Manulife releases COVID-19 Travel Insurance

Manulife Financial Corp. is giving Canadians a chance to travel during the pandemic by offering COVID-19 related travel insurance for domestic and international trips.

While the policy is largely tied to medical coverage, with up to $200,000 in medical expenses, in a statement Manulife also states there will be some trip cancellation coverage.

Sivan Tumarkin, a Toronto insurance lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, discusses the positives and negatives to this coverage with CTV News. “Is the limit of $200,000 sufficient for more serious cases in places like the United States, where the medical expenses are astronomical?” asks Tumarkin.

While this policy is a step in the right direction to encourage more people to travel, Tumarkin questions why the full specifications have not been revealed. Will citizens with pre-existing conditions be covered? What if an extended hospital stay occurs while in the U.S? “I’m happy that these coverages are coming because people want to travel and we need insurance, but my thing would be just to release the policy, release the verbiage,” Tumarkin says.

To read CTV News full coverage on this new insurance policy, click here.