About 44% of young Canadians go to the United States without travel insurance

Just under half (44%) of young Canadians polled in May 2011 say they rarely or never purchase travel insurance when traveling to the United States.
Furthermore, more than half (56%) of young travelers said they don’t take the time to understand what their travel insurance covers before they leave on their trip.
RBC Insurance commissioned the Ipsos Reid survey, which polled 3,931 Canadians between the ages of 18 and 34 on their use of travel insurance.
The survey also found that more than a third (34%) of young Canadians say they don’t need travel insurance if they’re only traveling to the United States because their provincial health plan will cover their medical costs.
“However, a two-day hospital stay for a broken leg in California can cost up to $8,000 per day and the average provincial health plan would pay only $200 daily, leaving the individual responsible for the $7,800 difference,” RBC says in a statement releasing the survey results. “In comparison, a 30 year-old-traveling for eight days in the U.S. could buy full emergency medical travel insurance for just $33.”
The survey also found that 84% of young travelers believe that they don’t need to buy travel insurance if they are traveling to another province within Canada.