Travel Insurance: How much medical coverage is enough?
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Health, Safety and Travel Insurance
Travel Insurance: How much medical coverage is enough?
Travel insurance policies have numerous options for Medical/Dental and Emergency Medical Evacuation. But I haven't seen any statistics that suggest how much of these coverages is considered adequate f
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Travel insurance policies have numerous options for Medical/Dental and Emergency Medical Evacuation. But I haven't seen any statistics that suggest how much of these coverages is considered adequate for incidents occurring during travel between the U.S. and Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, etc.
E.g., is $50,000 medical/dental enough? $100,000? For emergency medical evacuation back to the U.S. is $100,000 enough? $250,000? I've even seen $1,000,000. That ought to cover medical evacuation to another planet as far as I'm concerned.
Randy, this isn't an exact answer to your question because I don't purchase travel insurance since my health insurance policy through my employer covers some charges for medical services rendered abroad. My policy covers a percentage of medical care including air ambulance evacuation according to the regular terms of the policy. Since I work in the International Services department of a large healthcare provider, I do know that air ambulance charges normally fun between $25,000.00 and $50,000.00. (At least these are the figures I see most for the patients I deal with). I have an IAMAT membership card. This is the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers. The do not have a membership fee but a donation in an amount of your choosing is appreciated. They will send you a book with listings all over the world for doctors who speak English and many who have trained in the U.S. along with addresses and telephone numbers. These physicians have agreed to accept $55.00 for an office call and $80.00 for a housecall (hotel call, etc). Fortunately I haven't had to avail myself of these services but the feedback from people who have is extremely favorable. I just take the booklet with me when I travel so I'm prepared if I or one of my party needs medical attention. In my case, I would pay the provider and send the receipt to my insurance company when I get back home for reimbursement. You should also check with your healthcare insurance company to determine what kind of coverage you would have (if any) outside the U.S. Janet
It is true that some health plans will cover you such as our Federal Blue Cross; however, for us, the primary concern is evacuation, if needed.
If you purchase insurance, it will also reimburse you if you must cancel for a legitimate reason; ie sickness or death in your family or that of your traveling partner.
Realistically, $50,000 is probably ample for evacuation. If you insure with a reputable company such as Travel Guard or Trip Safe, you can speak directly to one of their customer service agents and they would be able to help you. You are also able to download their information and application on line.
Hello, I purchsed travelguard on my previous trip to UK. While there, my father in law died. Travelguard would not reimbuse for anything!! No flight, no loss of hotel prepaid bills, NADA. We had purchased Air Candada tickets through priceline and Air Canada would not help, they said it was Priceline, Priceline said that it was Air Canada, etc. You get the picture. American Airlines agent in Heathrow understood our problem. He said that he could sell us one way tickets for 3000.00 and we could file the paper work when we got home to be reimbursed. He then said "forget it" and charged us 960.00 for the three of us. That was 320.00 pp total. I wrote a lenghly thank you to AA when we got home and now try to fly AA when I can. Travel ins. is good when it works, but be sure to read the fine print. One problem is that you must buy your ins. 30 days or less before you leave to get some coverges, so when you get your paperwork, you are too busy to read the fine print until you are stuck in Tim-buck-too - sick or companion is sick and you are stressed out beyond belief. Then you find out it does not cover blank, blank, blank. Do a Frommer's search on travel insurance and see what you get. I did last month and a couple of companies stood out as reputable. However, I would call them and ask questions about the policies and exclusions before you need it, not after. John B.
Well I'm the poster girl for travel insurance! I took a small travel policy for a trip to Jamaica. After a car accident my hospital bills from Jamaica and USA totalled approx. $180,000 including medical evacuation and teeth restoration. The Medevac was $7,000 (nine years ago.) My travel medical insurance company initally denied my claim for the emergency Medevac on the grounds that it was not co- ordinated or pre authorized by them. As no one knew I had a travel policy (traveling alone)and I was unconscious at the time, this was difficult to do! They did pay up after a long battle. It is unfortunate that you sometimes have to battle over your insurance particualarly when in poor health and energy should be reserved for getting well. My travel insurance policy was totally inadequate and the care I received in the FL hospital was appalling. I am now an international and travel insurance agent so that I can help people avoid what happened to me. As a non US citizen (living in USA), I was denied cover by domestic insurance companies. My advice is to take more insurance than you think you need and keep proof of insurance in your wallet. $50,000 is usually adequate for Medevac. Insurance companies negotiate better rates for Medevac than the lay person so usually the insurance company must organize it.
