A Healthcare Solution for your Employees During a Pandemic

Many Canadian and U.S. companies have employees who travel regularly across the border to carry out their job functions in the other country. Ensuring that employees have sufficient healthcare coverage at all times is critical.

At the best of times, group travel insurance policies cover medical emergencies in the other country. During a global pandemic, when adequate healthcare coverage is all the more vital, nothing is as it was before, and group healthcare coverage is no exception.

Ever since the Government of Canada’s formal travel advisory of March 13, 2020 warning Canadians against international travel, pretty much every Canadian travel insurance provider out there has refused to cover anything coronavirus-related for new travel after that date.

Group health plans tend to be no different – employees who travelled outside of Canada before March 13 generally remain covered but with an expiry date by when they must return home or forfeit coverage; employees who travel after that date simply won’t be covered for COVID-19.

This is a significant problem for companies who rely on their employees working outside of Canada: any employees stuck abroad risk losing coronavirus coverage if they don’t return, and any employees scheduled for new travel risk not being covered for the virus in the first place.

Fortunately, a more robust alternative to travel insurance may fit companies’ needs: obtaining global health insurance policies for employees. Depending on the outcome of the pandemic over the next few months, there may either be a short-term need for international coverage or a long-term need. In either case, a global healthcare policy may be the right solution.

Global health insurance policies offer the benefit of seamless medical coverage in every country in the world, a significant advantage for employees who travel frequently. Furthermore, coverage isn’t limited only to emergencies as is often the case with travel policies – any medically necessary treatment is covered across the globe. Pre-existing conditions are also often covered with global policies whereas these are often excluded with travel policies, depending on the fine print.

To explore if global health insurance may be the right solution for you or your company, please contact us for more information.