Health Insurance

Not for a tourist (you don't specify a country, so I am making a general answer).
It is however stupid not to have health insurance, and make sure it covers not just the medical expenses, but extra hotel and flight costs if you can't fly home when planned, and worst case medical repatriation.
And an English-speaking doctor may be hard to find, and involve extra costs.

I have to ask - to take for what??? Car rental, apartment, travel, ??? what?

Example: Two days before you are due to fly home, you get an ear infection. Doctors visit, and a prescription, no great cost. But, the doctor says because of your ear you are not allowed to fly for 10 days. Your return ticket is useless. You need 8 more hotel nights, and buy a single ticket back at the full short-notice price. Plus, does your spouse stay with you (second extra ticket), or fly home without you?
I have known this happen. For a British tourist in Spain the extra cost is just a train ticket (no ban on taking a train). But for a transatlantic tourist the costs are much higher.

Not for a tourist

Although there are no reports of immigration officials demanding to see proof, health insurance is in fact mandatory for all visitors in the Schengen Zone. Coverage needs to be minimum of EUR 30 000.

Frank for travel ( medical )

Thanks everyone for taking the time to help me.

We buy travel medical insurance with evac coverage every time we travel to Europe for the type of scenario that Chris laid out. It's a small price to pay in the event either of us needs hospitalization or a medical flight (evac) back to the U.S. It's not mandatory (although I do hope you have coverage at home) but a serious medical issue while abroad could be very expensive.

It's not mandatory

It is mandatory. From the Italian Consulate website (http://tinyurl.com/j4y6ch2):

"...Schengen regulations require applicants to have health insurance coverage before departing. This is necessary in case you have an accident during your stay in Italy. Please check carefully whether your medical insurance will cover costs for medical treatment abroad (including emergency medical evacuation and rimpatriation of mortal remains). If it does not, you need to submit a health insurance covering your stay in Europe. Generally all major US medical insurance companies cover costs for emergency medical treatment abroad..."

www.insuremytrip.com
Very easy place to shop all of the travel insurance companies at once.
Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it!

Michael, thanks for clarifying. What I meant is that it's not mandatory to purchase additional insurance IF your U.S. insurance will fully cover you abroad. You have to check with your health provider.

www.insuremytrip.com
Very easy place to shop all of the travel insurance companies at once.
Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it!

Thanks, Anita, for providing this link. Does anyone else use a particular insurance company that they use when traveling. And has anyone ever had to use the insurance?

Thankfully haven't had to use it yet but we use Travel Guard Platinum:

http://www.travelguard.com

We usually end up using Travel Guard.
I have never, thankfully, had to use my travel insurance.
I do know 3 people who have needed medical evacuation home but had no insurance...2 were in horrible accidents and one was the victim of a violent crime. The two who were in accidents had put themselves in a situation that wasn't safe and were participating "at their own risk". The victim of the crime was in an area that was usually safe but was attacked by a mentally ill individual.
These three were the reason we now buy insurance but we also had an experience in Italy where my husband had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital and treated. We received a bill in the mail for everything after we returned home. It was relatively inexpensive but if we had the insurance we would have been reimbursed.
Live and learn.

We never travel without interruption and health insurance. For the cost it is a relatively cheap investment in peace of mind and possible headache.

Have used twice. Once used interruption insurance due to storm delays on n Bermuda.
Once when I experienced anaphylaxis and almost died while on vacation in Florida.
Ambulance fees, ER costs for treatment and about 6 hours in a bed, medication etc = approx $5000

I figure the future payments are aready covered by that saving. :)

Our health insurance covers up to 60 days of emergency care abroad; when I worked, I had evacuation insurance as part of my health benefits, but now I don't so we have an annual medjet assist policy for medical evacuation from any hospital abroad to our local hospital. This is the most expensive piece for most disasters; health care is a lot cheaper in Europe and may not break the bank -- but medical evacuation is crazy expensive -- can be in the 50-100 K range.

