October has been a costly month for us! First the chimney repair at $1000 and then the $4100 furnace replacement. Yesterday I searched for our travel medical insurance and suffered sticker shock once again. Norma is now ** years of age and that triggers higher rates. The best price for our six months coverage came in at $3400. This was from my Visa Card carrier, Desjardins of Quebec. My Gold card gives us two weeks free coverage so I really had to buy only five and a half months insurance from them. The other quotes I got were $3600 from Johnson, which our retirees group has an arrangement with and another from the insurance agency that handles our car insurance for $5500! Thanks but no thanks! Our Canadian health insurance covers us while we travel but only up to what the same injury or illness would cost in Canada which is a fraction of costs in the USA. Maybe I should sign up for ObamaCare! BTW, their website is finally getting some professional attention and things are looking good for it being up and running properly by the end of November.
We like Desjardins Insurance as we have used them for years and they are the ones who handled our claim when Norma broke her hip in Tucson and we had to fly home on a chartered Lear jet!
Add all that together with the regular expenses for the month and my Visa card got hit with over ten grand! That is a tad higher than my income so we will be digging into the "Rainy Day Fund" to pay it off. It will be a good month for points on my card.
Speaking of rain, it has been raining non-stop here for over a week. I have to move the motorhome out of it's parking place so I can open the slide. The kitchen tap started leaking on the way home last year so we bought a new one but have not installed it. It is not a complicated job except it is to cramped in there for my large frame to get under the sink. I believe there is access from under the bathroom sink once the slide is out so I will try that before I call the plumber. Norma would like to wash and wax it before we leave but the weather does not look like it is going to cooperate.
Oh well, what can you do? I can't wait for some of that Texas sunshine. Don't disappoint me, Texas!
EDIT: One unique policy Johnson's has is one which for $644 per year for both of us covers us for a year. The catch is, we would have to return to Canada every 34 days. A friend in Yuma had this. She flew to Vancouver once a month, had lunch with her daughter in the airport and flew back to Yuma the same afternoon. She shopped for cheap flights so it so it was worth it to her. She had heart problems and could not get long term insurance (at least affordable insurance), I hate flying so this would not work for me. I do not fear flying, I just spent so much of my working life in airplanes and airports that I became sick of it.
amigos, One BIG advantage of being in mexico is the cheap--very cheap medical care. I have been here 23 years and have no insurance at all except for the $23/month govt. IMSS policy for serious long-term problems. None of my friends do either. No car insurance, because mechanics and health care is CHEAP. Relax and save your $$!
ReplyDeleteYes Frank, Rae is correct, we are staying in the USA this year.
DeleteAlso, No car insurance? Sorry, but you are crazy! We were in an accident near Cancun where a new taxi - van ran into us. We were the gringos in the equation and were blamed for the whole thing by all three levels of police that attended.. My Mexican insurance replaced the van. It was not my fault but in their eyes it was. If I had no insurance, I would probably still be in jail. What about the off chance you run over a person? I repeat, Are you crazy?
Well, loco maybe, but we were in 2 accidents, threatened to call my (non-existent) lawyer, and all charges were dropped by the police AND the other party, both times. Had to pay my own car repair but it was trivial.
DeleteWe do not get collision coverage on the Honda, only on the motorhome. However, the chance of running over a child on those narrow, congested streets would prevent me from driving even ten feet without insurance.
DeleteFrank, Croft is going to the U.S. this winter, so insurance is a must!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was shopping for a six-month policy last year, I also found a huge difference in prices (although my quotes were considerably lower than yours, sorry). One of the variables that accounted for the difference was the deductible. Based on the fact that I have never had a medical emergency I couldn't handle myself and therefore wasn't likely to actually use my coverage, I went with the cheapest plan, which had the highest deductible ($500). Also, make sure you're comparing apples to apples. The super expensive plans I looked at had higher coverage amounts and more perks. You really can't go by price and pick the cheapest.
Age is the big factor here! Humm... They never offered a deductible and I never asked.
DeleteThey are closed until Monday. I should call and clarify.
DeleteHi Croft:
ReplyDeleteHave you ever looked at Medipac? We have used it for the last few years. As my condition was deemed unstable as I reduced prednisone from 6mg. to 5mg. during the 90 days before we were to leave Canada I had to have a personal underwritten policy. I disclosed everything and they came back with a quote. I picked the $1000. deductible and it was $1800.00 for six months which I can live with. That is about $1000. more than I would pay if I was just on blood pressure medication and was in their best rate category and picked a $100 deductible. You can look at their site and do a quick quote on line. It is the one aligned with the Canadian Snowbird Assoc. Eric paid $900. with no medical issues and a $100 deductible. You can pick any deductible you wish to lower your cost. Just a thought!
I just did the quick quote on Medipac's page and the results are not much different than what we are paying. Remember, you are still a young chick ;) What does make a big difference however is the deductible. Desjardins did not mention deductible so I will call them back on Monday. Thanks
DeleteOuch - I think I would take my chances and avoid the insurance (medical not driving). But then I am a gambler ;-0
ReplyDeleteA lots of extra expenses with a house thats why we sold ours over 7 years ago.
ReplyDeleteBut the insurance you do need. Enjoy you winter.
I got an Emailed comment from Al:
ReplyDelete"I'm throwing out a comment about Medipac (which is underwritten by Manulife). There have been lots of negative comments about Manulife on RV.net, we had them last year and it took about 4 months after we got back last winter to get reimbursed for a doctors visit and meds in the US, they contract out their claims stuff to an outside company. Also, some of their medical questions are tricky: for example "have you had an operation in the last two years? If you have have had a colonoscopy where polyps were removed, it's an operation by their standards, not a test. No polyps removed - not an operation!! Our insurance broker walked us through this minefield so any claim wouldn't be rejected for lying on the questionnaire. I wouldn't use Medipac (Manulife) again for their bad reputation in spite of their lower prices and because of our experiences.
Since there is no anonymous responses allowed on the blog, I prefer not to sign up to respond on your blog."
That is a lot of money, not for just the insurance but everything. We would have to stay home if that happened to us. good luck with it all.
ReplyDeleteSlightly off topic but why Texas?
ReplyDeleteNot TX in particular, it is just on the way to the SE States. Mississippi, Missouri, Carolinas, maybe FL. Just searching for warm and sun. No reservations, no hard destination.
DeleteGo and try this company. http://www.travelguardian.ca/
ReplyDeleteFor two years I was with Medipac. I'm now over 70 the rates are up. Found this company, took out $2500
deductible and saved over $200 for 4month.