Baffled about travel insurance

Theresa, I have not used Medjet or insuremytrip.com. What I can tell you is that my wife and I, early and mid-fifties, obtained a policy from Travel Guard with generous limits on medical, trip cancellation, evacuation, repatriation, etc, for $260 total for both of us, two week trip-it's one policy and it's comprehensive, for us we are comfortable with that. You're a bit older than us, and your trip is just three weeks away, and those factors may add cost, however, I'd encourage you to find-quickly-a single policy with the basics covered; buy it and tuck it away. I think we have a tendency to adopt one way and one brand and forget that there are a lot of ways to get it done. It's something to handle for sure, but pick one and pull the trigger so you can get back to looking forward to a great trip ;-))
Edit: I see now that it is a three week trip, not that Theresa is leaving in three weeks. This should help with cost of policy.

Theresa,
Yes, the whole insurance thing is confusing, and the prices vary enormously. Usually, the older you are, the more you pay. However, even taking that into account, the range is huge. If you have a Medicare supplement policy, the first thing to do is check whether it covers international travel and what are its provisions. If you need to, you can then go squaremouth.com for a quite comprehensive comparison of companies and policies. We (in our 70's) were able to get a policy that has multiple provisions and includes that all-important medical evac, for around $50 each. I called and talked to a very helpful rep. Here's an example of why you need it. An under- 65 friend went to Paris with husband and child. She tripped on a curb, and sustained a compound fracture of her leg. After surgery and a hospital stay, she needed to fly home in business class, so that her leg could be kept elevated. Her evac insurance paid for the tickets for all three of them to go business class.

Well both of your answers make sense, and I do want medical in addition to evac (I'm flying on miles and don't have many non-refundable reservations, so cancellation isn't the main issue). So I'm going to focus on the medical (with evac) or comprehensive plans. Unfortunately I just learned that Travelguard isn't available in Washington, so other strong recommendations are appreciated. BTW, my trip is in October for 3 weeks.

I can't say anything about evacuation insurance as we have that through my husband's job, but for medical insurance, I was able to upgrade my Medicare supplemental policy to one which covers overseas medical expenses. It was only $15 a month more. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you can add a supplemental policy at any time.

My understanding on Medicare supplemental is that you have an enrollment period annually during your birthday month -- and that you can trade DOWN in coverage but not UP. Best to check with your insurer, or with an insurance agent who handles supplemental.

Theresa, it is very confusing. I would suggest anyone do extra research before assuming that Medicare supplemental coverage will adequately cover all of your potential medical costs in Europe. I don't know the answer, but I think it's more complicated than just reading somewhere that a supplemental Medicare "covers you" in Europe.

The starting point for those of us privileged folks covered by Medicare is knowing that Parts A & B do not apply outside the United States and not all Supplemental (Medical) policies apply to foreign travel. See: http://www.medicare.gov/supplement-other-insurance/compare-medigap/compare-medigap.html

I have United Healthcare, the one endorsed by AARP, and in my state I was able to trade up outside my birthday month. The United representative said I could change at any time, which probably has to do with my age and lack of claims. My coverage is for emergency medical including doctor visits, not just hospital admission. Each State has different regulations, so you need to check with the companies in your state to see if this is at all a possibility. Since I have evacuation insurance, this was my solution.

I have a different take on evacuation insurance than most of those above. The evacuation insurance that's included with the overall plan does not allow you to decide whether you should be evacuated or to where you'll be evacuated. A clerk in an insurance company will determine whether you can be treated where you are. If that clerk decides you need to be transported, they will transport you to the closest place where they decide you can be treated. There's no guarantee it will get you home, and there's no guarantee you'll be treated in a particularly good facility.

I saw someone have to get surgery at a very primitive hospital in Egypt because her medical evacuation insurance decided that that the hospital was qualified to do the surgery. And a medical emergency is not the best time to be trying to deal with either bureaucratic barriers or language barriers.

After that experience, I have carried Medjet Assist insurance. It allows you, or your guardian, to determine whether you'll be evacuated… provided your doctor approves and the doctor at the other end has agreed that you can safely be transported. And the coverage kicks in any time you're more than a few hundred miles from home. No one ever expects to get really sick, or injured, or be involved in a serious accident, but it happens. The good quality evacuation insurance provides peace of mind for relatively little money.

Sherry may have the answer to your question about why Medjet Assist is more expensive than a policy that sounds more comprehensive. Spend some time researching the details of the evacuation policies on those cheaper policies.

Theresa-- First thing you need to do is check with your Medicare supplement carrier and find out exactly what is covered overseas.

Then, if you feel comfortable that you need no additional medical insurance, I recommend you check into DAN (Divers alert network) membership. For $55/year family (I think it's $35 individual) you get $100,000 in evacuation insurance anytime you are 50 miles or more away from home. You don't need to be a diver to use it. There are other benefits too. I have never needed to use it but the friend who recommended it had to be evac'd from Switzerland with a broken leg and was very happy with their service.

We also travel using free tickets & minimal deposits, and our Medicare supplement covers us overseas. So this is the only insurance we buy. We keep it in force at all times so never have to think about it.

I think you are perhaps over thinking things a bit.

My mother traveled to Africa at age 67 without insurance. We have visited 27 countries without travel insurance.

I dislocated my shoulder once. Hurt like heck. But I could have flown in a coach seat on a plane within 48 hours if I had to. I broke a side mirror on a rental car once. Cost $400. The extra insurance that would have covered the damage would have cost $600. Got a chip in the windshield once in Australia. Cost $250. The insurance that would have covered the damage would have cost $400.

Over the course of the last 20+ years we have paid roughly a half-million $ on various forms of insurance for our family and used probably less than 5% of that amount.

If it buys you piece of mind, I suppose it's worth it. But you almost certainly don't "need" it. (And I'll concede that almost no one here will agree with me as this is an old topic in which virtually everyone seems happy to fork over their "nominal" fee for "piece of mind" and contribute to the highly lucrative insurance industry)