Health, Life, and Travel Insurance

Health and life insurance

Canadian citizens or permanent residents have provincial health insurance, funded by taxes, that covers health care services provided in a hospital or by a physician. However, this insurance does not usually pay for medications or supplemental health services, which can be costly for people with chronic health conditions.

Additional coverage for drugs and other health benefits is typically provided by the parents’ health insurance (if any) until the child is 18 years old. Insurance coverage may vary after 18 years, depending on your particular plan. Some insurance plans will cover a child into her 20s if she continues to be a full-time student. If she is not a full-time student, most insurance plans will not cover a child older than 18. Because epilepsy is considered a pre-existing health condition, obtaining insurance may be difficult and may only be possible at a higher premium.

If a person with epilepsy gets a job that offers benefits, these benefits may include partial coverage for drugs and other health services. Many employers offer group health, disability, and life insurance plans. Group plans usually do not inquire about pre-existing health conditions or require a medical examination.

In Ontario, if a teen is turning 18 years of age, has a significant disability associated with her epilepsy (such as a cognitive impairment), and cannot hold a job because of her epilepsy (for example, she has poorly controlled seizures), she can apply for Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) funding. This means she will have Ontario Drug Benefit coverage for her drugs, as well as a monthly stipend to cover other costs. For more information, please see the "Financial Support" page in this section.

Travel insurance

It is usually possible to find travel insurance for a person with a pre-existing health condition such as epilepsy. However, the insurance company may require that the condition has been stable (that is, seizures are well controlled and have not changed) for a certain period of time before the policy comes into effect. Some insurance companies may also require information from the person's doctor stating that the doctor approves of her travelling. Discuss this with your insurance company well before the travel date.

Finding insurance

Here are some tips for finding special funding programs or insurance:

• Ask your epilepsy care team and your local epilepsy association for advice on this issue in general and on specific insurance companies and plans. For example, if you might meet the criteria for ODSP funding, as discussed above, then ensure that your neurologist or family physician completes the forms for ODSP within the three-month period before you turn 18 years old.
• For parents: As early as possible, before your child is 18 years old and while she is still under your coverage, see if you can extend her coverage for her adult years or fix it at a good premium rate. Speak to your present insurance agent.
• Use an insurance broker to help find out what all your options are, before and after finding coverage. A broker can help you to shop around to get the lowest price and the maximum coverage. Different insurance companies charge different premiums and offer different coverage plans. Where one company may refuse to insure a person with epilepsy, another one might. Even after finding insurance coverage, keep looking at other options that offer the best rates and plans.
• If a person with epilepsy has children or other dependents of her own, she may wish to buy life insurance. She may be able to join a group or organization with collective life insurance, which applies to a group of more than 10 people. Such group life insurance plans may be offered by an employer, an educational institution, or an epilepsy association. They usually do not require a medical examination.
• If you cannot get full coverage, you can try for limited coverage. Such plans are more expensive, do not require a medical examination, and do not cover for accidents arising from epilepsy.
• Never give false information to an insurance company under any circumstances. Giving false information usually means that the policy is automatically invalid.