Health insurance when traveling abroad

[whitestavern]

Anybody know how it works if you have a health issue when traveling out of the country? DH is a worrier by nature and wants to know if we need to purchase an additional insurance policy for this? I'm thinking you would just pay the expenses via cc or something and then your US policy would reimburse you, but of course I have no basis of fact for that assumption!

 

Somewhat related, any idea which would be a better option for airline tix: trip insurance or refundable tickets? The refundable tickets are expensive but I haven't checked out the price of insurance, nor am I sure what that covers.

[diplomum]

You will need to contact your insurance company and check on this. Because we live abroad but are required by law to have US health insurance, we have a policy that makes overseas claims relatively easy. All overseas providers are considered "in network" and we can upload claims electronically, and do not need to provide certified translations and currency conversions. Not all plans will be as accommodating, and some may specifically exclude overseas providers or consider them "out-of-network" or make filing a claim so cumbersome as to be impossible. Depending on where you are going, you may need to consider medevac insurance in addition to your health insurance, unless this is expressly provided for by your policy. For relatively healthy individuals (no history of heart attacks etc.) this is usually not too expensive but offers some serious peace of mind. My son was once medevac'ed to South Africa from another southern African country. The plane ride cost $35000. Thankfully, all covered. Good luck.

[diplomum]

Just wanted to add that yes, we can often pay by credit card and then get reimbursed. In developing countries we have needed cash. We keep a couple of credit cards with high limits for just this reason. 

[Laura Corin]

 

 

Somewhat related, any idea which would be a better option for airline tix: trip insurance or refundable tickets? The refundable tickets are expensive but I haven't checked out the price of insurance, nor am I sure what that covers.

 

You may find trip insurance that covers both unavoidable cancellations (due to bereavement, serious illness, etc) and emergency evacuations.  Look carefully at the criteria for both.

 

[Amira]

Yes, check your policy to see what is covered when you're overseas - you may not need anything extra. If you do need more coverage (for things like an emergency medical evacuation or repatriation of remains, for example), there are lots of insurance companies online that provide short-term coverage for not much money. And depending on where you go, you might just need emergency evacuation because local health care is inexpensive or not really adequate.

 

I think refundable tickets versus trip insurance depends on what might cause a cancellation and whether that's covered under normal trip insurance. And like Laura said, you can likely get everything at once.

[Lanny]

I think it is unlikely, although not impossible, that your regular Health/Medical coverage would cover you overseas. However, if it did provide that coverage, I think it is unlikely that a hospital in another country, unfamiliar with the insurance company, etc., would accept your domestic U.S. coverage.   

 

I would suggest that you first check into whether or not the coverage you have now covers you outside the USA.  If it does, how do you contact them from overseas, to prove to an overseas hospital that they will be paid?  

 

Probably, you will need to buy a short term policy that covers expenses when you are overseas. We did that when we went to the USA for 7 nights last April.  Fortunately, we did not need to use it, but on one occasion (1999) my wife and I went up to Miami for a week and I got sick (Infection, Fever, etc.) and I called them and they sent a doctor to our hotel room and paid for the prescription.  

 

On another trip (1991) I  ate a Club Sandwich in the Snack Bar of my hotel in Venezuela and they put Mayonnaise on it. The Mayonnaise was not at the correct temperature, and about 3 A.M. I was horribly sick.  I ended up in the E.R. for several hours, and then in a private room with an I.V. in my wrist, for 24 hours.  

 

Those things are extremely trivial.  People get hit by cars. People get terribly ill. People have heart attacks.   Hopefully, your trip will be uneventful, but bad things can happen. 

 

When I went to Renew my Cedula (national identity card in Colombia), last January or February, there was a man there, accompanied by someone from a hospital here, who'd had a Tracheotomy.   I don't know where he was from or what happened to him, but he ended up in our best hospital, while visiting the city of Cali. 

 

If you are U.S. Citizens, be sure to register with the ACS (American Citizen Services) in the U.S. Embassy of any country you visit. I think you can do that on their web site.

 

ETA: I reread the OP after posting. About your question about the Trip Insurance and Non Refundable airline tickets. We always purchase the least expensive tickets and yes, those are the most  restrictive and those are not refundable.  In the temporary trip insurance we purchased (which I wanted to purchase in case of illness or accident) there were things about trip interruption. For example, if your flight was delayed more than "n" hours, what they would pay. Or, if your baggage was delayed or lost permanently, what they would  pay. That was the last week of April and I cannot remember whether or not it would have paid, had one of us been unable to go on the trip, because of sickness or accident.  All of those policies differ in their coverage and there are different levels of policies.  I think we bought one that was a few dollars more (for an 8 day trip) than their least expensive policy, and that they had another, more expensive policy, that I did not consider purchasing.  Probably this is something you will not need to use, but if you do need it, it will be a Godsend.

Edited January 19, 2017 by Lanny

[AnIslandGirl]

Insuremytrip.com is a wonderful resource for travel insurance options. It is a free comparison site that offers options from multiple travel insurance companies based on your needs.