Travel insurers confirm individual health insurance coverage for commercial truckers

TORONTO, March 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada's life and health insurers are confirming that commercial truckers who hold travel health insurance policies on an individual basis will not lose coverage when entering the United States.

Measures announced today will allow insurers to take steps so that routine exclusion clauses tied to a Government of Canada "Avoid non-essential travel" advisory will not apply to those employed as commercial truckers.

Insurers have been working to take steps to confirm continued coverage for truckers who contribute to the cross-border supply chain whose coverage may have been affected by the federal restriction on non-essential travel to the US. Last week, life and health insurers clarified that out-of-country medical coverage would continue uninterrupted for commercial truckers covered by workplace, or group insurance policies.

The situation has been less clear for truckers holding individual insurance as the insurers generally do not classify individual travel health policies by employment category.

As a solution, insurers will be asking those with individual coverage to identify themselves as a cross-border commercial trucker at time of claim. Those purchasing new policies will similarly be asked to identify their trade at time of purchase.

These changes will apply to all individual out-of-country travel insurance policies containing the specific exclusion for "Avoid non-essential travel" federal travel advisories. Those holding policies with a pandemic exclusion should contact their insurance provider for additional details.

About the CLHIA

The CLHIA is a voluntary association whose member companies account for 99 per cent of Canada's life and health insurance business. The industry provides a wide range of financial security products such as life insurance, annuities (including RRSPs, RRIFs and pensions) and supplementary health insurance to almost 29 million Canadians. It also holds over $850 billion in assets in Canada and employs more than 156,000 Canadians.

For more information:

Kevin Dorse
Assistant Vice President, Strategic Communications and Public Affairs
(613) 691-6001 / kdorse@clhia.ca