Travel health practice

All 7 free travel health questions

1. Under the Registered Insurance Brokers Act, a person registered under the Travel Industry Act, 2002 may act without being a registered insurance broker in respect of which insurance?

   • A Travel accident and sickness, baggage or trip cancellation insurance Correct
   • B Any insurance the person places for a client who has booked travel through them
   • C Travel health insurance only, and no other travel-related product
   • D Travel accident and sickness insurance plus automobile insurance on a rental vehicle

   Section 2 of the Registered Insurance Brokers Act lifts the broker registration requirement for a Travel Industry Act registrant only in respect of travel accident and sickness, baggage and trip cancellation insurance, so anyone placing a class outside that short list is acting as an insurance broker and must be registered.

   RIB Act, s. 2(2)(e)

2. To continue to be recognized as an Ontario resident for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) purposes, how long must a person be physically present in Ontario in any given 12-month period?

   • A At least 183 days
   • B At least six consecutive months
   • C At least 212 days
   • D At least 153 days Correct

   Paragraph 3 of subsection 1.5 (1) requires the person to be physically present in Ontario for at least 153 days in any given 12-month period, subject to the absences sections 1.6 to 1.14 allow, so a client planning a long trip has to count days against 153 rather than against half a year.

   R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 552, s. 1.5 (1)

3. For out-of-country approvals under Ontario's health insurance regulation, what does the defined term emergency circumstances mean?

   • A Any medical condition that the treating physician describes as urgent in writing
   • B Any condition serious enough to need care in a hospital rather than in a clinic
   • C Any condition for which the wait for treatment in Ontario is longer than three months
   • D Immediate risk of death or of medically significant irreversible tissue damage Correct

   Section 28.4 (1) defines emergency circumstances narrowly, as medical circumstances in which an insured person faces immediate risk of death or of medically significant irreversible tissue damage, so pain, urgency or a long Ontario wait list does not meet it and prior written approval is still needed.

   R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 552, s. 28.4 (1)

4. A client is leaving for three weeks in Mexico next month and plans to take his Ontario health card. What should he check about the card before he goes?

   • A That it carries a photograph, because a card without one is not honoured by a hospital outside Canada
   • B That it was issued within the last three years, because a card older than that lapses on departure
   • C That the printed address matches the address he gave the travel agent when he booked the trip
   • D That it is still valid: not expired, correct personal information, and his current address on file Correct

   The province tells a traveller to bring the health card but to make sure first that it is still valid, meaning it has not expired, it carries correct personal information and it shows the current address on file with ServiceOntario, so an address or name change is something to settle before departure rather than from abroad.

5. The Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) funds two kinds of out-of-country health service. Which two are they?

   • A Emergency health services for travellers, and services given prior approval before they are received Correct
   • B Emergency health services for travellers, and elective surgery bought at a licensed hospital abroad
   • C Routine care received while away, and emergency health services for travellers
   • D Services a private travel insurer has declined, and services given prior approval before they are received

   The province funds two kinds of out-of-country service, emergency health services for travellers and prior approved services, so a client's situation has to be placed in one of those two before anything else about the claim can be worked out.

6. Federal travel guidance names where a Canadian can buy trip interruption and travel health insurance, besides buying it directly from an insurance company. Which of the following are on that list? Select all that apply.

   • A A credit card company Correct
   • B A provincial or territorial health plan
   • C A bank Correct
   • D A travel agent Correct
   • E A Canadian consular office abroad
   • F A hospital at the destination

   Federal travel guidance says trip interruption and travel health insurance can be bought directly from an insurance company or through a travel agent, an insurance broker, an employer's insurance provider, a credit card company or a bank, so a client who says she is already covered usually means an employer or credit card plan and the broker's job is to ask what that plan actually pays.

7. A client tells his broker he is moving to Spain for at least three years and asks about medical cover there. Travel insurance is not intended to be used when a person is living outside Canada for an extended period or permanently, and local laws may require that he have medical insurance where he settles. Is that statement true or false?

   • A True Correct
   • B False

   Travel insurance is built around a trip, and federal guidance states it is not intended to be used when a person is living outside Canada for an extended period or permanently, so someone moving abroad has to consider his insurance needs where he settles, because local laws may require that he have medical insurance and a visa application may ask for proof of it.