BC, Canada, Medical Services Plan
 

I have been traveling for a while now and plan to be out of the Province of British Columbia for over a year. As a result the Medical Services Plan has cancelled my medical coverage. I am left now with only travel medical insurance from BCAA.

The requirements to not leave the province for more than 6 months, or one time for 12 months, makes it difficult to do an adventure trip for an extended period of time.

Does anyone have any suggestions for medical coverage when traveling for more than a year? Or do I just self finance the services provided by the Medical Services Plan?

Brian

One thing to check is to make sure that the BCAA travel insurance isn't just above and beyond your basic MSP and you are required to have MSP for it to be valid. The reason that I say that is that some (many?) travel insurance offerings do require a base coverage.

Having said that, the MSP system is pretty flexible, there are too many people to track so as long as you are paying they would assume that you are in province or at least popping back in at some point. That is unless you call them up and tell them that you are leaving, at which point they will cancel your coverage, which is what may have happened to you.

As for what most people do, it probably varies between self insurance and keeping on paying the MSP bills so that they think you are still in province. For really worried folks, they probably make a point in flying back for a break or a visit which resets the clock again. You may want to send a note to Scrabblebiker who I seem to recall had done some good research for her most recent long trip to see how she handled it.

Medical Services Plan
 

I phoned MSP today and they advised that they placed a hold on my MSP and I have to reapply. I have done that and can only hope that they reinstate it. I have my doubts though ... call me a pessimist.

I then checked with BCAA and they said I don't have to have MSP but I must be "eligible" to have it. If I don't have MSP then I have to foot the bill for what MSP would cover. If I am not even eligible then the BCAA insurance is useless.

I then purchased World Nomad Insurance hoping that between my MSP application, BCAA and World Nomad I will have some coverage. But with World Nomad if you don't have government insurance then they only cover $20,000! I sent an email to them for further details.

The problem is how is a person to travel the world on a motorcycle for more than 6 months and get adequate health insurance????!!!!! Is it even worth taking that chance?

Medical Insurance
 

I just received a response from World Nomads and they said my coverage is limited to $20,000 CDN without government insurance. Further, they will only cover me for a maximum of 6 months without it. So matter what I can only take a 6 month trip or risk traveling without adequate medical insurance.

How are others who are gone for 1, 2, 3 and even 10 years dealing with medical insurance?

When I left Canada for four years to work overseas, I always had medical coverage from my local employer. One thing you should note, when I returned to BC, they would not renew my coverage until I had been living back in the province for three months.

Maybe the rules have changed since then, but if you cancel your MSP make sure you have coverage for when you first return as well as your journey.