The provincial health insurance covers you for three months once you leave the province of BC and then you can not get regular medical coverage from your province. If traveling for more than three months you may want to consider purchasing expatriate insurance from a private company.
After searching around, we found several companies willing to insure us. The price on the insurance depends on the part(s) of the world you want to visit and can be broken down into two main categories: including the USA and excluding the USA.
We looked at four different insurance companies:
We chose to go with Viator ETFS.
General Information
Benefit Schedule and Limits
Benefit maximums are allotted per injury or sickness and listed in Canadian dollars. Benefits must be pre-approved.
Overall Maximum Limit |
$1,000,000 |
|---|---|
In-Patient Benefit |
100% |
Paramedical Services (per profession) |
$500 |
Nursing at Home (up to 12 weeks) |
100% |
Ground Ambulance |
100% |
Out-Patient Services (includes prescription drugs) |
$10,000 |
Emergency Dental Treatment |
$5,000 |
Repatriation/Local Burial |
$10,000 |
Emergency Medical Evaculation (must be pre-approved) |
100% |
Compassionate Emergency Travel (must be pre-approved) |
$3,000 |
Parent Accompanying Child (includes prescription drugs) |
100% |
Complicated Maternity |
$5,000 |
I have made a claim while in South Africa and was very pleased with the service I received. Upon dialing the toll free number, I was able to speak with a person immeditaly who took down all the claim details. A form for the claim had to be sent by mail. We had some forms with us but you can download them from their website as well. Typically they will reimburse you for the claim amount by sending you a cheque to your mailing address. A week or so after making my claim, I received a phone call from Viator to see how I was doing!
We looked at both PADI and DAN (Divers Alert Network) dive insurance policies.
With a DAN membership, you have access to the following:
We got the DAN family membership for $49US/year and the preferred dive accident insurance for $70USpp/year. DAN offers three levels of insurance, standard, master and preferred. See the DAN website for more details.