My husband’s Aunt has Parkinson’s. Before that she had breast cancer. Before that she worked full time as a teacher while raising 3 rambunctious boys, a daughter and a dog. Much like my mother-in-law, she doesn’t mince her words or opt for a more crowd-pleasing or ‘PC’ answer. After all the aforementioned, would you? This all goes to say that she is one amazing woman who has always shown an immense amount of strength in many trying conditions.
One such display of resilience is her homemade greeting cards. Despite the challenges of Parkinson’s, she creates the most detail oriented and beautiful greeting cards. Birthdays, Christmas, birth announcements and more, the family knows that a lovingly crafted, perfectly executed card will arrive. With the precision of a surgeon, she places paper over paper, cuts folds and designs images for thoughtful, picture perfect pieces.
Every few months, she heads across the border to Hobby Lobby for supplies. It’s a fun day trip for her and her husband and often concludes with a trip to The Cheesecake Factory. How can it not? Being in their early 70’s, the couple doesn’t travel without travel insurance- even for a day across the border. Unfortunately, said husband also has a heart condition that he takes medication to manage. If the medication changes, this constitutes as a change in treatment and can impact his travel insurance coverage as a result. This means no day trip…which means no States…which means no Hobby Lobby…which means no Cheesecake Factory!!!! How can my Aunt-in-law make cards without travel insurance? This clause is part of a ‘preexisting condition exclusion’ segment that is seen in many travel insurance policies.
Allianz Global Assistance has a pretty plain language explanation of what pre-existing conditions actually are on their website which you can read here. Essentially, ‘pre-existing’ refers to medical conditions that exist before the start date of an insurance policy. In fact, depending on a number of factors, the pre-existing condition exclusion can also mean that any previous medical conditions must be stable for a specified period of time before one’s policy start date (for example, 90 or 180 days).
According to my mother-in-law, this pre-existing condition exclusion is a one of the biggest travel insurance issues for older people- especially those with chronic health issues. Before we all head down to Florida for the winter, on a cruise or to any destination that isn’t within Ontario, we ensure that our parents have read through their travel insurance policies and made sure that they know exactly what is and isn’t covered. We also remind them to check with their doctor and speak with their travel insurance provider or a licensed agent if there is anything that isn’t clear in terms of their policy language as it relates to their medical history.
In case you were wondering, my husband’s Aunt has found a way to never miss a scheduled trip to Hobby Lobby; Her gorgeous greeting cards are always made. Should her husband have a change of meds and lose the validity of his travel insurance, she just calls her sister (my mother-in-law) and the trip becomes a ‘girls day out.’ I don’t know about you but I love a day on the road with my sis, gossiping…I mean chatting…shopping and eating cheesecake. Everyone wins!
Except for my Uncle-in-law…who spends another day Cheesecake Factory-less.
With a presence in 44 countries, Allianz Global Assistance has been helping Canadians safely explore the world for over 30 years. Their goal is to make your travel insurance experience simple from end to end, so you can focus on enjoying your next adventure.
Check out their featured travel insurance plans designed for Canadian residents and Visitors to Canada, or browse their site to learn more about travel insurance and other available plan options provided by Allianz Global Assistance.
Disclaimer: I am a brand ambassador for Allianz Global Assistance (Canada) and receive financial compensation.