Travel-insurance is an important component for maintaining your health by ensuring you can get the health care you need when travelling outside of BC.
Tips & Links
Health insurance is important for people with existing health conditions or health changes to help cover the cost of treatments, medications, and services that may not be fully covered by your Medical Services Plan (MSP) or health benefits if travelling outside of BC.
Learn More
- Travel-insurance is recommended for anyone, especially seniors and those with existing health conditions, travelling outside of the province for any length of time as outlined by the Government of Canada.
- Know that your Medical Services Plan (MSP) may provide only limited coverage to residents travelling outside of the province or country as stated by the Government of BC.
- Know you can apply for reimbursement using MSP claim forms from the Government of BC. However, claims usually not cover the cost of any practitioner other than a physician. Medical transport may not be covered. MSP can pay up to $75 per day for a hospital stay – on average a hospital bed can cost $500-1000/ day.
Things You Can Do
- Check all travel insurance policies for limitations and exclusions of coverage. It is important to declare any pre-existing health conditions.
- Know that BC-PharmaCare does not cover or reimburse for medications or medical supplies purchased outside of BC. Plan ahead and purchase your medications and over the counter (OTC) drugs for the length of your trip.
- Be aware that you can leave the province for up to 7 months on vacation per calendar year and up to 24 months every 5 years, and still maintain MSP coverage.
- Submit claims for physician services within 90 days of the date of service and in-patient hospital claims within six months of the discharge.
- Review your health benefits or credit cards include travel insurance coverage, such as emergency medical coverage, trip cancellation protection, and flight delay compensation,
- Learn about the recommendations for travelling vaccines if planning to travel outside of Canada from Healthlink BC. Record any updated vaccines on your health profile.
Update your Health Profile, Medication List and Health Care & Business Professional list to have with you in print or digital formats when travelling.