Health Benefi ts
Gary Sawatzky | Chief Operating Offi cer, ARTA
ARTA’s Emergency Travel Plan
While ARTA offers a number of benefi ts to its members, one of the most
popular benefi ts enjoyed by ARTA’s members is, by far, access to one of the best
emergency travel plans available in Canada today.
If you participate in ARTA’s Emergency Travel plan
(that is, if you have either Total Health or Ultimate
Health Extended Health Care coverage), you are
automatically covered for every trip you take outside
of your province of residence, up to ninety-two days
per trip. In order to reset your trip duration, you
simply need to return to your province of residence
and can then leave on another trip up to ninety-two
days duration.
Keep in mind if you and your spouse are travelling
together, and each of you are covered by the
Emergency Travel plan, then each of you must prove
you returned to your province of residence; we
recommend buying a coff ee with a credit card if your
return is a short visit, or hang onto your boarding
pass if travelling by air.
Adding Fun to a Special Trip
If you are planning a trip longer than ninety-two
days, Supplementary Travel coverage is available
for single trips lasting up to 212 days. All you need
to do is let our plan administrator know you want
to extend your upcoming trip. Additional travel
days for single trips are available in fi fteen-day
increments. We always recommend purchasing
additional travel days before you leave on your trip
if you think you are going to need them; while it
is possible to add the days after you have already
left on your trip, there is a possibility you may
not be allowed to do so, especially if you have
already made an Emergency Travel claim on your
current trip. If you return home early, contact the
plan administrator as soon as you return, and the
premiums you have paid for any unused fi fteen-day
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Supplementary Travel coverage will be returned to
you. For example, if you purchased two fi fteen-day
increments, to extend a single trip from ninety-two
days to 122 days, and you return home on day
100, the premiums paid for the second fi fteen-day
increment will be returned. No premiums for the
fi rst fi fteen-day increment will be returned since a
portion of the days were used, and the premiums
cannot be prorated.
The ARTA Plan Difference
ARTA’s Emergency Travel plan is unique in that it
covers pre-existing conditions in most cases. Most
other travel insurance plans, including a number
of group plans, have exclusions in their contract
that state pre-existing conditions must be stable
and controlled for a period ranging from 90 to 365
days, depending on the condition. In addition, if
you visited your doctor prior to leaving on your
trip, anything you discussed with your doctor may
not be covered while you are on your trip if your
travel coverage includes pre-existing conditions and
stability clauses. For this reason, some people may
actually avoid visiting their doctor prior to leaving
on their trip, even if they know something may be
aff ecting their health. For the record, we would
never advise taking this approach.
ARTA’s travel plan is diff erent. Our plan covers
any medical emergency which is considered to be
‘sudden and unforeseen’ in nature. We encourage
people to visit their doctor prior to their trip
to ensure they are healthy enough to travel. If
your doctor advises you not to travel, it is best to
cancel your trip and not put your health — or your