If you spend more than 6 months outside of USA consider International medical insurance which is annually renewable and may continue your cover where a travel policy stops after the policy period.
We all think it isn't going to happen to us but statistics show that it will indeed happen to a certain amount of people - is it your number?
Anyone who would like more information may contact me at yachts@mhgmarine.com
When I retired and started traveling, I checked costs for travel insurnace. I quickly decided to self-insure for some items such as lost baggage and cancellations. My health insurance, Federal Blue Cross, covers me in most of the world. But before going to South America last year I took out an evacuation insurance policy from, I believe, IAMAT, for $125.00 a year. The "read the fine print travel insurance" for that trip was about $800.00. Also, there is a web site that lists airlines, car rentals, travel companies, etc. that the travel insurance companies will not cover. Another form of "insurance" is my charge cards.
I would not travel without travel insurance, mostly for Emergency Evacuation. Usually, this insurance comes in a package with lost luggage, missed connections, etc. Emergency Evacuation is only for yourself if you have a medical emergency, not for other reasons. I would advise you not to use Access America; I had to cancel my credit card to keep them from using my number for what they called systemic errors.
I used to work for the medical department of a travel emergency assistance company that had both contracts with several large visa cards and american express. This company also handled their own insurance products.
If you are travelling to western europe, there is no need for travel insurance. The medical care there is quite good and an evacuation in most cases would not be necessary. The hospitals aren't as comfortable as US hospitals but the care is certainly on par with the care in the US. The way travel evac insurance works is that "if deemed medically necessary, by the insurance doctor (usually an ER doc)...then there's coverage". They way these companies make money is that they then submit the claim to your insurance company in the states and get reimbursed by them.
In most instances, your insurance in the US will reimburse you if the transport is medically necessary but who has upwards of 50-100K to pay an air ambulance company up front?
For the most part, 100K should cover you for evacs. Remember that the evacuation covers you to the nearest most appropriate location for care...so, if you are Asia, you'll be covered to Hong Kong or Tokyo for example. Don't think you'll be taken home. To be taken home, you would have to have coverage for repatriation and that only covers you if your hospitalization is expected to be lengthy. If travelling to South America or Asia....coverage to $250K should be plenty. Don't bother with coverage for medical expenses. Medical care abroad is cheap and you can submit the claim upon your return yourself.
What about annual travel & evac insurance? I have just retired and now hope to do several cruises -including transatlantic - & a trip to Australia. Is there a policy that one can purchase for 12 months' coverage, which should be much less expensive, in the long run, than buying separate policies each time?
We've never had to use medical evacuation services, but did have claims (which were paid promptly by our travel ins. policy with Travelex) for ambulance transport (over 500 Euros) and medical treatment at an airport in Germany when my husband became ill in-flight.
Insuremytrip.com is a useful site for comparing policies.
I intend to retire to Thailand next January and am wondering what company to deal with for medical coverage. Has anyone out there retired and held American Co. coverage? I don't know anything, really, about coverage. How much does chemotherapy, surgery, hospital stay cost in Chiang Mai or Bangkok? Oh my, so much to learn!
To MXH and others on Medicare. Because Medicare doesn't cover foreign medical costs, I purchase a yearly policy from AMEX Assurance Companyfor when I am out of the country. A benefit level of $50,000 costs $179 for the joint annual plan for over 65s. The coverage goes into effect when you are more than 150 miles from home and is for the first 31 days of a trip. We were rear-ended 2 years ago 1200 miles from home and AMEX paid for secondary benefits for my husband's emergency treatment. Last year he had to go to a doctor in Ireland to receive treatment for bronchitis. Once again AMEX paid with no hassle. If you have an AMEX card you're eligible.
Medical Insurance. Since Medicare does not cover outside the USA and both my husband and travel quite a bit outside the USA, we had to find an insurance company. We pay $209 a year (for both of us) through our American Express, which is $100,000 emergency/sickness and $100,000 evacuation, emergency prescription coverage and some other items. We have never had to use it (and hope we don't) but at least we have something. If you stay more than 31 days in another country, it does not cover. It also does not include trip cancellation...for example, if you were on a group tour you would get no reimbursement or credit for that particular trip. Therefore, we also buy that if we are going on a group tour. Any comments?