I just got a quote from Amex for 60 days and $100,000 of "Global Medical Protection" coverage for a premium of $33 per person. Seems cheap. Especially since I also got a similar quote from AIG Travel Guard for 60 days and only $50,000 in coverage for $229.

My U.S. coverage is not valid outside of the 50 states.

Anyone familiar with either policies? Why would the premiums be so different? Both cover all hospital charges including evacuation.

Yes, check with your existing insurance company here in the US...it is not uncommon for them to offer at least some sort of insurance coverage abroad. From there, you can determine if you need additional coverage.

The advice to skip the insurance is really bad. Here's an example of why you might need it. A friend stepped off a curb in Paris, stumbled, and sustained a compound fracture of her leg. The surgery to repair the break and hospital time were the least of the costs. She needed to fly home in business class so that her leg could be elevated throughout the flight. Try pricing a 1-way short-notice CDG to SFO ticket. You may be quite startled. Fortunately, she had purchased insurance, including medical evacuation. It paid not only for her to get home in business class, but for her husband and daughter to be there with her
Occasionally someone replies to similar queries that they are young and fit. My friend is not old and is quite fit. Accidents can happen to anyone. And to those who say they've never bought insurance and never needed it, the illogic makes the math teacher in me despair. Insurance is for rare events that are cripplingly expensive, should they occur. Think of it this way. Would you cancel your fire insurance because you've never had a fire in your house?

My 20-something daughter had what appeared to be a serious health issue two weeks ago in Italy. She took an emergency squad to the hospital, she had an EEG, blood tests, and ultrasounds on both legs to check for blood clots, and those are just the tests I can remember. We were so glad we had trip insurance when considering the possibility of a serious condition and hospitalization/lengthy stay. Some of the doctors she saw in the hospital did not have sufficient English (I'm not complaining) to understand her descriptions of her symptoms; so we might have transferred her to a larger city/another doctor ($$). They cleared her to fly home and it looks like she'll be OK, thank goodness.

Comilla, no my insurance provider does not offer coverage for me overseas. Welcome to the world of Obama Care I guess.

Rosalyn, do you know what trip insurance your friend had? I am told that some medical trip insurance is add-on and some is standalone. I need standalone like Amex or Travel Guard.

Thanks.

No, I don't know what insurance my friend had; but if you look on insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com, there are loads of companies and types of policies listed. Amex actually looks pretty good as far as price goes.

Just btw, since someone took a gratuitous slap at the Affordable Care Act. (the real name, not "Obama Care"), I'll point out that:

1) The legislation was based on giving private insurance companies the major role, from the belief - - rightly or wrongly - - that it would be impossible to secure passage of single payer. Think about who would oppose single payer. Hint: all Republicans and many Democrats.

2) Foreign travel is a luxury, so maybe it's reasonable to exclude coverage for medical insurance from publicly subsidized policies. My British friends have to buy supplemental coverage when they come to the U.S., though they are covered in countries that have reciprocal agreements with the U.K.

3) Not all U.S. policies exclude foreign travel. Mine covers me anywhere in the world. Maybe the complainer needs to change insurance companies.

There was just a story in the paper about a local man who was beaten and robbed (in Mexico, not Europe). The family had to pay for medical evacuation to US hospital in San Diego. Now, they are having to wait until he can fly commercial home since they don't want to pay for another medical evacuation. This is costing them weeks of time in a strange city. I can only think that travel health/evacuation insurance would have made this family's life much easier in this very difficult situation.

There are sometimes in life when you want to be "wasting your money". Premiums for travel insurance are one of them. I personally will feel quite happy if I pay these premiums and never make a claim.

I'm curious why someone would want to be evacuated to the US with its
much higher health care costs?

There is another element to evacuation than treatment, it's recuperation. If someone suffers a severe leg or hip injury that requires that them to be horizontal for several months or weeks, most people would prefer to be at home or a facility closer to home, where they would be more comfortable and closer to friends and family. Travel insurance facilitates that.