Travel

Beware of Medical Insurance Flip-Flops on COVID Coverage

  • Last Updated:
  • Jun 23rd, 2020 12:58 am
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Jun 21, 2020
3 posts
5 upvotes

Beware of Medical Insurance Flip-Flops on COVID Coverage

I have medical travel insurance through my AmEx Platinum card. I informed them that I would be required to travel to the US for business purposes and inquired if there were any COVID-19 related medical coverage exclusions. They told me that I would be fully covered even for COVID provided the trip was classified as "Essential Travel" and they confirmed that business travel was classified as Essential. Since I have an imminent upcoming trip, I again asked the same question with the request that he confirm his answer with his manager and was given the same answer that I would be fully covered even for COVID illnesses. I then asked if they could provide a statement in writing to that effect and his manager immediately reversed his decision and said that their insurance would not cover any COVID related medical even for Essential travel.

As a warning, if you are planning to travel make sure you get a statement "in writing" from your insurance provider stating that they will cover you for COVID.
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Oct 13, 2007
4920 posts
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Edmonton
steve6161 wrote: I have medical travel insurance through my AmEx Platinum card. I informed them that I would be required to travel to the US for business purposes and inquired if there were any COVID-19 related medical coverage exclusions. They told me that I would be fully covered even for COVID provided the trip was classified as "Essential Travel" and they confirmed that business travel was classified as Essential. Since I have an imminent upcoming trip, I again asked the same question with the request that he confirm his answer with his manager and was given the same answer that I would be fully covered even for COVID illnesses. I then asked if they could provide a statement in writing to that effect and his manager immediately reversed his decision and said that their insurance would not cover any COVID related medical even for Essential travel.

As a warning, if you are planning to travel make sure you get a statement "in writing" from your insurance provider stating that they will cover you for COVID.
No insurance company is going to give you anything in writing. The policy wording is a contract and your coverage is determined by what's in that policy. Should they change anything in the wording of the policy or add wording specific to COVID, you and everyone else would receive an official policy amendment.
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May 16, 2017
2809 posts
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starchoice wrote: No insurance company is going to give you anything in writing. The policy wording is a contract and your coverage is determined by what's in that policy. Should they change anything in the wording of the policy or add wording specific to COVID, you and everyone else would receive an official policy amendment.
What insurance companies are doing varies greatly. Some are providing policy interpretation guidance, some are simply pointing to their policy as written (which is generally unhelpful). Some are providing guidance that they are interpreting COVID-19 travel advisories as "known events" for Medical Emergency Travel Insurance and therefore excluded as it no longer qualifies as an "unforeseen" circumstance. Other insurers, like my work-provided travel medical insurance provider, state "If you’re Out-Of-Country and are experiencing a medical emergency such as having contracted COVID-19, your usual OOC and Travel Assistance coverage will apply. We will cover medical treatments related to the initial medical emergency. Your claim won’t be denied just because it’s related to COVID-19".

The ones that don't provide published guidance either way are the problem - you won't know until you try to make a claim. If they haven't published general guidance pro-actively they likely aren't going to provide anything in writing based upon an individual requesting it.

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