If you are going on vacation out of your home province over the date you will be effective for your new benefit plan with Beneplan, here's what you should be aware of.
If you are coming from a plan that had insurance
Travel with both the old and new insurer's phone number or contact info
Make sure you have both your old and new policy and certificate numbers
Screenshot or save your drug card if you can, and share it with your friends and family travelling
Please be mindful of which insurer is covering you for what time period. Timing is everything. Your old insurer covers you until 11:59pm on the date of termination. Your new insurers starts on 00:00am (midnight) on the first of the month of your effective date. Time zones may be an issue but the most important thing is to reach out and make contact with one or both insurers.
If you have not had a prior benefit plan
If you had no carrier before being with Beneplan, then we recommend having your own travel medical emergency insurance. You can ask your travel agent, online booking site, or your credit card company might automatically include something with your credit card depending on what it is.
Who to call
Regardless of who your coverage is with, you should always call the number on your travel card before making any payments. This can save you a lot of time, money and headache. Your insurance carrier can lead you to the closest hospital and also handle costs for you so that you don't have to pay a single cent.
If you're covered with The Co-operators, there are two numbers you can call.
Within Canada/US (toll free): 1-888-440-2667
Other Countries (collect): 1-416-340-1316
For coverage with Green Shield, you can reach them at one of the following.
Within Canada/US (toll free): 1-800-936-6226
Other Countries (collect): 0-519-742-3556
Please make sure that when traveling out of North America, you call collect so that the insurance carrier can pick up the charges.
Finally, please check if there are any travel advisories whereby you should not travel as their insurance will not cover any claims related to the region that is flagged.