Crippling insurance costs
Just got a quote back for supplementary travel insurance to stay at our little place in Texas for 4 months. Cannot afford to take it out but the consequences could be grave if we do not. Damned if we ...
Forum Discussion
....and interesting article in the Toronto Star (the article was in 2015, however it is even more relevant in 2016):
About 500,000 Canadians own property in the U.S., and 750,000 of us visit Florida each winter. A big part of the how-long-to-stay decision is the cost of insurance. Last year, premiums were 10 to 12 per cent higher than in 2013.
This year, expect another 12 to 15 per cent jump, says Alex Bittner, president of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada, an industry group.
So, summing, add the 2013 health travel insurance increase of 10% to 12% to the 2014 increase of 12% to 15% to the 2015 increases of perhaps the same, to the 2016 increase of roughly the same....+ + + +....now, + the coming 2017 of God knows what increases (!!), and it looks like US travel (for anything but short week or two long forays) for most of us will be nearly out of the question in the very near future.
The article mentions that the only alternatives for Canadians traveling to the now nearly unaffordable US, is to substantially shorten your US stays, or travel to any destination other than the US, where the exchange rates are more amenable, prices are cheaper for everything, and the big one, where the health travel insurance is dramatically less expensive.
About 500,000 Canadians own property in the U.S., and 750,000 of us visit Florida each winter. A big part of the how-long-to-stay decision is the cost of insurance. Last year, premiums were 10 to 12 per cent higher than in 2013.
This year, expect another 12 to 15 per cent jump, says Alex Bittner, president of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada, an industry group.
So, summing, add the 2013 health travel insurance increase of 10% to 12% to the 2014 increase of 12% to 15% to the 2015 increases of perhaps the same, to the 2016 increase of roughly the same....+ + + +....now, + the coming 2017 of God knows what increases (!!), and it looks like US travel (for anything but short week or two long forays) for most of us will be nearly out of the question in the very near future.
The article mentions that the only alternatives for Canadians traveling to the now nearly unaffordable US, is to substantially shorten your US stays, or travel to any destination other than the US, where the exchange rates are more amenable, prices are cheaper for everything, and the big one, where the health travel insurance is dramatically less expensive.
