Super Visa Health Insurance Program

Many of those concerned already know that the rules covering invitations for parents to come to Canada have changed. One of the conditions of entry into the country to join the children has become the existence of an insurance contract for $100,000, covering medical costs while staying as a guest for 1 year.

These are serious costs, but they cannot be avoided if we want to have our parents come and visit us. And, unfortunately, this money has to be paid at the time of applying for a Super Visa, which is issued for 10 years. I understand that the children would still buy insurance at the time of their parents’ arrival, but one is forced to pay for the entire year, still a few months before the actual arrival of the parents.

In connection with such a prerequisite, a few months before the actual arrival of the parents you need to pay for the entire insurance policy, which may come to a substantial amount. How is it possible to avoid paying all the money immediately, we will show further down (the FAQ section).

Below are the approximate prices for the cost of medical services.

Visiting a general practitioner can cost $70-90. Drugs cost tens or hundreds of dollars. Diagnostic and other tests are also not in the thousands of dollars. But if you have to go to the hospital, then more significant expenditures will begin. For the parents, while not having any status, 24 hours can cost $2,300 – $4,000. Cutting operations (abdominal surgery) start at $17,000. Calling an ambulance and a few hours spent in the hospital in the queue may cost $600-800 or even more, depending on the severity of the problem. Appendicitis, which happened to new immigrants over 10 years ago, has led to a payment of $8,000 on one occasion, and about $14,000 another time. A man had a heart attack 7 years ago and had to spend 8 days in the hospital, during which time he was taken out of his critical state and then sent home. His bill was in the neighbourhood of $22 thousand dollars. There were more serious payments in our practice, but it certainly does not happen as often.

We work with different insurance companies and try to provide the best conditions for you. Our goal is for you to have a contract that will have an optimal combination of price and conditions, and will also cover costs associated with the deterioration of pre-existing conditions.

Below are the insurance prices from 21-st Century Travel Insurance Limited. For other companies, we can always give you information on the phone or in person.

*Deductible $50 ($500 for those over 85).

People 86 and older must complete a medical declaration before buying an insurance policy.

The table shows the cost per day in Canadian dollars per person. No discounts are offered for duration of coverage. If your guests or relatives had no health problems in the past, you can simply buy insurance against any new problems and use the prices listed in Table 1.

Those between the ages of 60 and 85, who wish to have coverage against deteriorating pre-existing chronic conditions must pay more. 21st Century offers higher prices (see the table below). To obtain insurance with such a condition, you must also fill out a medical declaration.

*Deductible $50.

The prices quoted are fixed, i.e. they do not depend on whether you are buying insurance directly from the insurance company or through a broker. And the company sells insurance contracts through licensed agents only. If 2 people are coming, 21st Century Travel Insurance Limited will give you a 5% discount for each insured person.

Let’s see how this insurance works. If a person becomes ill and needs to see a doctor, the person taking ill must pay all the costs for the visit, examination, and drugs himself. Once a person recovers, he must sign a special form (claim form) at the doctor’s office, enclose receipts proving the financial expenditures, and send this information to the company that will reimburse the entire amount minus $50 – our deductible. If the person is hospitalized, there will be other costs, so the hospital will work out the question of payment directly with the insurance company. You must not forget to call the company within 24 hours after falling ill or seeing a doctor.

You must remember that if a person needs to undergo a regular medical checkup or treatment once a year, or just needs to renew the medicines you are already taking, such costs will not be reimbursed by the insurance company. This is considered maintaining your stable condition. But, if there is a deterioration of an existing problem (stable chronic condition), the insurance company will pay all the costs of restoring your health. A stable chronic condition is when a person has a problem, but there was no deterioration in his condition during the last 180 days and no change in the dose of his medications. A simple example: a person has been taking blood pressure pills for many years. If he runs out of his pills, i.e. he needs to extend the course of his treatment, then all the costs associated with it, such as doctor visits, examinations, etc., will be at his expense. But if a person has taken ill, and the existing pills can no longer keep him in a normal condition, all further costs to bring him out of this condition and any new, perhaps more powerful, drugs will be paid for.

The $50 deductible (your share) are calculated for the entire period of coverage. When obtaining an insurance contract for all family members, each of them has his own insurance coverage and, accordingly, the $50 deductible applies to each person. If you want to avoid these $50, you need to inform us at the time when the contract is being drawn up. The company will add 5% to the total price of the insurance.

Can I get a discount from the insurance company? Yes, you can.

