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Why Bother With Travel Insurance If You're A Canadian Travelling Within Canada?
By K. Phillips
Whatever your politics, whatever your religion, and whether you’re wealthy or not so well off, we Canadians are indeed a blessed people when compared with most of the rest of the world. Anyone who doesn’t recognize this obviously hasn’t done much travelling outside of Canada, or simply has a very particular grievance of some sort against some aspect of Canada.

For the most part, Canada works, and from sea to shining sea, from our southern border to the icy north, we are collectively better off than most of the rest of the worlds population. You know this to be true if you’ve been outside of our borders for any length of time.

Physically, our great land is so varied, and so vast, that in fact it would be possible to spend every vacation right here in Canada, never leaving the country, and barely even scratch the surface of what there is to see and do, and still have a great vacation every time.

One of the things we can be most proud of is our health care system. Yes, it’s not perfect, but how many things are? And, fortunately, as a Canadian traveling within our own borders, our various Provincial and Territorial health care plans cover us for the most part, in the event of accident or tragedy that injures our health while travelling outside of the province or territory of our residence, but still within Canada.

However, it may interest you to know (especially if your next vacation is going to be within Canada), that there are gaps in the Provincial and Territorial Health Care Plans, that may leave you considerably out of pocket under certain conditions, and this is precisely why smart travellers opt to purchase travel insurance even when traveling within Canada.

Using the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) as an example, an Ontario resident travelling to Alberta, who had an accident which resulted in chipped teeth, but did not require a hospital visit, would have to bear the full cost of repairing the damaged teeth themselves. This could add up to substantially more than the few dollars a day that it would typically cost to purchase travel insurance. There are many similar scenarios.

Although OHIP covers a wide range of medical services, it does not pay for services that are deemed not medically necessary, such as cosmetic surgery. It is unlikely that OHIP would pay the full cost of cosmetically restoring the disfigurement that many accidents cause.

Many other health care services are only partially covered, or may not be covered at all. Medical services such as Podiatrists and Osteopaths, chiropractors and physiotherapists, may or may not be covered depending on a variety of factors. Even ambulance services, prescribed medications and long-term care services may only be partially covered depending on the

circumstances.

The facts are that OHIP is not unique in this regard. Each Province and Territory has it’s own rules and regulations, and it’s often quite a challenge to figure out exactly what they are.

This is one good reason that smart travellers within Canada arm themselves with Travel Insurance.

There are other reasons for purchasing travel insurance for travel within Canada,
Some of these include:

Baggage Insurance – What difference would it make if you were traveling from Vancouver to Halifax or from Toronto to Singapore if your baggage was lost or stolen? Baggage insurance would protect you either way.

Trip cancellation or trip interruption insurance – Imagine that you’ve reserved expensive hotel rooms and other services for your vacation within Canada, and you are forced at the last minute to cancel or abandon your trip. You could be out of pocket a great deal of money. This kind of travel insurance could restore your out of pocket expenses.

Emergency Medical Insurance – It would be comforting to know that if the unimaginable were to occur, and you were involved in an accident while on vacation, that you and/or your family members/fellow travelers would not have to worry about the costs of prescription drugs from pharmacies, home care services, ambulance services, long-term care services, dental and cosmetic surgery if needed, and other health care services that may be needed or desired. – Especially when this kind of coverage can be as little as a couple of dollars daily.

For the few extra dollars per day that it costs, travel insurance is easy to obtain, and buys enormous peace of mind while on your trip.

Remember, in the event of tragedy, you will “submit for consideration” the costs associated with your treatment to your particular Provincial or Territorial Health Ministry. They will decide the extent of your re-imbursement.

Given how inexpensive these kinds of insurance can be, do you still want to “not bother” with travel insurance when travelling within Canada?

The information collected and compiled here is for general reference only. Always speak with a licensed insurance representative to answer your specific questions.

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Kade Philips is a contributing writer at kanetix.ca, serving free travel insurance quotes. For the Travel Insurance you need, visit kanetix for Free Quotes.