General

Blue Cross offers health insurance products.

Our health insurance policies reimburse you for costs associated with an illness or accident not covered by your government health insurance plan, such as prescription drugs, registered specialists and therapists, dental care, vision care, etc.

Enrolment in a Blue Cross health plan also grants you access to our exclusive Blue Cross Member Assistance program. This members-only program gives access to health and legal advice, home care assistance and other members-only benefits. Our worldwide travel assistance takes care of your needs while you are travelling abroad.

We also sell insurance to cover medical expenses while you’re outside Québec. Our travel insurance products primarily protect you in cases of unexpected medical emergencies and may include coverage for

• Repatriation to Québec
• Trip cancellation and interruption
• Accidental death or dismemberment, etc.

Blue Cross health insurance is available to Canadian residents. You must have a valid health insurance card from your province of residence to apply. Although Blue Cross is available across Canada, the company is run independently in each province. For example, if you are a resident of Québec, you must have a valid Québec public health insurance (RAMQ) card to purchase insurance from Québec Blue Cross.

Insurance is also available to individuals who are waiting for their provincial health insurance card, including Canadian citizens returning to Canada after a long absence, individuals awaiting immigration status and individuals coming to study or work in Canada on a temporary basis, as well as visitors.

Blue Cross also provides travel insurance plans for Canadians travelling abroad or outside their province of residence.

No. Our assistance services are available only to Blue Cross policyholders as part of a purchased travel insurance plan. But, if you are injured or become seriously ill outside of Canada, you can call Blue Cross travel assistance services even if you are not a policyholder. We will offer immediate assistance, and depending on your needs can help you facilitate repatriation to Canada. However, in these circumstances, the fees incurred will be your responsibility and must be paid in advance. For example, the costs for repatriation due to health reasons from Paris to Montréal can range from $25,000 to $45,000, depending on the type of transportation used. That's why we always recommend that you purchase a travel insurance plan before you leave your province of residence.

No. The law requires that all residents of Québec be covered by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ). Any supplemental insurance plans cover costs that remain after coverage by government health plans.

A) Yes, reading your travel insurance policy is very important and necessary.

Always review the following:

• Your travel insurance certificate to ensure that the benefits listed are in fact the ones you selected and to confirm that your departure and return dates are correct.
• Your travel insurance policy. A contract is an agreement between two parties. You must know your responsibilities as well as those of the insurer. Above all, you must know when your coverage begins and ends, and understand what is covered and what is not.

Pay particular attention to the following sections in your policy:

• What is covered
• What is not covered
• Exclusions and reductions of coverage

If you review your travel insurance policy thoroughly, you will be aware of what is and isn’t covered if you need to file a claim.

B) No, not all travel insurance plans are equal.

Policies and insurers can differ on many levels. Unfortunately, some individuals become aware of these differences only in an emergency situation, when they need the best service available. Blue Cross is the most easily recognized insurer worldwide and has many partners that together form a vast international medical network, which ensures that you have the best possible coverage, no matter where you travel.

Every insurance policy has exclusions. An insurer cannot cover every possible risk and still maintain affordable insurance premiums. The most common exclusions are

• A pre-existing illness, diagnosed before departure
• A trip taken against your doctor’s advice
• Risks taken by the insured that surpass those that are considered insurable, such as taking part in a race, an extreme sport or an illegal act, or using drugs
• Other situations, the details of which you can find in the What is not covered section of each benefit of your insurance policy booklet

Always read your policy so that you are prepared for any situation that may arise. You will find that almost all exclusions are standard in most travel insurance policies.

A distinction must be made between a health declaration and a medical questionnaire.

A health declaration determines what will be covered and excluded, and indicates the travel insurance premium. The premium is based on risks associated with age, health condition and trip length.

A medical questionnaire is an option offered by Blue Cross to cover specific illnesses. You are not obligated to complete this questionnaire, but in some cases it is recommended. Simply ask your doctor to complete the questionnaire and send it to us. Your health condition will be assessed by the Blue Cross medical director; if you have a pre-existing condition that does not present an increased risk, it will be covered and you can leave on your trip with peace of mind.

Currently, individuals aged 75 and older cannot purchase travel insurance online, regardless of the trip duration. There may also be other reasons you cannot purchase travel insurance online. For example, if you have a health condition that requires review. Insurance premiums are calculated based on several factors, including trip length, health condition, and age. For more information, please speak with one of our agents.

A pre-existing medical condition is a health condition, illness, or injury that already existed before purchasing your Blue Cross travel insurance policy. To be covered by travel insurance, the pre-existing medical condition must be stable for a specified period as outlined in the policy. For more information, please feel free to contact one of our agents or read our blog article on the topic.

The maximum permissible length of a policy is 365 days. Under certain conditions, an extension may be granted at the end of the initial coverage period. If you want to extend your trip abroad, you must request an insurance coverage extension with your insurer. If your request is accepted, Blue Cross may extend your coverage on the condition that you remain covered by your provincial public health insurance plan for the entire duration of your stay abroad.

The maximum permissible length of a policy is 365 days. Under certain conditions, an extension may be granted at the end of the initial coverage period. If you want to extend your trip abroad, you must request an insurance coverage extension with your insurer. If your request is accepted, Blue Cross may extend your coverage on the condition that you remain covered by your provincial public health insurance plan for the entire duration of your stay abroad.

You can get a travel insurance quote online or over the phone.
Get a travel insurance quote
Get a quote by phone

The travel insurance must be purchased before leaving your province of residence and for the entire duration of the trip.

Blue Cross travel insurance can be purchased only by residents holding a valid Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) public health insurance card, and most provincial health care plans hold restrictions for trip durations out of country. For trips longer than 182 days, a Blue Cross agent will verify that your RAMQ coverage has been extended before allowing you to purchase a travel insurance plan to ensure that you are properly covered. If you are planning a trip of more than 182 days, please contact us.

You must contact us by phone before your contract or coverage expires. Requests for extension by email are not accepted. If you file a claim during the trip, your request for extension may be refused.

This functionality is not available at this time, but you can call us at no charge anytime before your policy expires to extend your coverage. You cannot extend your coverage if your policy has already expired.

When you purchase a Blue Cross travel insurance plan, you are covered anywhere you travel in the world for the duration of your trip.*
* Some conditions apply.

We use trip destination information for statistical purposes only, so this doesn’t affect the validity of a policy. If you are visiting more than one country on your trip, you can indicate your main destination or select “Other”.

Absolutely, unless it is impossible for you to do so. Contact our emergency medical assistance team, which will help direct you to the appropriate clinic or hospital to avoid delays and potential problems. Failure to contact us before you receive treatment could result in the denial of your claim.
Our assistance team is available 24/7 and will direct you to the best available services. Don’t forget to take your assistance card with you (detachable on the back of your policy) and to add the emergency numbers as contacts on your mobile phone.

You must contact Blue Cross Travel Assistance by calling 1-800-361-6068 (Canada & USA) or call collect 514-286-8411 (elsewhere in the world) or by secure email at operations.canassistance@qc.bluecross.ca.
If a medical emergency prevents you from contacting us, or if you don’t have access to a phone, have someone contact us on your behalf.

We offer top-up insurance, but you must verify with your other insurer that they permit top-up coverage from another insurer. Top-up coverage may only be purchased by contacting us.

Our travel insurance is designed to cover unexpected emergency medical care only, so someone awaiting a surgery or treatment cannot have the related condition covered by a travel plan.
If you must receive treatment abroad, the treatment will be covered by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ) only if it is pre-authorized. If not, you are responsible for the medical and transportation fees.
We do not provide coverage for planned medical treatment abroad. If you are taking a trip to receive medical care abroad, we are unable to provide you with an insurance policy for your trip.
To better understand why this type of coverage is not available, read the following article:
Why doesn’t our public plan pay for medical services abroad?

Yes, you can contact us toll free or call us collect:

• Canada or United States: 1-800-361-6068
• Mexico: 800-062-3174 (toll free)
• Dominican Republic: 1-800-203-9666 (toll free)
• Elsewhere in the world Toll free: 1-800-7328-7473
• Collect: 514-286-8411