Travelers-Medical Insurance?

www.travelguard.com

World Nomads.

http://www.worldnomads.com/allcountries.aspx?country=USA

Lian-Marie,
it is really smart you are doing this. Even if you are a young and healthy person, getting really sick could with no insurance could ruin your life. Make sure what ever insurance you buy has air lift insurance. a good friend of mine just got back from China and had a massive heart attack when he was there, his insurance paid for his stay in the hospital there, flight to the nearest city, flight back to the US in first class and a nurse that travelled with him. It literally saved his life.

Absolutely agree with Chere. Also I know whenever I have needed to see a doctor overseas the charge was much higher than the locals were charged because I was a tourist and they just assume you have insurance. Better to be safe than sorry.

Thanks for the encouragement folks! There are so many plans out there that it is daunting. From the companies mentioned...do you recommend any specific plans? Or other companies?
:)
LM

Right -- there is a post with title of "Free clinics in Paris?" where someone with low funds is asking how he can get treatment for a sore foot without paying, in Paris. Travel insurance handles things like this. I have medical coverage which will reimburse me, but I have to pay first. I don't want to have to wipe out all my trip funds, or more, while I'm abroad. I'd rather have a travel medical insurance policy to cover it -- along with medical evacuation.

It's my understanding that even with traveler's insurance, one pays first and is reimbursed later (except perhaps for very expensive bills like for a hospital). I doubt that an overseas pharmacy or even clinic is going to figure out how to bill a traveler's insurance policy when they are used to submitting their bills to the government's payor.

Greetings

Foreign doctors do not charge tourists more because they assume tourists will have insurance. They charge more in most cases because they need to charge enough to cover the full cost of the treatment, because they are not getting reimbursed by the government etc. which they would when treating a citizen/resident. Here in the UK, we pay more for non-NHS treatment for the same reason.

But these examples should provide a good reason for making sure you have extra funds or a way to access extra funds. I think tourists often forget that things are different overseas, and emergency treatment aside, one has not guarantee of free or low cost medical treatment overseas.

Kate

Also, to add to Kate's post, any difference in price between a local person and a tourist isn't based upon the notion that tourists have money. Rather, it is based upon the fact that the local person has already paid taxes that may be subsidizing the medical care and the tourist has not. It is similar to an State University charging out-of-state residents higher tuition.