Hi,
I have disability benefits through CanadaLife. I am working physically in Canada but fell ill when travelling abroad.
Situation is emerging such that getting treatment abroad will be a better option. But for disability paychecks etc. I need Canada Life.
Will Canada Life accept documentation etc. from foreign doctors directly ?
PS: My province is back logged and hence do not Canadian family doctor to liason.
Thanks.
You’ll have to look at the wording of your LTD policy to find this out. Every LTD policy/contract has its own clauses.
I really doubt any Canadian LTD policy will accept a foreign doctors documentation, but again it’s depends on your contract. Also, most LTD policies limit how long you can be out of country or province and still get LTD payments. I’ve seen them range from 7 days to 4 months, I’ve also seen one that said leaving their province would immediately terminate their LTD payments unless prior request and approval was granted.
As the other commented noted, it will first depend on what your LTD policy says. But if it doesn’t specify Canada-based doctors (which most LTD policies do not say this), then techically, yes, you can use out of country doctors. But, the clinical records and reports need to be in english or you will have to pay to get official certified translations if you want the insurance company to use them. If the doctor you are seeing has appropriate credentials, and they are following a standard of care accepted by the Canadian Medical community and Insurers, then the insurer may accept the information. There are no guarantees and it is certinaly not an ideal situation. This is something I recommend you address directly with your LTD insurer before you get to far into it.
David Brannen
Disability Lawyer with Resolute Legal
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