Medical Insurance

Others will tell you about their personal experiences, but in the meantime you can explore options yourself on insuremytrip.com and squaremouth.com, both of which are comparison sites for insurance.

Note that you're not just comparing prices. For example, you are considering whether pre-existing conditions are covered. Note that 99% of the products you are looking at are for REIMBURSEMENT. They are not going to pick up your hospital bill and leave you with a zero balance before you fly home. You may also be considering Evacuation coverage (especially if you are older, like me), and you may be considering Travel (as opposed to Medical) Insurance for things like your immediate relatives getting hospitalized or your luggage or you getting delayed.

I'm not telling you what to buy, I'm just adding a bit to your rather specific question. I thought I was very experienced, but when I finally had a (tiny) claim to make, the insurance company told me something that wasn't in the fine print that I HAD read every word of: "We are aware that Medicare will not pay for your treatment abroad. Nevertheless, you must submit your claim to Medicare and supply us with the refused claim." Just one more hurdle to stop paying customers from getting what they paid for!

Edit: small clarifications above

Added: Because I'm over 65, all travel insurances are priced higher for me. I usually use Travelex or TravelGuard, which offer all the products (Travel, Evacuation, Health) bundled together, with Cancellation always as an additional option. But there is a different limit stated for each type of product, and naturally the plans which cover more things or more dollars cost YOU more. Honestly, medical limits on travel insurance are much lower than anything I would accept in a home plan, but all those other advanced countries have much lower medical costs than does the U.S.A., which provides some comfort. And if you have evacuation insurance, that sort of puts an (unspecified) cap on your possible expenditures.

Thank you for the info especially the "reimbursement" part -- very helpful. I have the travel ticket protection insurance, but looking also for an insurance that will cover emergency / hospital bill before leaving the place. Is there such thing as that? Meanwhile I'll check out some of the earlier recommendations.

My AIG TravelGuard MedEvac policy is for " reimbursement" for:

Medically Necessary Covered Expenses incurred to treat such Injury or
Sickness during the course of the Trip provided the initial documented
treatment was received from a Physician during the Trip.

but does also provide advanced payments:

Advance Payment: If an Insured requires admission to a Hospital,
Travel Guard will arrange advance payment, if required. Hospital
confinement must be certified as Medically Necessary by the onsite
attending Physician.

As with all insurance, we hope to never have to collect.

Have you checked with your insurance company? Although US insurance companies won't cover routine services overseas, many will cover emergency services internationally. However, I don't believe they would cover medical evacuation if necessary. For that you'll need a travel insurance policy of some sort...consult insuremytrip.com as someone else here suggested.

We've had a claim with Travel Guard and were pleased with the way they handled it. But it was a reimbursement -- they did not pay up front. Most medical travel policies include some form of medical evacuation coverage. Be sure to read the fine print. Many policies will only evacuate you to the nearest hospital than can treat you, but there are exceptions. On the other hand, there is a company named "Med Jet Assist" that has a number of different membership plans. It in NOT medical insurance -- just med evacuation coverage. As long as you are more than 150 miles from home, they will, if medically necessary, fly you back to your home hospital in a medical jet with medical personnel. Google them and see what you think.

Travel Guard MedEvac policy (fine print) reads in part:

The Company will pay for Covered Emergency Evacuation Expenses
incurred due to an Insured’s Injury or Sickness that occurs while he
or she is on a Trip. Benefits payable are subject to the Maximum Limit
shown in the Schedule or Declarations Page for all Emergency
Evacuations due to all Injuries from the same accident or all
Sicknesses from the same or related causes during an overnight Trip
with a Destination of at least 100 miles from the Insured’s Primary
Residence.

Covered Emergency Evacuation Expenses are the Reasonable and Customary
Charges for necessary Transportation, related medical services and
medical supplies incurred in connection with the Emergency Evacuation
of the Insured. All Transportation arrangements made for evacuating
the Insured must be by the most direct and economical route possible
and required by the standard regulations of the conveyance
transporting the Insured.

Expenses for Transportation must be: (a) ordered by the onsite
attending Physician who must certify that the severity of the
Insured’s Injury or Sickness warrants his or her Emergency Evacuation
and adequate medical treatment is not locally available; and

(b) authorized in advance by Travel Guard. In the event the Insured’s
Injury or Sickness prevents prior authorization of the Emergency
Evacuation, Travel Guard must be notified as soon as reasonably
possible.

The Company will also pay a benefit for reasonable and customary
expenses incurred for an escort’s transportation and accommodations
subject to the Escort Maximum Limit shown in the Schedule or
Declarations Page if an onsite attending Physician recommends in
writing that an escort accompany the Insured.

I’m fortunate that my health insurance covers international travel. My sometime traveling companion is not so fortunate. She has found the plans at GeoBlue part of Blue Cross Blue Shield to give coverage at reasonable cost. They have a few different plans that offer various coverages available. She has always used the Trekker plan for coverage.

Try geoblue international. It is a Blue Cross Blue Shield Company.