Travel/Trip insurance

I have gone to Europe for 13 of the last 14 years. I have purchased Travel Insurance every year since turning 65 and joining Medicare which does not cover me there. I went to insuremytrip.com to research the different options and settled on Travel Guard which is mentioned in RS literature. In signing up for TG, if you sign up for a policy of theirs soon after making you first payment towards your trip (plane tickets, tour deposit, etc) they cover any pre-existing conditions that you may have and I have several. I always make sure to include medical evacuation and also upgrade to an umbrella option which increases their coverages. In getting a policy from TG for the last 5 years, I have never made a claim, thank goodness. I have seen some positive comments from folks who have made claims with them and have not seen any negative ones. I view the cost of this as a small investment as I am in no financial position to be able to pay for any big medical bills that may happen. Happy travels

We agree with Charlie's comments, we also use Travel Guard. We buy the Gold Plan as it lets us decide where we want to receive medical care, not the insurance company deciding. As we are in the same age group, medical evacuation coverage is a benefit we now buy. On our last tour three people were hurt. One fell hurrying across the street, two were walking in the dark on our hotel balconies and hurt their foot and ankle. Fortunately no medical care was necessary at that time. But when one of them got home to US, she found out her foot was broken. It can be expensive based on the cost of your trip but medical bills will be more costly.

We always buy Travel Guard as well. Haven't had to make a claim yet - knock on wood - but better safe than very sorry! Evac coverage is a must, IMHO.

Beginning to see a theme here. I will look into Travel Guard. Is there anyone out there who has actually had to use and or make a claim against a travel insurance policy? Maybe I've seen too many movies about bad insurance companies but my skepticism regarding service after the fact is high.

I to have been buying the AIG Travel Guard Silverplan comprehensive plan. I have yet to make a claim. Read the fine print.

Friends have made a delay cost claim and had to jump through paper hoops. They thought they were underinsured but travel agent insured EACH of the two for the TOTAL cost of the trip. Travel Guard wanted documentation that they didn't over insure. They had to get receipts for every expenditure not just the extra night caused by the delay.

If Medicare is your insurance you really need Travel Insurance. They pay absolutly NOTHING on any claim you may make for injury/illness outside the US. While care is often cheaper abroad they still want payment!

Plus you need to think about the cost of getting home if something does happen. I flew home from Rome once with a woman who was coming back after a health crisis. She had to have a nurse with her the entire time, 02 etc... in order to accomdate all of this and meet her needs for elevated legs she had to have a business class seat for both her and the nurse. None of that was cheap!

(I also had to send someone home once for surgery on a broken arm. The UK health system indicated that at 67 they did not do surgery as "loss of mobility at her age is acceptable" The Travel Insurance paid for her to be flown home with an escort! We had absoultely no problems with the insurance company, but I don't recall the name. I won't comment on our problems with the UK health system, but I finally got the woman out of that and into a private care system and things moved quickly then :) )

We use TravelGuard. They have come through for us on two occasions. They paid quickly and were very helpful. I would highly recommend them. Stuff happens on a trip that you can't anticipate regardless of age.

We have always used Travel Guard and have had only one claim. The manner in which they handled it was great!! Had to document the claim with paper work but nothing that was not reasonable. We always sign up within 15 days of our first trip deposit so as to be covered for preexisting conditions. You can go to their web site and check out the different polices.

You might want to consider medical evacuation insurance as well.
Most travel policies have medical evacuation coverage. But they USUALLY will only evacuate you to the nearest hospital than can treat you. 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.

Note for anyone nearing Medicare age who plans to travel -- many, but not all, Medicare supplement insurance (Medgap) plans cover 80% of emergency medical expenses outside the U.S.
We haven't had to file a claim on this. We also buy the add-on insurance from the airline that covers medical evacuation -- about $58 for both of us for a 58-day trip.

Thanks Laura B for answering the question I was about to ask: whether a Medicare supplement policy will pay for foreign treatment.

Robert, check to see which Medicare supplement plans include foreign coverage -- I know plan 'F' does, but there are others. And costs differ by company even though the plans with the same letter are required by law to include the same coverage. 80% of allowed costs after $250 deductible, lifetime maximum of $50,000 as I recall.

You pretty much need to sign up for supplemental when you enroll in Medicare B.

I have always been a big proponent of travel insurance. I believe the cost to benefit ratio makes it a great value. Accidents and medical emergencies while abroad can add up, as others have noted, even up to the tens of thousands of dollars if evacuation, surgery, or nurse-accompanied flights home are required. It's not a matter of the likelihood of these things happening or that "it's never happened to me in x-years of traveling," it's the relatively low cost of the insurance compared to it's benefits.

I've actually had to file a claim once when I got sick on the morning of departure for a trip and had to cancel. The entire package including airfare and tour was just under $4K. With a note from the doctor indicating I couldn't travel, the travel insurance company reimbursed me the entire amount, not one cent less. The policy was $133.

We have traveled extensively over the last 16 years to every continent on earth, some many times. We always buy insurance, it use to be from insuremytrip, but we found a new site we like better, squaremouth. We have had to file for reimbursement twice, once in India and once in Asia. Both times we were refunded the unused part of the trip. (Get copies of everything related to your claim) The biggest thing for us is the emergency evacuation, since some places we travel, (Antarctica) are super expensive if we get hurt and have to be evacuated. We also want a primary medical insurance if possible, versus a secondary policy, as the primary pays regardless of what insurance you may have. Secondary pays after any existing insurance has paid. Most policies come as a group type policy, with evacuation, medical, trip cancellation, luggage, flight delay or missing, etc. We can always choose what features we want and go from there.