Blue Cross Visitors to Canada Insurance

Blue Cross is a well known name in Canada, largely because of the number of group (employer) insurance plans that they underwrite nationwide. As part of these group plans, which include extended health and dental coverage, Blue Cross offers annual travel insurance. They have been offering visitors to Canada insurance for a long time, but only recently decided to compete with the Canadian travel insurance companies for visitors insurance business: in November 2013, they changed their policy wording so that they can more easily offer coverage for stable pre-existing conditions to older travellers. At the same time, they dropped their rates and became very price competitive.

Advantages

  • For younger travellers especially, and some older age brackets, Blue Cross is priced quite low compared to most plans offered by other Canadian travel insurance companies.
  • Blue Cross Visitors to Canada Insurance provides coverage for stable pre-existing medical conditions with a stability period of 3 months for those under 59, and 180 days for those 60 and over.
  • Change in medication language is friendly for aspirin, insulin, coumadin and nitroglycerine. Please ask for details, or read the policy wording.

Disadvantages

  • This is a discount plan with restricted benefits:
    — Secondary benefits are greatly reduced compared with other available plans. For example, the accidental dental coverage is only $1000 max, where most other plans are $3-5000;
    — No paramedical benefits;
    — No follow-up benefits;
    — Benefits for repatriation and/or funeral arrangements ($3000) are half the amount (or less) of other plans;
    — They offer no accidental death and dismemberment coverage;
    — No transportation of relative or friend if hospitalized;
    — No trip break allowance.
  • The policy is only offered with a $0 deductible. No deductible options to help lower costs.
  • The coverage is only valid in Canada and the USA, and not including Hawaii, so compared to other plans (no such restrictions), side trips out of Canada are greatly restricted.
  • Unlike most other plans, partial refunds are only granted (as long as no claims have been or will be made against the policy) if the insured travels back to their home country (most other plans will also allow a partial refund once a traveller becomes eligible for and covered by a provincial health care plan).