At this time I deal with one Insurance Company that allows my clients to fill out a detailed medical questionnaire and submit it for underwriting to have their pre-existing approved before one buys a policy. The majority of other Insurance Companies do not offer this option including the other six companies I deal with. While I have been critical of Insurance Companies with post claim underwriting for Canadians traveling abroad. For super visa and visa applicants this is far more complicated for Insurance Companies and Insurance Brokers. For Canadians it is easy for the insurance company to check one's medical records to determine if there was a misrepresentation or fraud on the application. Despite the horror stories in the media on claims being denied one can take their application to their doctor and have them fill it out, if there was an error the doctors liability insurance would be there to pick up the tab.
For visitors and super visa applicants their medical records are in their country of origin. Many of these countries do not even offer insurance due to high crime rates such as murder, fraud, political instability and corruption etc... So while for some super visa and visa applicants this can be done with ease such as India, Western European countries, and other countries that are more developed. For others it posses challenges for the insured to provide medical information at time of claim and for the Insurance Companies to verify medical information of the insured. There is also the additional cost to have a policy underwritten at time of application that many visa and super visa applicants don't want to pay for, this cost is built into the price of the policy.
Canada is a country of law abiding citizens, if we have a dispute we have remedies such filling a complaint with an ombudsman, provincial regulators and hiring a lawyer to litigate. Many of the countries do not share our civil way of dealing with disputes. There is a reason why Citizenship and Immigration Canada requires citizens of certain counties to apply for visa in the first place.
In some cases it is difficult or impossible to verify medical information. Canadian Insurance companies operate in good faith despite the criticism of the medial. In Canada there is constant media coverage on insurers that deny claims, we value our free press. But how is an Insurance Company supposed to verify information from countries that have a track record of forging documents, have anti western sentiments or have a culture of violence and contract killings. These are the reasons why their citizens try to come to Canada in the first place.
Now imagine an insurance company having to send an adjuster or someone to verify medical records to these unsafe counties. If the country has a history of producing forged documents it would be useless since medical records would also be forged. If it is a country that is unstable with an advisory warning by the Government of Canada the cost of sending someone there would not be economical and safety of that individual could not be guaranteed. If it is a country that has a track record of violence and contract killings the chances are the person the insurance company would send would be coming back in a coffin.
It is for the reasons above that many insurance companies do not underwrite policies at time of application for visitors to Canada and super visa applicants. The Government of Canada has been requesting proof of medical insurance for visa applicants and it is mandatory for super visa applicants. The purpose is so the Canadian taxpayer is not paying for their medical expenses during their visit to Canada. However if the Insurance Company denied their claim the hospital or medical facility would still be stuck with unpaid medical expenses at the taxpayers expense. This defeats the purpose of requiring medical insurance in the first place.
Maybe the solution is to provide some guidance to Insurance Companies to identify counties that medical information can be verified from and offer underwriting to these applicants and for countries that are problematic simply charge higher premiums for the additional risk the Insurance Company is insuring.
I would love to hear some feed back on this topic.
For visitors and super visa applicants their medical records are in their country of origin. Many of these countries do not even offer insurance due to high crime rates such as murder, fraud, political instability and corruption etc... So while for some super visa and visa applicants this can be done with ease such as India, Western European countries, and other countries that are more developed. For others it posses challenges for the insured to provide medical information at time of claim and for the Insurance Companies to verify medical information of the insured. There is also the additional cost to have a policy underwritten at time of application that many visa and super visa applicants don't want to pay for, this cost is built into the price of the policy.
Canada is a country of law abiding citizens, if we have a dispute we have remedies such filling a complaint with an ombudsman, provincial regulators and hiring a lawyer to litigate. Many of the countries do not share our civil way of dealing with disputes. There is a reason why Citizenship and Immigration Canada requires citizens of certain counties to apply for visa in the first place.
In some cases it is difficult or impossible to verify medical information. Canadian Insurance companies operate in good faith despite the criticism of the medial. In Canada there is constant media coverage on insurers that deny claims, we value our free press. But how is an Insurance Company supposed to verify information from countries that have a track record of forging documents, have anti western sentiments or have a culture of violence and contract killings. These are the reasons why their citizens try to come to Canada in the first place.
Now imagine an insurance company having to send an adjuster or someone to verify medical records to these unsafe counties. If the country has a history of producing forged documents it would be useless since medical records would also be forged. If it is a country that is unstable with an advisory warning by the Government of Canada the cost of sending someone there would not be economical and safety of that individual could not be guaranteed. If it is a country that has a track record of violence and contract killings the chances are the person the insurance company would send would be coming back in a coffin.
It is for the reasons above that many insurance companies do not underwrite policies at time of application for visitors to Canada and super visa applicants. The Government of Canada has been requesting proof of medical insurance for visa applicants and it is mandatory for super visa applicants. The purpose is so the Canadian taxpayer is not paying for their medical expenses during their visit to Canada. However if the Insurance Company denied their claim the hospital or medical facility would still be stuck with unpaid medical expenses at the taxpayers expense. This defeats the purpose of requiring medical insurance in the first place.
Maybe the solution is to provide some guidance to Insurance Companies to identify counties that medical information can be verified from and offer underwriting to these applicants and for countries that are problematic simply charge higher premiums for the additional risk the Insurance Company is insuring.
I would love to hear some feed back on this topic.
