Travel medical benefit

Your GreenShield travel coverage through CanAssistance allows you to take advantage of a vast network of medical providers, resources, and contacts, all offering quality service, when you travel outside your home province and experience a medical emergency.

When travelling, please bring the following with you: your GreenShield identification card and your provincial healthcare card. Please be aware that you may need to pay out of pocket for a medical expense and submit a claim for reimbursement.   

Prior to seeking medical treatment, CanAssistance can assist you in finding the clinic/hospital closest to your area that can provide the best medical treatment appropriate to your condition. They can contact the hospital or clinic in advance to let them know that you are coming in, and where possible, make billing arrangements for direct payment of the medical bills. If you are admitted to the hospital, CanAssistance will make billing arrangements for your medical bills, manage your care to ensure that all procedures performed will be covered under your benefit, and if necessary, make arrangements to have you returned home to Canada for continued medical treatment.

During your admission to the hospital, contact is maintained with the treating physicians, case workers, and nurses to evaluate your condition. Establishing a direct billing arrangement between CanAssistance and the clinic/hospital is recommended whenever possible. This will eliminate the need to pay costly out-of-pocket expenses.

Frequently Asked Questions

Non-Emergency Care 

Eligible products/services rendered outside of Canada as though they were incurred within Canada. For example, if your child gets an earache while travelling, any prescription drug treatment would be covered under the extended health benefit as though they were in Canada. Likewise, if someone receives a massage while travelling, that expense will be eligible-subject to regular parameters of the extended health benefit--and paid as though the claim was incurred in Canada.  

Coverage for acute treatment of an emergency episode only; any ongoing treatment of that condition is not covered, as the individual would be expected to return to Canada*. The intent of emergency care coverage is to stabilize the individual to allow for their return. From the earache example in the non-emergency care section, initial treatment of the earache would be covered under emergency care. However, if any follow-ups were needed, any follow-up visit would not be covered under emergency care.  

Coverage also includes treatment (non-elective) for immediate relief of severe pain, suffering, or disease that cannot be delayed until the covered person is medically able to return to their province of residence. Upon notification of the necessity for treatment of an accidental injury or medical emergency, you must contact CanAssistance within 48 hours of commencement of treatment. Any invasive or investigative procedures must be pre-approved by CanAssistance.

* Exception may apply for international sabbaticals. Eligibility will be determined at the time of treatment.   

An important and valued feature of the extended health benefit is the GreenShield travel coverage which provides 100% reimbursement for medically necessary services or supplies such as hospital accommodation, medical/surgical care, laboratory tests, x-rays, and ambulance transportation required as a result of a medical emergency, up to $5,000,000 (Canadian Dollars) per lifetime per covered person. 

This travel benefit provides coverage when you experience a medical emergency while you are temporarily outside your regular province/territory of residence for vacation, education, or business reasons. It does not cover any non-emergency, elective, cosmetic, or experimental treatment, surgery, procedure, or any other service a covered person chooses to have performed outside their home province/territory whether pre-planned or not. 

 Emergency means a sudden, unexpected injury, illness, or acute episode of disease that requires immediate medical attention and could not have been reasonably anticipated based upon the person's prior medical condition.

An emergency no longer exists when the evidence reviewed by CanAssistance indicates that no further treatment is required while travelling/at the destination, or you are able to return to your province/territory of residence for further treatment. If CanAssistance determines that you need to transfer to another facility or return to your home province/territory of residence, and you choose not to, the benefits will not be paid for further medical treatment and coverage will be limited for unrelated events. 

Pre-existing stable conditions: 

If a covered person has been diagnosed with a medical condition or is working with a medical professional to explore a current health condition, sometimes called a “pre-existing” medical condition, it’s a requirement that the condition is considered stable if any travel is planned. Stability must be at least 90 days before travelling. See the frequently asked questions section to read more about the definition of “stable”.

Note: Emergency excludes treatment of a pre-existing condition that was not completely stable for the 90-day period immediately preceding the covered person’s departure.