travel insurance?

My "minimalist" insurance needs is Medical Evacuation insurance. I can afford to "write off" prepaid and non-refundable travel cost (air, hotels, tours etc) but would not like to be faced with a six digit (USD) bill for medical evacuation back to the States in the event of a catastrophic injury or health issue. It also helps to have medical services covered to some extent so that medical providers don't hesitate about the financial risk of providing care.

I have been buying the AIG Travelguard MedEvac but have no experience in trying to collect:
https://www.insuremytrip.com/travel-insurance-providers/aig-travel/medevac-per-trip/#tab_plan-summary

My recent (Oregon) AIG MedEvac policy's coverage:
Accident Sickness Medical Expense ................................$50,000
Dental..................................................................................$500
Emergency Evacuation & Repatriation of Remains.....$1,000,000
Escort Maximum ............................................................$25,000
Accidental Death & Dismemberment................................$25,000

I insure what I cannot "afford" to lose and self-insure what I can.

My husband and I also travel on our own but last year we decided maybe at 75 we should get travel insurance before going to Israel. I did research a few companies and got AIG Travel Guard. You get a lot of benefits--more than we thought about for $242. It gave us a sense of comfort regarding hospital visits and med flights and luggage and plane delays. We never needed to use it but I will get it again because like any kind of insurance you hope to never need it but you believe it will be worth it. Good luck. We'll be in Rome in early October and I'll get it again.

You are wise to think about this. You might benefit from Googling articles by Christopher Elliott, a travel writer who has written a lot of advice about this lately.

Before every trip we buy a policy from Square Mouth. This is a site where you can put in your parameters and get a list of recommendations that suit you. To keep cost down, we do not look for full cancellation insurance, but rather for a policy that will cover major medical. Although our personal insurance would pay first as it covers us overseas, this is usually part of any policy that also covers my next two needs, medical evacuation and repatriation of remains. Also look for a pre-existing condition waivers so that any ongoing or prior health issues do not get you disqualified. Insurance for delays (what if a weather problem causes you to stay over a few more nights, for example) and lost or delayed luggage is a good add-on. From there it depends on what you are willing to pay. When my hubby turned 75 premiums started to rise...

I have a friend who didn’t buy medical evacuation insurance and paid $70,000. to be flown home to the US in a fully staffed medical jet following a stroke.. I know of others who received rather primitive care for a broken hip.
We had had several travel claims paid 100% by Travel Guard in a timely manner.

There is a lot on this site about travel insurance. Think of it like homeowners insurance-you have it, hope to never use it. It’s for rare but costly events. When you say “minimalist” I don’t really know what you mean. What do you want to cover? You cite the broken leg-is it medical coverage, evacuation, other associated costs? A previous poster has mentioned Squaremouth. We have used Insuremytrip.com https://www.insuremytrip.com/ and have had a few claims. This site lets you look at multiple products. We buy based on coverage we want, rating (AM Best A or better) reviews (only by those who have had a claim-one bad story and we don’t consider them) then price. The customer service people are a call away and they are all licensed insurance brokers so they know their stuff. Good for you traveling on the cheap-don’t cheap out by traveling without insurance.

I looked at MedJet (recommended by friends) for annual insurance -- and found there is special coverage for age 75+ (didn't look further, but expect it's pricey)
Chase Sapphire Reserve includes evacuation insurance, so I make sure that at least part of common-carrier costs are on that card. No claims to date.

BTW if you are on the plus side of "mid 60s" and on traditional Medicare, Parts A and B do not include foreign travel. Some supplemental but not all supplemental policies have up to $50,000 of foreign coverage.

We have an annual plan that covers medical evacuation and hospital etc for all our overseas trips. We’ve seen too many injured people evacuated by air ambulance or lifted off a cruise ship to go away without it.
I used Square Mouth to sort through the different policies. Ours is Seven Corners, underwritten by Lloyds. The coverage is similar to Edgar’s. We keep premiums down by not including cancellation coverage.

Travel insurance is always prudent and not just due to age and its associated health issues. Weather delays/cancellations, lost luggage, emergency evacuation (not just medical) as well as secondary medical coverage, we've ALWAYS added travel insurance to all trips - domestic as well as international. You just never know

We avoid buying from the same place we purchase our trips, whether it be from a travel agent or some other trip booking site as we are somewhat leery about buying insurance that may actually benefit the seller more than the traveler. Its usually cheaper if you buy independent of them as well.

Insuremytrip.com and Squaremouth.com are good places to compare and purchase policies

With regard to medical evacuation pay close attention to the fine print. Some policies will only evacuate you to the nearest medical facility that can treat you. Others will evacuate you all the way back home. We've used Travel Guard and reimbursement for medical services cost incurred while overseas have been handled quickly and to our satisfaction. As is the case with all travel insurance, the devil is in the details.

Chase Sapphire Reserve includes evacuation insurance, so I make sure that at least part of common-carrier costs are on that card. No claims to date.

As I understand it in order to claim on your Chase Reserve or any other credit card - your entire vacation must be paid with the same card - hotel, airfare, train travel, car rental- they will tie everything back to the card you used for your flight.

@Donna, the CSR benefits guide says you are eligible for Emergency Evacuation and Transportation benefit "when you charge a portion of the cost, or all of the cost of a Covered Trip, made via a Common Carrier, to Your Account." Sure hope it works if I ever need it !

@LauraB - good to know! Thanks!

Chase Sapphire evacuation coverage: Sure hope it works if I ever need it !
Feeling lucky? I’d nail down the terms and conditions before I’d ever rely on credit card coverage. Most are “pay and chase”. You pay, then go after the credit card company. They do not arrange transport, help you through the logistics, guarantee payment to those delivering the service. You only get that through real travel insurance. Are you ready to shell out $50-150,000? That’s what the cost could be if you require a medical evacuation jet.

While the topic seems to be drifting to Medical coverage, Trip Insurance covers a wide range of coverage. Myself, I have not seen the value of covering travel expenses. I rarely have anything that is not able to be cancelled, even non-refundable airline tickets have value. For medical, my coverage includes Europe (well my HSA pays for it) and to date, I have gambled on Evacuation coverage if I am honest. As I age, medical makes more sense, but really it comes down to your tolerance for risk.

Thanks everyone for sharing your expertise.
This forum is such an invaluable tool!
Now I just need to do sort out all the different options.
Thanks again,
emilyE

We are in our late 60s and for two recent trips (Mexico and Europe) I purchased full-year coverage from Allianz. It covered medical costs, evacuation, and car rental insurance (a bonus for us on the Europe trip). I have not purchased trip cancellation coverage for any of our trips because it seemed unlikely we would need it and our financial loss wouldn't be overwhelming, but given our ages, I'm leaning toward doing so on future trips for the peace of mind. I just broke my ankle in a flukey accident the day after my trip and had to have surgery a few days later, and I keep thinking: What if I'd done it the day before and had to figure out how to cancel everything to reduce our losses? It would have been one more layer of worry I could do without.