Travel insurance if active cancer?

Most standard travel insurance policies will cover pre-existing (or current) conditions IF you buy the policy within a designated time from the first payment you make toward the trip—-usually 14-21 days. You do not need a medical exam and you do not have to disclose anything. The “first”payment would be something like a deposit on a tour, or buying plane tickets if they are non-refundable. If you book a hotel room that can be canceled later, that doesn’t count.

As long as you feel well enough to travel, and your oncologist does not advise agains it, you can go ahead and travel; just be sure to understand the “rules” for the pre-existing condition waiver. My husband has a “heart condition” and other health issues, so I always buy our travel insurance within a few days after I put a deposit on a tour.

Great points, Lola, and thanks for bringing up something that I forgot to mention. In my case, planning ahead has become basically impossible, so traveling has become a last minute thing by necessity. I seem to recall that you have to buy travel insurance a certain amount of time before you go so it’s kind of a catch 22. On our most recent trip, we literally decided to go two days after the plan was hatched, so I’m talking about really last minute.

I see. If you are talking about travel within 2 days, then you are not talking about cancellation coverage, correct? You want good medical coverage in case something goes wrong during the trip. I hope someone can advise you on that, as I do not know the answer.

I wish you all the best with your treatment and well-being.

I am sorry to hear about your health issues! We are in the same boat in our household. I can totally relate to the travel while we can vs. don't get ourselves stuck in a medical crisis somewhere else. I have no answers but wanted to reach out. PM me if you want to message more in-depth - it's alway nice to have contacts living with similar situations.

As to our travel this year:
Spain - cancelled
Canada - cancelled

California - just booked this yesterday for mid-Sept departure. Chose the location because we have family there to lean on if need be.

Hawaii - booked before cancer diagnosis. Paid in full already so we're going to hope we get there. We're 8 weeks from departure. Will we get there? No idea.

Flights - using miles when I can, since we can cancel and redeposit miles up to the last minute.

Medical coverage - we're not leaving the US so our medical coverage is ok.

Evacuation coverage - we buy an annual policy, which is good through December, so we are set with that for now.

The chemo is harder for us right now - it's causing way bigger issues than the cancer.
Cancer sure makes you live in the moment, doesn't it??

I would separate the idea of travel insurance vs. medical insurance; and not rely on travel insurance for this. We always buy GeoBlue medical for our international travel. Just buy it before you leave. There's no buy it within 15 days of booking your trip like travel insurance. There are other companies as well; I believe Allianz is another one. So it's all about medical coverage. You could also look into Medjet or companies like that for medical evacuation.

We recently had to submit a claim for a non emergency but urgent medical in France, and was reimbursed rather quickly. Save any/all receipts. It was unrelated to cancer, so you know, you plan or think you need it because of cancer, and then someone takes a misstep on cobblestones.

I suggest MedJet Assust to fly you home once stabilized…to the hospital of your choice. Do double check coverage though. Best wishes for your cancer journey.

I seem to recall that you have to buy travel insurance a certain amount of time before you go so it’s kind of a catch 22.

My understanding is that you need to buy it within a short window from your first payment for the trip in order to get the pre-existing conditions waiver. I don't know if the insurance has a requirement that any such condition be stable at the time of travel.

I've seen several posts where people say they found the staff at https://tripinsurancestore.com/ to be very helpful. Given the circumstances you may want to give them a call to get advice on travel insurance.

If you do purchase evacuation insurance through Medjet and are an AARP member, you can save $50 by first going to AARP's website.

You might learn more about travel medical insurance on this InsureMyTrip page:

https://www.insuremytrip.com/travel-insurance-plans/travel-medical/

They mention that pre-existing conditions are included in the GeoBlue Voyager Choice policy, and that the policy can be purchsed up to the day before travel. However, take a look at the FAQ’s:

https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/mobile/public/docs/faqs/geoblue-single-trip-voyager-choice-faq.pdf?

At the top of page 2, they say that under the Voyager Essentials Plan, “benefits are not available for services received” within 6 months of the eligibility date. So make sure that any plan you buy is not this type.

You may consider reaching out to an insurance company and looking into an annual plan. It could possibly have a waiting period or something but if you’re planning last minute, that might be a good way to cover it.

They mention that pre-existing conditions are included in the GeoBlue Voyager Choice policy, and that the policy can be purchsed up to the day before travel.

At the top of page 2, they say that under the Voyager Essentials Plan, “benefits are not available for services received” within 6 months of the eligibility date. So make sure that any plan you buy is not this type.

Lola is right about benefits, but further review shows that it would cover medical evac for you. I guess it would be helpful to find out exactly what kind of insurance you are looking for. If it's just medical evacuation, you should be good. If it's emergency care, many insurance companies cover that to a certain extent, as well as some Medicare policies.

Thanks all! Definitely lots to look into. I’m am more concerned with medical evac and emergency coverage than trip costs/cancellation.