I m really scared seeing how expensive all this is. Is it normal to have limited maximun coverage on your travel insurance? I have unlimited insuance for 60 days, evacuation if needed. If evacuation isnt possible insurance is extended untill its possible. It costs 9 Euros a year. I had to use it once in New Zealand when I was admitted to Hospital for a week, which came to about 9000$. All these posts look like pretty bad deals. I an insured at "Hallesche" in Germany.
There are a few things you need to find out before you settle on an amount of Emergency Medical/Dental and Emergency Medical Transportation coverage.
1) What other coverage do you have? If you’re a US Citizen & have Medicare, it doesn’t cover you outside the USA. If you have a Medicare supplement, it’s a little trickier. That’s because they typically pay “whatever Medicare doesn’t pay”. The surprise comes when you are outside the USA. That’s because Medicare won’t pay anyway, so many Medicare supplement plans won’t pay either for the part that Medicare’s not obligated to pay. Therefore, it’s best to assume that your share will be equal to a 35 to 40% copay.
Or if you have individual or group insurance, what are your deductibles & copays if you’re outside your provider’s service area? This is similar to “Out of Network” benefits.
2) Will your current insurance provider guarantee payments directly to the medical facility if you are denied treatment?
3) Does your current insurance require you to pay all claims upfront and get reimbursed after the claim is finished?
4) Will your current insurance pay for Emergency Medical Transportation?
5) Will your current insurance be Primary or Secondary to a Travel Insurance plan? Primary means that you have to file “Coordination of Benefits” forms with your non-travel insurance plan first and then go back to the travel insurance company to get them to pay their share.
On the other hand, if your current insurance is Secondary to a Travel Insurance plan (meaning the Travel Insurance is Primary), then you donÂ’t have to wait for your current insurance to finish its claim before the travel insurance pays.
A common myth is that Primary plans cost more than Secondary plans. The actual cost of Travel Insurance is based on your age and other factors. Some Primary plans are less expensive than Secondary plans at certain ages and vice versa for other ages.
As for the emergency medical transportation cost, I know of one that was from Rochester Mayo to South Africa with a team of doctors on the plane. It cost $120,000. I also know of transports from the Caribbean to the USA that cost about $25,000.
One thing to be aware of is that the emergency medical transportation portion of a policy doenÂ’t pay for the medical treatment. ThatÂ’s covered under the emergency medical portion of the travel insurance policy.
In response to AOLGIRL. There are a number of insurance companies (non-travel policy companies)that insure international patients abroad. IHI (International Health Insurance/Denmark) is one of the largest international insurers. You can reach them by calling 011-45-33-15-3099.They have multi-lingual representatives so communications isn't a problem. BUPA, a UK based international insurance is another reputable company and you can also contact BCBS of Delaware that offers international plans. I'm not sure how they cover Americans living abroad but they are all very reputable companies and are worth a try. In my position as the international patient co-ordinator in a large medical facility, I deal with insurance issues on a daily basis. Evacuation from the Bahamas will usually be to a Florida hospital and will cost around $25,000.00. From western Europe the cost is around $50,000.00 and much more from Asia and Africa. I am familiar with the cases cited by #16 and agree with his figures. From my experience with patients who have travel insurance policies, it is a time-consuming process to receive payment. They normally deny the claim initally due to lack of pre-certification. It's then necessary to send proof of emergency or critical need. Always contact the travel insurer promptly while seeking care abroad to avoid having your claims denied for lack of notification or approval. They also have contracts with specific air ambulance carriers and I know of 2 cases where they refused to pay the air ambulance fees because it wasn't through the company they are contracted with. In most instances you will be required to pay up front for the medical services and seek reimbursement after the fact. All in all, travel insurance can be tricky, you need to research the companies and specific plans and ask lots of questions. Always start with your US insurance company to determine what your coverage is through your existing plan and then proceed from there.
Does anyone know of any travel insurance product which covers emergency return home for the death of an elderly parent? We will be in Asia for one month this summer and my wife's greatest fear is that one of her mid 80's parents will get ill and die unexpectedly
I also recommend insuremytrip.com. But, my favorite travel insurance is from STA travel. They cover 250,000 for medical evacuation and 100,000 for medical expense, among many other coverages.