As already mentioned, if 2 people are coming, 21st Century will give you a discount of 5% for each insured person.

If you choose a $250 deductible instead of the standard $50, in this case the company will give you 10% discount. Let’s see who may find this interesting. Some of the older parents are planning to live with you for an extended time period. The bill in the insurance contract may already be in the thousands. You know that insurance coverage is very important and it has to be obtained. But at the same time you realize that minor problems your parents can deal with themselves, but serious things that can happen, that is important. And you have to decide whether it will be more beneficial for you to obtain an insurance contract with a $250 deductible since the discount for time can recoup these $250. After all, we often buy insurance just so nothing will happen. You buy an insurance contract, and nothing happens. It’s when you do not take out insurance that things will happen… as they always tend to do.

If you want an even bigger discount, you can look at other options for the deductible listed below. The discount can be as high as 40%.

If suddenly, for whatever reason, you do not receive your visa, you can get all the money back at no cost. Of course there is a transaction fee of $25 for contract termination, but we can put this contract on HOLD and extend it up to 3 months, then you won’t even have to pay the $25 if the visa is suddenly refused after all.

Other questions that you may have:

Additional Deductible Options and Resulting Higher Discounts

Here are some additional deductible options. Before, the only options available were $0, $50 and $250. The price you see in the table is with the $50 deductible. If you chose a $0 deductible, you have to add 5% to the price shown in the table. In other words, higher price. If you chose a contract with a $250 deductible, you will receive a 10% discount, from the price shown in the table. Now, you can chose deductible of $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 and disappearing deductible (available only on $25,000 and %50,000 coverage). With a $1,000 deductible, you will receive a 20% discount, with $5,000 – 35% and 40% discount with a $10,000 deductible from the price shown.
Who may be interested in these amounts of own contribution?
$10,000 will definitely interest those applying for SuperVisa (10-year visa). For example, an insurance for 77 year old parents with the required coverage of $100,000 for one year, will cost $4,891 per person ($13,40 per day x 365 days). For two people that’s $9,292.90 ($4,891 х 2 = $9,782 less 5% discount). In order to process this invitation, we need to collect all documents and obtain visitor’s insurance ahead of time, pay over 9 thousand dollars and send it over to consulate. This is the standard procedure. But, there is an alternative way to go about this. We can start by paying $5,575.74, obtain the necessary confirmation of medical insurance, send it over to the consulate, receive SuperVisa and pay the remaining $3,717.16 only 1-2 weeks prior to arrival. What we are doing is processing the required insurance to obtain SuperVisa, but only at minimum, without coverage on existing conditions and with a $10,000 own contribution (deductible) instead of standard $50. This type of coverage will be practically half the price. When the visa is received and you know arrival dates, you can upgrade this coverage to a better one and pay the difference. This can only be done one, prior to your relatives’ arrival.
Another option: $1,000 deductible with the same example. In this case the company will offer you a 20% discount. The amount of discount would be $1,857.58. If you decide that you will be covering all the expenses not associated with a hospitalization, this may be interesting for you. As soon as hospitalization is involved, your bill will definitely be over $1,000, and everything, over that amount, will be covered by insurance. In this case you will cover doctor visits, observations, medications, emergency services, if there is no need to be hospitalized overnight. You decide what’s best for you – process insurance contract with a deductible of $1,000 and receive a discount of $1,857.58, or a standard deductible option.

How can we save a little when applying for Super Visa?

$10,000 deductible will definitely interest those applying for SuperVisa (10-year visa). For example, an insurance for 77 year old parents with the required coverage of $100,000 for one year, will cost $4,891 per person ($13,40 per day x 365 days). For two people that’s $9,292.90 ($4,891 х 2 = $9,782 less 5% discount). In order to process this invitation, we need to collect all documents and obtain visitor’s insurance ahead of time, pay over 9 thousand dollars and send it over to consulate. This is the standard procedure. But, there is an alternative way to go about this.

We can start by paying $5,575.74, obtain the necessary confirmation of medical insurance, send it over to the consulate, receive SuperVisa and pay the remaining $3,717.16 only 1-2 weeks prior to arrival. What we are doing is processing the required insurance to obtain SuperVisa, but only at minimum, without coverage on existing conditions and with a $10,000 own contribution (deductible) instead of standard $50. This type of coverage will be practically half the price. When the visa is received and you know arrival dates, you can upgrade this coverage to a better one and pay the difference. This can only be done one, prior to your relatives’ arrival.

