International Medical Insurance

I have used that website, and Squaremouth.com, to shop for and buy travel insurance. Both are very useful, including the general info they provide about this complicated subject. They are brokers, not insurance companies, but they work with well-established insurers like Allianz, Generali, Travelex, Travelguard, and others.

We purchase GeoBlue for medical insurance for our international trips. We had a small medical claim this past spring while in France, and submitted it when we got home, and received reimbursement with no problems.

The truth is in our situation our out of pocket costs were less than what we paid for the insurance. However, we like the peace of mind in the event something big happens, so to us it was worth it.

Absolutely Dick! Travel insurance is very complicated. I have just recently realized that there have been several times that I purchased insurance to cover trip cancellation and delay when all I really needed is medical insurance. I had duplicate insurance. If I pay extra for refundable airfare when purchasing my tickets, why do I need to insure my airfare? My hotel reservations are refundable if given at least 24 hours' notice. I am comfortable with the possible loss of money spent on travel, airfare, hotel and excursions... but not medical expenses. I would appreciate advice from travelers who have purchased or made claims for medical insurance. Does a "year plan" to cover multiple trips begin on the date purchased or on January 1st? I am a senior with no preexisting conditions. I have used both insuremytrip and squaremouth to compare. Both sites are very helpful and user friendly for comparing insurance companies.

This is very much a YMMV situation, read several articles on travel insurance, figure out what YOU need and want, then shop for quotes

jeff,

It would be helpful to know where you live (it's not listed in your profile)? If you're in the U.S., travel medical insurance options will be different from those available to us in Canada.

Jeff, insurance is a very frequent topic. This is the past year’s posts on the subject https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=1y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Insurance&utf8=%E2%9C%93

As you are seeing, there is comprehensive travel insurance, separate medical insurance and separate evacuation insurance.

Your biggest loss will be if you become sick or injured and need/want to be medical evac’d home. Unless you have a spare $100,000 or high risk tolerance, you want to cover that. Look at https://medjetassist.com/

If you paid any money for your trip more than two weeks ago, pre-existing condition coverage may not apply. Look at GeoBlue if that is the case https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/mobile/index-2.cfm

Fortunately, I have not had to file a claim. In the past I bought Allianz for comprehensive, GeoBlue for medical, Medjet for evac.

I use insuremytrip every time.
Most policies, if you pay in full within 10-15 days, cover first degree relatives as well (be sure to check).
Many years ago, we found out just days before my trip, that dad needed open heart bypass.
My trip expenses were fully reimbursed.
In 2022, I came down with Covid enroute.
The partial expenses that i submitted were paid.
I have chosen various policies, and had good luck so far.

We use tripinsurancestore.com. Call them directly for better guidance. Insuremytrip and Squaremouth, already mentioned, are also reputable according to another travel forum I frequent.