Health Ins Coverage in IT, GE, PO & IL

You should buy the medical evacuation insurance all the time. This is usually offered by the airline at checkout when you book your flight.

loving the abbreviations. I get Italy. The others are a mystery.

Guess I'm not in the in crowd.

No evacuation is not covered.

But Europe is not one place. Every country is different.

You'll need to read the fine print.

I would never expect free medical treatment anywhere. I have been charged in Luxembourg, France and Slovenia. My mother was charged in Greece.

The cost of medical treatment in Europe is often less than in the US, but I would never travel without medical insurance. You could be hit by a taxi and need lengthy tratment and rehab.

In addition to insurance that covers me overseas. I now have an evacuation policy, because that's potentially an expense of over $100,000 (US).

Medical evacuation for sure. As stated previously, coverage is different in every country. While a basic visit might be covered, treatment is not for a foreigner.

First, check your own health insurance and see if they cover you outside the U.S. If not, or if the coverage is limited, you need to decide if you want to take the risk of not having it.

Personally, I have both Medical evacuation and travel insurance that has health coverage.

Let me guess these new abbreviations.....IT is Italy? GE is Germany? PO is Poland, and IL is Illinois.
Or Ireland?

Or IT has something to do with tech, GE is Global Entry, PO is Post Office and IL is Illinois.

Also love the puzzle of these abbreviations. IL remains without a guess for me.

First check and see what your current health insurance will cover. I would aim for a good travel insurance policy if needed.

HP U Hv A G TR

Your health insurance here in the US probably covers nothing overseas, and the countries' national health care probably covers only the barest emergency care. Get travel insurance (I use World Nomads but there are many companies) and it will cover costs to stabilize you and repatriate you.

Yes, you need travel health insurance. If you want to save some, some offer a deductable.

I always find it amazing when people make huge statements like "your health insurance here in the states probably covers nothing." How on earth would they know what your health insurance covers? Each policy is unique. Take the time to research your current coverage. If you need more than look at options using a site like insuremytrip.com and only pay for the coverages that you think you will need.

Each policy is unique. Take the time to research your current coverage.

Right, mine covers foreign claims as out-of-network and there's a payment schedule for that. Some insurance has no out-of-network coverage, except for in an emergency.

European countries have socialized medicine

Most European countries do not have a national health care system like the UK and France have. Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria do not and that's just from memory.

We have bought and will continue to buy medical insurance including evacuation from TravelGuard. They paid two two huge claims($20,000 each ) of ours quickly. In 2020 I had a claim paid by them for around $ 2000.
in Egypt to fix poor wound care I had in Rome ten days earlier.
A friend had to be evacuated from Spain to western US in a medical jet several years ago. The cost to him was $70,000 out of pocket as he didn’t have the travel medical insurance.

I think it's important for people to know that "coverage" doesn't necessarily mean what we are used to in the US. In foreign countries, a US-based insurance company may reimburse you for medical costs which you incur and pay while traveling. But it doesnt necessarily work seamlessly and automatically like it does here when you show them an ID card from your insurer. Foreign docs hospitals won't necessarily have a working process or relationship for submitting bills to a foreign (US) insurer, or be expected to know the documentation (like standard billing codes). So you have to make sure you maintain documentation that your insurer will ask you to provide.

IT, GE, PO & IL

Good to see I am not the only one left puzzled .

Guess it is time to buy a case of Cracker Jacks and hope one of the boxes has a decoder ring in it.

I think it's important for people to know that "coverage" doesn't necessarily mean what we are used to in the US. In foreign countries

This paragraph can be interpreted different ways, as if there is some difference in procedure between regular and trip medical insurance.

I believe whether it's one's regular health insurance or trip medical insurance, in either case the procedure is the same: direct payment on-the-spot via personal funds, then reimbursement later on.

Thanks for all the informative replies. Sounds like it's much better to be safe than very sorry!

My apologies on the 2 letter country codes for Italy, Germany, Poland & Israel, lol. Blame it on the Navy! My acronyms drive my wife crazy! When we first started dating I'd set up a trip schedule and use "RON" for the accomodations which everyone knows means "Remain (or rest) Over Night! 🤣

Tom, thanks for clarifying that. I brought it up because I have had conversations with people who assumed that all they needed to do is show their (supplemental) insurance card or their travel insurance info, and it would be handled same as home. Or have to be convinced why travel med insurance is necessary.