What is the difference between the monthly and the annual premium payments?

In reality, the conditions of monthly payments are noticeably different from a one time payments for the contract.

In order for the contract to fully satisfy conditions set by the immigration office, it is necessary, at the time of application, to pay 2 months premium and an additional $50, non-refundable, administration fee.

As soon as the approval is received, and the arrival date is known, it is necessary to report the arrival date to the insurance company. As of the date of the arrival, the insurance company will charge 1/12 of the full annual premium, monthly. In effect, the payments would be made two months in advance.

If your relative leaves the country, the company will refund all the unused premium fees, if no insurance claim was made, with exception of $50 administration fee (in case of monthly payment option) and the company retains another $25 processing fee. But the return is only for the full months. For example, if the relative is leaving and the premium was pad in a lump sum for the year, the return of premium is from the day the request was submitted. If you are buying insurance with a monthly payment option, the return of premium occurs from the beginning of next month, after submitting the request for refund. If the relative leaves within first two months, there is no refund at all.

If the person inviting knows that the relatives are leaving shortly after arriving, it is better to prepay for the year. The company does not refund premiums for the two months and the $50 non-refundable administration fee. The company expects that you would be having coverage for at least two months.

Within what time frame, after the insurance incident, is it necessary to submit a claim to receive a refund on medical expenses?

Within 30 days of the insurance incident, you have to contact the insurance company and inform them of the occurrence. Within 90 days of the insurance incident, a written claim needs to be submitted with all applicable documents, proving your expenses.

If the visiting individual, for one reason or another decides to return, is the refund available?

Yes. The insurance premium for the remaining time of the coverage will be returned to you, less $25 processing fee. You have to remember, however, that if you had a medical claim, that required a refund on medical expenses, there will be no refund on the premiums, regardless of how small the claim may have been. If an insurance incident occurred, you have already contacted the company for the refund of your expenses (have not yet received the refund) and at some point realized, that the insured is planning to return, you have to do the following. Either receive the refund on the insurance claim and not receive the refund on the unused portion of the policy, or cancel the claim (if it is significantly lower that the refund obtained through return of premium), and receive the sum, that you are entitled to when your visitor returns home. In order to cancel a yet unpaid claim a $200 fee applies.
To receive a refund, it is necessary to submit a written notice, indicating the reason for your decision, for example, early return of the visitors or obtained status in Canada, with which the insured will no longer require an insurance contract. Remember, supporting documents (tickets, person’s status, etc.) have to always be submitted along with the written notice to receive a return of premium.

Is the flight to Canada and return flight covered?

Yes, the flight from country of origin to Canada and the return flights are covered, even if there is a layover in a third country.

If the person is ready to leave but the flight has been delayed for a day, is it necessary to purchase additional insurance?

No, the person will automatically be covered for 48 hours, if the flight has been delayed.

The whole family, with visitors is planning to go on a vacation, for example to Caribbean Islands, is it necessary to purchase additional insurance for the trip?

If during, while our visitors are in Canada, you would like to go on vacation to another country and than return to Canada, your visitors trip to another country will still be covered by the Canadian company. The company will cover all medical expenses that may come up when on a trip outside of Canada. The conditions are as follows: more than 50% of your insurance coverage period has to be spent in Canada and the length of a trip can not exceed 30 days. You can have multiple trips but in total these trips can not exceed 30 days.

Is dentist coverage included?

The contract specifies, that if there is an accidental damage to the face, that results in a need of dental work, this expense will be covered. It refers only to accidental cases. The company will also covers expenses associated with relieving tooth pain. Not fixing the issue, just relieving pain. Its important to understand this. If someone has a tooth ache, it means that the company will only cover a portion of the expenses. Usually, this requires check up of what happened, for example open up the tooth, relieve pain and put in new filling. In this case, the company will pay for the check-up, process of opening up the tooth and will only pay for the temporary filling. The company believes that – guests to Canada, are here temporarily, therefore the company will only pay for procedures to relive the pain, the visitor can than take care of the problem when they return home.

Is it possible to cancel the contract, if the visa has been obtained, but parents are not planning to visit yet?

Unfortunately, this will be difficult. 21st Century does not refund the premiums, basing it on the fact that the Super Visa is obtained with a condition of having such coverage and cancelling this coverage will be considered not meeting conditions of obtaining Super Visa. The company is able to move the dates back and forth in regards to the originally scheduled date.