Retirement - Health and Travel Insurance

While hubby was working we were covered through his employer for the majority of health and travel insurance.  When he retired we lost those benefits.

As we live in Ontario we are covered for a lot of things under OHIP.  It does not cover prescriptions, dental care, glasses, eye exams.  As hubby is over 65 he does get a lot of his prescriptions paid for but pay's a $100 fee per year and a reduced dispensing fee.

I am only 61 and am on a lot of meds, so have to pay out of pocket for all my things.  We looked into private health insurance and for what we were going to pay, it truly wasn't worth it.  We can claim back our out of pocket medical expenses, when we do our taxes, but we'll only get a fraction back of what we paid out.  

I do know the solution to this problem; get off the medications, but it's not possible.

They have brought out a plan for reduced fees on the dental and we should be below the income threshold next year, as that is also all to pay for.  Mind you I had to go in for a check up on my tooth and when I said I had no insurance they reduced the bill from $250 to around $150!!!

If you have good medical benefits, hold onto them, as they are worth their weight in gold!!

Travel insurance is also an issue now as well.  We are going away for 10 days to the States, and it is a MUST that you have good insurance especially when you're older.  We are CAA members so get four days of insurance free.  Despite being on twice the number of medications that hubby is on, I got insurance no problem at $55 for the ten days.  Hubby's cost $460 for the 10 days, as he has had a mini stroke and has been on a drug this past year that insurance companies hate????

We need to research more into travel insurance.  After June of 2026, hubby's travel insurance will be $460 for the year once he has past the year since he was last prescribed the "no-no" drug!!!  The "no-no," drug by the way is PREDNISONE.

Again if you have travel insurance through your work, hold onto that as well if you have the option.  

We didn't have the option to hold onto either.  As I told hubby we need to change our mind set from now on and include travel insurance costs as part of our vacation expenses.

Do you have good benefit plans?  Do you have any tips or tricks regarding travel insurance here in Canada?