Medical Insurance Coverage for Canadian Hockey Players and Coaches Overseas

When a hockey player or coach goes overseas for a game in another country, they need to seriously consider getting proper medical insurance before leaving on their trip. Athletes of any sport are faced with many dangers when they travel outside of their home country however; hockey players tend to be exposed to more than most because of the rough nature of the sport that they play.
Falling unexpectedly ill or having an accident may result in medical services that are not properly covered by existing insurance because of territorial limitations or high deductibles. Depending on where they are traveling to, a serious illness or injury may require them to be hospitalized or air evacuated to another country where the medical services are better. Air evacuation tends to be very pricey and may easily exceed $25,000. Even if the hockey player and coaches are making a lot of money in their field, improper insurance may result in a massive financial burden.
There are several different kinds of insurance that all coaches and especially hockey players should get before they decide to hit the road and travel outside of their country. They include medical, emergency dental, emergency evacuation, emergency reunion, and repatriation of remains and of course lost checked luggage. Medical should include inpatient and outpatient hospitalization, surgery, anesthesiology, physician's fee, dressings, diagnostic procedures, oxygen, prescription drugs and emergency local ambulance.
Emergency dental is one of those things that every hockey player should have no matter what seeing as many hockey players loose teeth in fights and on ice antics. It should include emergency dental treatment and emergency dental surgery if necessary to replace or restore teeth. Emergency evacuation is something that is also highly recommended for hockey players and coaches because it will help in the event of the host countries civil unrest or in the event of an accident. In the case of an accident, there may need to be emergency ground or air transportation to the nearest hospital.
Emergency reunion is in case of the event of an accident so that one of the injured person's relatives can be flown in to be with them while they are in the hospital. It usually includes one round trip economy ticket to wherever the injured person is receiving treatment.
Repatriation of remains is in case of the event that a hockey player or coach dies as a result of their injury or illness so that their body is flown back to their home country. Another great thing for all hockey players and coaches to get is the lost checked luggage insurance. This is an important one because all athletes need to have their equipment with them or at least have a way of replacing it if they don't have it. In the event of lost luggage, the insurance company will pay to have the luggage replaced or at least the equipment rented so that the game can still go on. Airlines have similar policies but many times it takes a day or two or the funds given are inadequate. When you are flying into a new country to play a game that night, you don't have time to wait for the airline to give you a little bit of money to replace your stuff.
So whether you are a coach or a player, it is always a good idea to be prepared and have proper insurance before leaving the country. You never know when it might save your life.