J. Ross Quigley CEO Medipac International Inc. Insurance This year has been a difficult insurance season. The U.S. hospitals are becoming much more difficult to deal with from a pricing perspective and we believe that it will cost Medipac from $2-3 million in extra claims costs. We are not alone, as other insurers will have the same issues, of course. Our clients, meaning you, have had a very healthy year and major claims have become rarer as a result. Still, there are lots of multi-hundred-thousand-dollar claims, but fewer than in past years, thankfully. We are trying our best to keep our rates down and I believe that we will succeed for next year. Many new clients do not really understand that our published rates very rarely apply and that the paid premiums can be, and are, substantially lower. Our discounts from the ‘book’ rates include Claim-Free discounts, Loyalty discounts, Early Bird discounts and some provincial discounts in certain provinces. When these are all applied to the rate calculation, prices can be more than 25% less than those we publish. Choosing a higher deductible can also save as much as another 25%. Fill out a Medipac application form and see for yourselves. As I mentioned before, post-Covid travel to the United States is back to normal and increasing. For instance, Florida’s official figures, just released, show that Canadians made 3.82 million visits to that state in 2023. That’s a 46% hike over the previous year and represents 35.7% of all Florida’s out-of-country visitors. In a distant second place are the British, with 1.14 million trips. That is more than Brazilians, Colombians and other South American countries combined. Snowbird travel is increasing…and rapidly. Our events this year were the first opportunity that we had to see our members and clients, face to face, in more than four years. The thousands of happy snowbirds were a joy to behold. Everyone was happy… everyone! I am not aware of even one complaint about our insurance programs, currency exchange programs or other benefits. Oh, there were lots of comments, especially about Medipac, and they were all glowing reports regarding our claim and assistance services. This is probably a good place to say thank you to all of our dedicated assistance and claim staff. They work long, long hours, weekends, holidays and nights, and it is obviously a high-stress, 24-hour-a-day job. Their coolness under pressure and decision-making excellence are a wonder to behold. Congratulations on thousands of jobs well done! 12 | www.snowbirds.org
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzMzNzMx