You should be aware that your provincial coverage may not pay for all health care costs you may incur while outside of the province, and the difference can be substantial. For example, B.C. pays $75 (CAD) a day for emergency in-patient hospital care, while the average cost in the U.S. often exceeds $1000 (US) a day, and can be as high as $10,000 (US) a day in intensive care. For this reason, you are strongly advised to purchase additional health insurance from a private insurer before you leave the province, whether you are going to another part of Canada or outside the country. You are advised to purchase additional coverage even if you plan to be away for only a day.

Travel insurance policies often have limitations of coverage associated with accidents or diseases arising from travel to a location where the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs has issued a travel advisory or health warning advising Canadians not to travel to this country, region or city.

Effective March 12, 2020, we are considering coronavirus (COVID-19) to be a known event for Trip Protection (Trip cancellations and interruptions). Travel insurance is intended to cover losses arising from sudden and unforeseeable circumstances. Any claims resulting from events known to a policyholder at time purchasing the trip are not covered.

If you purchased a Trip Protection plan prior to March 12, 2020 you will be covered for trip cancellation or interruption claims related to COVID-19.

When the Canadian government issues an advisory to "avoid all travel" or "avoid non-essential travel" to your destination, that is considered an unexpected situation and is therefore eligible for Trip Protection (cancellation or interruption) benefits. However, your trip must have been purchased PRIOR TO the government issued advisory.

Government Advisory Level	TRAVEL MEDICAL PLAN Purchased as a stand-alone plan or part of a Package plan, Travel Medical provides coverage for: Emergency medical Hospitalization Ambulance fees Repatriation costs		TRIP PROTECTION PLAN Purchased as a stand-alone plan or part of a Package plan, Trip Protection provides coverage for: Trip cancellation, interruption, delay Baggage Air flight accident Accidental death & dismemberment
LVL 1 & 2	NO IMPACT TO COVERAGE
LVL 3 & 4	Advisory BEFORE DEPARTURE Travel Medical NOT COVERED	Advisory AFTER DEPARTURE Travel Medical COVERED	Advisory BEFORE TRIP PURCHASE Trip cancellation, interruption, delay NOT COVERED	Advisory AFTER TRIP PURCHASE Trip cancellation, interruption, delay COVERED
Choosing to travel against a Government of Canada Level 3 or 4 advisory invalidates all coverage This is for illustrative purposes only and does not form part of your contract. Full details are found in the Travel Policy.

Travel Insurance is intended to protect consumers from sudden and unforeseen events that arise and leave them with out of pocket expenses that they did not expect to incur.

When a Level 3 or 4 advisory is issued by the Government of Canada, they are stating that Canadians can expect to experience health or safety concerns and so should not travel.

For any Trip Cancellation benefits, this means that a trip purchased after a Level 3 or 4 advisory is issued cannot be cancelled for the reason of this advisory. This is an expected event.

For any Travel Medical or Interruption/Delay benefits, if you choose to depart on your trip after the Government of Canada has issued a Level 3 or 4 advisory, then all benefits on your plan are invalidated. You are not covered because it is expected that you could experience an issue causing a claim.

When there are Regional Advisories — some parts of your trip are Level 1 and 2, but some parts are 3 or 4 — if you choose to travel to the Level 3 or 4 Advisory region, then none of your benefits will apply. It is expected that you could experience a claim — it is a known event.

When Travel Advisories remain Level 1 or 2, all of your benefits are in force and applied according to the contract. This would include contracting COVID19 during your travel, or being delayed because of quarantine.

This information applies to all of our plans, single trip or annual, stand alone or packaged.

We always recommend that you read your travel policy booklet and check the Government of Canada website prior to any travel, especially when world conditions are changing rapidly.

For any pre-travel trip destination questions such as travel advisory, shots, visas or safety concerns, please contact Medi-Assist who have the most up to date information for your destination.

As always, our customer service representatives are here to help.

Trip Protection Insurance provides coverage when an unexpected situation impacts your travel plans. Deciding not to travel because you no longer want to go or you don’t think it will be safe (unless the Government of Canada has issued a general recommendation not to travel to the region) are not covered reasons. Check your policy’s details for a full explanation of what is covered.

Trip Protection Insurance helps you recover non-refundable, prepaid expenses should an unexpected situation such as these arise:

• An event that leads the Government of Canada to issue a general recommendation not to travel to the region (plan must be purchased prior to the Government’s recommendation)
• Illness that requires a doctor’s attention prior to or hospitalization during your trip
• Adverse weather conditions resulting in cancellations or delays
• Unexpected death in the family
• New pregnancy that would mean the Covered person would be travelling during the 33^rd week or later of their pregnancy
• Jury duty (except for Law enforcement officers)
• Loss of employment (must be employed permanently for at least 1 consecutive year)

Yes - Regardless of any existing conditions, we always advise members to still purchase coverage, as it will protect against all other accidents not related to that condition.

Travel insurance policies are designed to provide protection against unexpected emergency medical expenses, trip cancellation or interruption.

Depending on your age and the condition pre-existing medical conditions are covered if they are stable for a certain time period (as specified in your policy) before your policy's effective date.

It is important you review and understand any clauses or definitions in your chosen policy. Each travel insurance policy will uniquely define a pre-existing condition and there are many variations in wording. For example, policies may not cover conditions arising prior to the trip departure date:

• that are unstable
• where symptoms of an illness appeared
• that have been diagnosed or treated
• where medications have been changed

Travel policies will also specify a time frame, based on your age that relates to the evaluation of your pre-existing conditions. This time frame could be as short as 3 months but could be 1 year, 5 years or longer.

Some policies may provide coverage for your pre-existing conditions if you complete a more detailed medical questionnaire.

When purchasing our travel policy, we will evaluate pre-existing conditions for people 60 years and younger based on their health within the previous 3 months prior to the day their coverage begins. For people age 61 and over, we evaluate based on their health within 6 months prior.