We have excellent news for MEDOC subscribers!
We’ve got great news to share. Since the government travel advisory related to COVID-19 was imposed in mid-March, federal retirees who enjoy travelling have been faced with unprecedented challenges. Johnson Insurance, our exclusive MEDOC travel insurance provider, has been there for us every step of the way. I know that some of our members have not been completely satisfied with their coverage or their claims experience, while others are unhappy with the amount of time it has taken to settle claims and to secure new policy terms. That is why I am taking this extraordinary step to explain what has been going on behind the scenes these last several months.
A number of members have complained that MEDOC required their policy holders to return to Canada within 10 days of the travel advisory in keeping with the terms of their policies while Medipac insurance, offered through the Canadian Snowbird Association, did not. The simple fact is that the Snowbird’s policy does not contain this wording, they do not cover trip cancellation and trip interruption insurance like MEDOC does and MEDOC is much cheaper on average with better coverage.
Johnson Insurance shared an independent market analysis with us, conducted specifically for Federal Retirees by a leading, global advisory company. The detailed comparisons between MEDOC and other competing marketing programs were reviewed, both in terms of the depth of benefits offered as well as the rates charged per program. When reviewing side-by-side comparisons of MEDOC and Medipac, we can report with confidence that MEDOC is a superior offer for Federal Retirees members. Based on overall weighted averages of age and duration of travel, MEDOC is 48 per cent less expensive than Medipac, while also including trip cancellation and trip interruption coverage.
To highlight the importance of these benefits to Federal Retirees, you should know that MEDOC has paid out more than $15.6 million to more than 8,800 of our members in trip cancellation and interruption claims alone so far this year all the while protecting our members’ health and safety while travelling.
The Association’s director of communications, marketing and recruitment, Andrew McGillivary, and I have been meeting on a weekly basis with members of Johnson Insurance’s senior executive team to re-build the industry-leading travel insurance program that you have come to expect from your membership in Federal Retirees and from our more than 25-year-plus partnership with Johnson Insurance. We pressed them hard on this and they have delivered.
For the new policy year beginning Jan. 1, 2021, we have been successful in negotiating very moderate policy increases of 7.5 per cent across the board while maintaining emergency travel insurance coverage, including COVID-19 related incidents, up to MEDOC’s industry-leading $10 million maximum and all of this despite the federal government’s current travel advisory. Trip-cancellation and trip-interruption insurance will continue to be included for all but COVID-19 related events.
And I am also very happy to announce, on behalf of the board of directors, that your Association membership fees will remain exactly the same in 2021.
So, a word to the wise: when you receive your MEDOC travel insurance policy renewal package next month, don’t entrust your health and safety while travelling to anyone but MEDOC, offered exclusively through your membership with Federal Retirees. Stay safe.
Simon Coakeley
CEO, Federal Retirees
(Federal Retirees member and MEDOC policy holder since 2006)