks as though his vague "third way" health care plan is going to exit the scene along with him...)
Sandra An Italian or someone living in Italy could answer this better than I can but it is my understanding that people are not denied emergency service in Italy. When my husband got very ill one night with food poisoning, the doctor came to the hotel at midnight, stayed for two hours, gave a shot and provided other medication, the bill was nothing.
The bigger problem however might be getting back home if indeed something happened--depending on its magnitude.
If you post on the Expat board--even though you aren't one--under the Health thread, someone from there could give you good insight. Or--private message Alice Twain as she knows a whole lot!
Sandra - I think we are pulling for you to find a way to make this trip! I think it was on ST that I saw a reference to this website that helps you compare coverages on multiple travel policies. I looked at it briefly, and several policies will cover pre-existing conditions if you purchase within a stipulated timeframe after paying for expenses. Hope this will help you find one to meet your needs. Another site that might help is this one.
As far as evacuation coverage is concerned - much to my surprise I found out last year that there is a provision on my AAA (Auto Assn.) road service policy (their premium policy) that covers up to $25,000 for medical evacuation world wide. You may be able to get similar coverage through your Canadian AA company.
Posts: 1884 | Location: Berkeley, CA | Registered: 22 March 2005
Sandra, it is best to explain your mom's situation to your travel agent. Canadian and U.S. policies differ. Some policies will cover pre-existing conditions while many don't. Hope it works out for you and your mom.
Wouldn't it be amazing if every doctor in the world does what our magnificent doctors do in our little clinic/hospital here in my home town?
When treating people from 'away', they are treated for free! I have taken 3 people, who were visiting with me from out of province or out of country, to see my favorite doctor in the Universe, and there has never been a charge. Mind you, it was on an in-patient and then an out-patient basis, so maybe that's a little different than your mom's situation. Still, it is soooo nice to have such lovely medical services here!
“My doctor gave me six months to live, but when I couldn't pay the bill he gave me six months more.” ~ Walter Matthau Brenda
Our daughter Kelly has braces. We had to make three emergency trips to orthodontists during our long trip to Europe: one in Oxford, one in Paris, and one in Aix-en-Provence.
None of the three orthodontists charged us anything!
Emergency medical care in Italy is provided for free at public hostpitals to all patients requiring it, including travelers/tourists and paperless immigrants.
Yes! We just had our first guests of the season. The little boy fell and cut his head very deeply on stone steps. We rushed him to emergency. He got internal and external stitches and they held him for 6 hours for observation. The bill? Nothing. These were British people, who were ecstatic over the care their little boy got.
I wonder if it would be a good idea for you to phone your Mom's physician and get his/her advice. He/she might be able to provide assurances about the medical risks that she faces. My Dad took medication for an irregular heartbeat for about five years, and when they decided that the problem was becoming worse, they inserted a pacemaker. This is a very routine operation, and any heart surgeon could do it in Italy. You certainly wouldn't need to be evacuated to Canada, but you might end up extending your stay for the procedure or post-surgery recovery time. Talking to a health professional might help you make an informed decision about the risks of travelling without insurance to Italy. He/she may have patients who have travelled with/without insurance to Italy and some stories to share about their experience.
Thanks again, everyone, for all your support and advice. I'm beginning to feel more optimistic about making this trip work!!! It's funny, I had tried several Canadian insurers that just wouldn't touch pre-existing and wrongly assumed that would be an industry-wide trend!
Some of the American insurers I've researched so far don't cover Canadians but others do and seem to offer waivers for pre-existing conditions, although -- as AnneMarie points out -- I might have to cancel existing plans and rebook. However, I think I can do that with my travel agent. And since I've been planning the rest myself, changes won't be too difficult.
I'm completely confident that Italian hospitals would provide great emergency care at no charge; I guess my biggest fear is if she fell ill and had to be hospitalized for a few weeks...that could add up, I think.
I've been a bit surprised that some U.S. insurers being willing to waive pre-existing conditions when Canadian firms won't. I suppose it's a matter of scale -- with a potential American market 10 times bigger than Canada's, they might be more willing or able to afford a few losses and take greater risks!!
And Marie, maybe I'll call Alberta Health to ask them to clarify those limits -- it seems they'll pay all doctor's fees to the equivalent rates in Alberta, but only $100 a day for hospital expenses????
Thanks so much Marie -- I really really appreciate the support and I'm growing more optimistic that I can make this work out! I'll definitely let everyone know what happens, perhaps the experience will be of use to someone else!
Ginger: You mentioned CSA insurance and it looks promising. Have you had any experience with this company or know anyone who has???
I have used CSA for every trip I've booked for the last couple of years. They offer a very easy to use web site, good rates, have a great product plus wonderful customer service. I'm just getting ready to purchase for my summer trip to France. You want to purchase their Freestyle Lux program. We are buying this policy because they offer $50,000.00 worth of car insurance plus a ton of other benefits cheaper than the inclusive rate at Auto Europe. You can just google them or call them at 1-800-348-9505. I don't know if they can insure Canadians but it couldn't hurt to call.
If your mom has an American Express card, look into the medical travel insurance provided by them. We have a policy that provides coverage whenever we are more than 150 miles from home and as well as trip evacuation coverage. It costs about $150 American per year for two. Don't know if it's available in Canada, but it might help you out.
Callie
Posts: 655 | Location: Maine | Registered: 23 November 2002
Ginger, thank you for the reassurance about CSA. I spoke on the phone with them as well today and the customer service rep was helpful. Their service just seemed to good to be true! Clearly, I'm just way toooo cynical.
I've got to look closely now at their policies and waivers for pre-existing conditions but it just might work. Your experience is really helpful.
This is going to make for one heck of a trip report if we can pull it off!!!!
Earlier in this thread, someone suggested American Express. I have an Aeroplan CIBC Visa card and at cibc.com under "Details" it states:
Travellers between the ages of 55 and 74 who are travelling for 23 or more days, or travellers 75 or older, and travellers of any age with a pre-existing medical condition can also apply for coverage (see Information You Need to Know). You're covered for these emergency medical expenses and associated costs: Hospital and doctors' bills
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