By admin on March 1, 2011
So if me and a few friends visit the US for a couple days, and I get injured while in the US, what do I do? Do I have to have travel insurance or something, or will the Canadian government cover me? I just want to know if I’ll be covered or not, because I don’t want to go to a US hospital and end up bankrupt from hospital fees.
Posted in Canadian Travel Insurance | Tagged canadian government, couple, couple days, cover, Insurance, travel insurance |
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just go to your bank and get travelers insurance, its not expensive. Its worth it too. I don’t know if you’d have to pay though.
People visiting can go to our hospitals and be treated without having to pay. Even americans go to hospitals and get treated and don’t pay their bills. Hospitals can’t sue people if the people make payments each month, and those payments can be as low as 1 penny. If a person sends the hospital $1 each month, it doesnt matter how much they owe, the hospital can’t sue them to get them to pay more. People without assets can’t be sued anyways so most people who can’t pay their bills don’t pay anyways, they just take the hit to their credit score, which is probably ruined anyways. I doubt they can ruin your credit since its international. I know they couldn’t sue you though. The insured people pay for you in the form of high insurance premiums, or the people who pay out of pocket pay for you in the form of more costly hospital charges. Kind of makes all this opposition over universal health care seem ridiculous doesn’t it.
But if you’re moral, you’ll go with the traveler’s insurance.
I believe medicare will cover certain services, but it may take a while to recover your costs. To be on the safe side I would purchase travel insurance from blue cross, its not that expensive and you will be worry free should something happen.
I would get traveler’s insurance if I were you. Blue cross and Blue Shield is really good.
The USA actually treats foreigners free of charge. It’s very controversial because many illegal Mexican immigrants get treated using US taxpayer dollars.
The thing is if you are someone who has the means to pay for treatment, I’m not sure if you won’t be billed in that case. I think the free treatment may apply specifically to those unable to pay.
The way it works for americans is they are treated whether they can pay or not….then the bill is DEBT you have to pay back.
For foreigners the same rule applies, free initial treatment, but if you leave the country they don’t follow your whereabouts.
Usually you are already covered, they just have to be notified ASAP, also if you have any coverage through your parents or job or whatever, often you are covered through them too.
Get travel insurance. It costs very very little. I’m not a huge believer in insurance but this is one area where not having it is just plain dumb. If you need treatment in a US hospital, you will be billed. Canadian plans will only pay what they would have paid for the same medical treatment in Canada and in most cases, it’s nowhere near what the US bill would be. Someone said that visitors to the US are not charged fees for medical treatment. What? Even Canada, with universal health care, bills people who are not Canadian citizens. The Canadian Foreign Affairs office and Lonely Planet travel website both advise getting out of country medical insurance for Canadians travelling. At the very least, insurance will pay to send you home to continue the 3 months in hospital that you need for your shattered leg, under Canada’s medical plans which won’t cost you anything. I have a lot of trouble believing that the US is going to pay for your initial treatment and provide a medi-vac flight home all for free. Of course, if you are completely broke, they can’t get money out of you anyway, but bills can and do follow you for a long time.
a friend of ours went to florida thought the ins. was to much, had a heart attack and got a bill for $20,000 per day for 2 days in hospital and cost another $20,000 to be flown home due to needing a nurse etc.etc.to keep him stable so he could be operated on in canada. do you think it is worth getting ins. our ohip used to cover us with the bordering states but i would not trust or rely on our government to pay those bills.
Your Canadian insurance MAY cover a small amount – no guarantees.
You can get travel insurance, and, with a weekend on a gurney in a US ER being billed at $3 500 before any treatment, insurance looks good.
No, the government doesn’t cover you. You definitely need travel insurance – it’s really important because hospital and medical fees in the US are astronomical.