Travel Insurance (medical)

Have you established with any degree of certainty what your current medical insurance here in the US would and would not cover while abroad? That would seem to be the first hurdle. Ultimately, the only rule that matters with insurance is this; If not having it could possibly leave you destitute (or nearly so), you get it. If not, you don't, because it's a sucker bet. It's like playing roulette in Vegas; you might get lucky (or unlucky as the case may be with medical issues) and win early, but the longer you play, the more certain it is that the house is going to win. How much do you suppose you have saved so far by not having the insurance during the 11 previous trips? I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't get it - just that you should approach the issue pragmatically, not emotionally.

One thing to keep in mind is even if your insurance does cover medical expenses overseas, it may not also cover evacuation charges.....which is what hits most folks the hardest financially. Break your hip, or get a severe leg break that requires special seating to get you back home, and that will run between $20,000-$50,000! While all travelers should have coverage one way or another, and accidents can happen to anyone/anytime, if one is the older age brackets it's even more essential to be covered as the risk of something happening gets higher....and of course the insurance company's rates go up as one get older.

You can get medical evacuation coverage from MedJet Assist for as little as $125 for a 2-week trip. If you're hospitalized overseas, they'll fly you back home to the hospital of your choice. They don't have a "medically necessary" clause as do most insurance policies - which won't evacuate you unless they determine that the care you need isn't available at your overseas location. Their only requirement is that you be a hospital inpatient when you request evacuation. http://medjetassist.com/

Now that I am in the "senior" age group, I buy emergency evacuation insurance for my trips. I've had a couple of minor accidents while traveling and know that I could easily have broken a bone or my head. At immigration at Heathrow I have been grilled closely about my travel plans the last couple of trips. I think it may be concern that something will happen to someone my age and I will become a burden on the the UK medical system.

In 2004, in Karlsruhe, I almost got hit by a streetcar. I guess he might have stopped, but I jumped out of the way, and he flew by me. It got me thinking. Randy, I'm sure you have read some of my posts and must know, if anything, I'm pragmatic. I have checked with my insurance provider. They provide out-of-country coverage, but only with Medicare Plus packages that include other things I don't need for over $100 a month extra (I go to Europe about once every 16 months, so it would cost way more than I want). I called and asked them if they had supplementary coverage, but they don't. I have been looking at TravMed, which provides a high deductible medical package, including evacuation, for $32 for 2 weeks, but I wondered how reliable they are.

I am fortunate that my company's insurance covers virtually everything, even though I am retired. But I also have membership in Divers Alert Network to cover some additional things that the medical insurance does not. You can view information about the program at www.diversalertnetwork.com
The cost is $35 a year for a single person, $55 for a family.

I always buy extra medical and evacution insurance. Cost is about 150-75 for two weeks , but priceless. I know my insurance won't cover everything, for instance my BC med will cover basis urgent care in States, but, only at the rates we would pay here for it, and in the States an aspirin is like a hundred dollars if they give it to you in the hospital. So a 500 dollar day here is 1000 dollar day there.. don't want to be picking up the difference!

No experience. We have never bought it, never needed it, and will never buy it. We have been to Philippines, India, Tibet, Scotland, Europe, eastern Europe, and South Dakota.

Lee - I have an annual medical/evacuation policy through American Express that I have actually used a couple of times in the US and it covered everything my medical insurance didn't. Luckily I didn't need special transportation home, but it would have covered it. When travelling on an expensive pre-paid trip, we usually spring for a basic travel/medical/evacuation policy. Funny thing is that I only had to use in the US too (got stuck in Houston flying home from Europe) and it was easy to file a claim - they paid for lodging until I could fly again as well as my medical copays. That policy was with TravelGuard. I make sure that I do have evacuation insurance, not so much for me, but my family (and I leave the policy information with them when we leave). I have had friends with family members who passed away or were critically sick while traveling overseas and what each of them went through was a nightmare. I also have a close friend who was traveling with her uncle in Africa when he suddenly passed away. Her family back home contacted the travel insurance company. The insurance company was a little slow to respond at first trying to get them to pay up front, but the family pushed and the company end up managing and paying directly for everything for getting his body released in Egypt and transported to the funeral home in CA. They even reimbursed them for the remaining prepaid trip expenses. They didn't have to pay a dime but they did spend some time on the phone following up every day.

Three years ago we purchased travel medical coverage for the very first time - through Insuremytrip. And. we had to use it when my husband was hospitalized - that had never happened on a trip before. We were very pleased with our reimbursement.

Lee, Check out the most recent entry under "Savvy Seniors". You might be able to IM that party for answers to any specific questions. Sounds like they were quite happy they had insurance.

Just thoughts on my own experience. We don't purchase travel insurance (medical) given our insurance companies will reimburse us and have indicated we do not need to. We did have experience with getting emergency care and how that was handled without the additional coverage. Last year while staying in Avignon, my boyfriend accidentally ingested peanuts and began going into Anaphylactic shock. We ended up with a doctor and ambulance staff and who knows who else in our hotel room (the hotel owners called them for us), an ambulance ride, a visit to the emergency room and spending quality time there dealing with tests and whatnot. They didn't care about insurance or any of that...they would just send us a bill at a later date and we'd deal with the insurance company at home then (they actually refused my credit card!). Anyway, we finally got the bill this past Fall (for a May 2011 trip) for 100 Euros...easily $10k of "care" in the USA. Anyway, submitted forms to insurance and it was taken care of. I will not get additional medical coverage at this point. If I was older though I might think a bit more about it considering the cost of evacuation etc.

I had a similar experience to Ali's - I was in Rome and had to go to the hospital emergency room. They did give me a bill when I left - after diagnosis and treatment but not a hospital stay - and it was for about $30. Now that I'm older and have some medical issues, I buy insurance. Never did before.

We have used American Express Travel Insurance and been happy with it. We had to make a claim after we returned from Australia. All we had to do was furnish the receipts from the doctor in Hamilton Island, Aus. We were reimbursed by American Express within a few days.

Hi Lee, I would try a travel insurance comparison site. I used Squaremouth.com on a recent trip to Paris. We are young and healthy, but did get a pretty bad stomach bug. While didn't end up going to the doctor, it was very nice to know if it came to that, we weren't going to have pay for it. The insurance was very inexpensive for us (under $30), but were also in our 30s.

I always buy medical,, and this is why.. evacuation insurance ,, I want to go home! Also includes repatriation ,, if the worst happens. That alone can save your family easily over 10,000 dollars, and your regular medical insurance at home does not cover that. In Hawaii, 1992,, 2 yr old taken to clinic to extract a flower bud up nose( don't ask! LOL) . Cost 200 dollars. Took one minute and no supplies needed but a pair of extra long tweezers and a head lamp( pack those if you have a curious 2 yr old, lol )
That was 200 dollars, 20 years ago.. think about it. Paid up front because clinic demanded it, but we were repayed at home by insurance company. Sounds like Europe med costs are more reasonable,, United States costs are VERY high so maybe for you folks its a deal to go overseas and pay there anyways, lol

Lee, we also have a membership in Divers Alert Network. For $55 a year (family) it covers evacuation expenses for any medical emergency more than 50 miles away from home. Evacuation costs from Europe can run $10,000 or more, so we feel this is a necessity. It has some other benefits too. We've never had to use it, but the friend who recommended it did use it when she broke a leg in Switzerland and said they were very easy to work with.