Medical insurance

We use pacific blue cross ( thru former employer ), but it gets expensive if you have prior ailments. We pay for 90 of our 180 days of meds out of pocket, the other 90 days is covered. We have been I formed that Blue cross is the best insurer for Canadians as they underwrite many of the other plans. BTW how far south are you going? If to Mexico, medical expenses there are inexpensive, we use coverage " in case of emergency" while transiting thru the US.

For the past seven Years We have used Medipac Insurance which is provided by the Canadian Snowbird Association and Manulife!

We find their Rates to be a little better than any of the others that We have looked at.

We used to use BCAA as they offered Travel Insurance to members.

We are no longer members so had to find another source. Medipac was even less than the discounted loyalty program through BCAA.

We dropped Our membership when We had an issue with them over Towing in the USA!

There are several travel insurance company's out there, we have used TIC in the past and had one fairly big claim last year that was handled rather slowly IMO, and were getting bills and phone calls from the US billing department, a few calls to TIC stopped that, but it was still stressful.
Canadian Snowbirds Association offer insurance I hear is very competitive and will be getting a quote for this coming winter.

I also got a quote from BCAA but haven't compared it to anyone else yet, and the one thing I did like about BCAA, was that there were so few and clear questions re medical history, compared to some other company's with their confusing, convoluted pages of questions. Call me suspicious but IMHO this is done on purpose to try tripping you up if you have a claim.

Google KANETIX and look for travel insurance. You can get a list of quotes based on your medical situation and various carriers. They also give you variables for deductibles etc. Clicky

Every year we survey about 10 companies for price. Most have an online questionnaire which gives you the price. We always go with the cheapest (there is a real price difference every year) Had 2 claims in 7 years. 1 with PC (Superstore) and one with Medipac. Both were handled professionally at no cost (other than my deductible) to me. In my particular case, Blue Cross is always one of the highest cost, but it depends on your age or affictions.

I think 6 months stability is pretty standard. We are currently with Blue Cross.

as long as you have been stable on the medication-no increase in doses or change of rx, you will be find.
Dona

Last winter I signed up with Manulife (which I believe is also Medipac and a few other snowbird plans), I wasn't impressed. I had a claim for a doctor's visit and medications, I submitted the claim when we got home, it took 3 months for the claim to come to the "top of the pile" and another month or so until the cheque arrived. I got less C$ than I paid in US$, strange.

Manulife also contracts out their claims processing to an outfit in Windsor Ontario, no direct contact with Manulife on a claim.

Be advised!

I've had no medication changes for over 2 years. It's having the lab work every 3 months that concerns me. When I phoned my benefits package company she "thought " it would be OK as it's been routine treatment for couple years now. I'm looking at CAA right now as they seem to have clear terms. I've never heard too many good things about Manulife .

We used to have out-of-country medical with a company underwritten by Manulife, but after reading many stories about Canadians whose claims were denied because of an honest mistake on the application, we went with Quest Travel Ins. They do not have the so-called "one strike and you're out" clause in their application.
Quest has a broker in Ottawa called First Rate Insurance.