COVID-19 Update: Group Travel Coverage

COVID-19 UPDATE: GROUP TRAVEL COVERAGE

We at RBC Insurance® continue to support you and your clients through COVID-19 related issues. As with premium credits for dental and extended health care benefits and the extension of student coverage earlier this year along with continued support for mental health, we are committed to helping you, your clients and their employees get through this crisis.

Specific to travel, you will recall that we extended coverage for any plan members that were stuck abroad during this crisis and we continued to provide coverage for plan members who needed to travel for work that was deemed essential. However, in line with the exclusions in our contract, coverage for any COVID-19 related claims would have been excluded.

WHAT’S CHANGING?

In light of the prolonged travel advisories and to reflect the realities of travel since the pandemic was declared, we are making a number of changes to our Group Benefit Out of Country coverage.

We are differentiating emergency medical coverage for COVID-19 related claims by the level of travel advisory. For trips departing on or after January 1, 2021, emergency medical coverage for COVID-19 related claims will be an eligible expense under a Level 3 travel advisory (avoid non-essential travel), but not under a Level 4 travel advisory (avoid all travel). Note that Canada has issued a Level 3 advisory for COVID-19 for all countries, with the exception of cruises which are currently at a Level 4 advisory.

Additional changes include:

Introducing a 10-day timeline for plan members to return home if a level 4 travel advisory is issued while they are outside of Canada. They will remain covered during that time period.
Any application to top up coverage (i.e. extend a trip) is subject to approval by RBC Insurance.
For clients with Trip Cancellation Trip Interruption coverage, for trips purchased on or after January 1, 2021, plan members will only be reimbursed for amounts for which a travel voucher or credit was not available.
For clients with Trip Cancellation Trip interruption coverage, a COVID-19 exclusion is being added for trips purchased on or after January 1, 2021.

As a final reminder for clients who have selected Trip Cancellation Trip Interruption coverage, COVID-19 is not covered under our Trip Cancellation Trip Interruption policy, and will remain an exclusion under the Trip Cancellation Trip Interruption coverage even after the travel advisor has been lifted.

Points to consider

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise and risk is heightened, plan members are advised to check the status of advisories issued by the government of Canada and only travel when necessary. Plan members should be aware that access to care may be compromised and countries may close their borders should the situation elevate. Should the government of Canada raise the travel advisory to a Level 4 (avoid all travel), RBC Insurance plan members will be provided with 10 days to return back home. After that time, COVID-19 will not be a covered expense.

Communicating to your clients

We’ll be sharing these messages with your clients in the communications below on December 18.

For clients with Emergency Medical Insurance coverage
For clients with Insurance Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance

Employee booklets will be revised at a future date, however, below are links to the updated wording we’ll share with your clients.

Out of Province/Country Emergency Medical Insurance – for any trips departing on or after January 1, 2021
Trip Cancellation/Interruption Insurance – for any trips booked/purchased on or after January 1, 2021

Questions?

For more information, you may wish to refer to the recently published article by the CLHIA - Advisory: Understanding your medical insurance options for travel outside Canada