• What type of insurance does Blue Cross offer?
• Who can be insured through Blue Cross?
• Can I purchase an assistance service contract?
• Can I replace my RAMQ drug insurance with Blue Cross drug insurance?

First and foremost Blue Cross sells health insurance.
A health insurance policy reimburses you for costs associated with an illness or accident:
• that are not covered by the RAMQ, including health professionals other than doctors, and
• some costs covered by the RAMQ, but that may be obtained in a private clinic, such as diagnostic tests.

Blue Cross also sells health insurance to cover medical expenses outside of Québec.
This type of insurance is better known as travel insurance; it primarily protects your health but also includes indemnities for:
• the cost of repatriation to Canada
• reimbursing the amounts paid and not reimbursed by travel wholesalers or airline companies
• accidental death or dismemberment, and much more.

Blue Cross health and travel insurance plans are coupled with assistance services. Health assistance offers you health and legal advice, homecare assistance and exclusive benefits, while travel assistance takes care of you if something happens to you while travelling.

Any Canadian resident can subscribe to Blue Cross health insurance. You must have a valid health insurance card for your province of residence. Blue Cross exists across Canada however each company is independently operated. Québec residents must have a valid RAMQ card to purchase insurance from Québec Blue Cross; an Ontario resident must have a valid OHIP card to purchase insurance from Ontario Blue Cross, etc.

Health insurance is also available to Visitors to Canada or people who need to obtain their provincial health insurance card, including Canadian citizens returning to Canada after a long absence, individuals awaiting immigration status and individuals coming to study or work in Canada on a temporary basis. People who need this protection should obtain it from Blue Cross in the province in which they reside.

No. Assistance services are an added benefit of your insurance policy. If you do not have a Blue Cross insurance policy and are injured or become seriously ill while outside of Canada you may still turn to Blue Cross travel assistance services. We will immediately help you and repatriate you to Canada. However any fees incurred will be your responsibility. To give you an idea, the cost of repatriation for health reasons from Paris to Montréal is between $25 000 and $45 000, depending on the type of transportation.

No. The law requires that anyone who does not have group insurance registers with the government drug insurance plan. This is an obligation in the same way you must subscribe to the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec. Provincial drug insurance has a deductible and coinsurance, the part that you must pay. These charges may be reimbursed if you have Blue Cross health insurance.