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Medical Insurance for International Travel


Chocolate Rose
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My daughter will be traveling to Africa (Kenya and Rwanda) next month with her prof to work on a research project. I found out that our medical insurance doesn't cover international travel. I'd like to be sure dd is covered in case of emergency or illness as she'll be there for 6 weeks. Does anyone have any suggestions?

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We've always just gone online and found something affordable that looks good (I can't remember which companies we've used- there are quite a few available).  Read some reviews and look over the coverage.  You want it to cover emergency medical evacuation in case she needs to be treated elsewhere and repatriation of remains.  For most things though, if she needs medical care while she's in Africa, the cost will probably be low enough that it may not even be worth dealing with the insurance since getting all the paperwork in order and translated into English can be a major hassle. Even with insurance, many hospitals will require some form of payment up front. 

 

I hope she has a wonderful trip!  What a great opportunity. 

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We've always just gone online and found something affordable that looks good (I can't remember which companies we've used- there are quite a few available).  Read some reviews and look over the coverage.  You want it to cover emergency medical evacuation in case she needs to be treated elsewhere and repatriation of remains.  For most things though, if she needs medical care while she's in Africa, the cost will probably be low enough that it may not even be worth dealing with the insurance since getting all the paperwork in order and translated into English can be a major hassle. Even with insurance, many hospitals will require some form of payment up front. 

 

I hope she has a wonderful trip!  What a great opportunity. 

Thank you! I've been looking online, but was quickly overwhelmed. I don't want to get "taken". Medical evac is one of the priorities I have for the insurance. 

It is an amazing opportunity for her. The prof has promised to help her get a couple of papers published. She's very excited and I'm trying not to worry too much.

Dd is able to look back and see how much she benefited from HSing. It's given her a huge advantage in college.

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Does your current insurance company offer an add-on option for international travel and short stays?

 

You are very smart to be looking into this.  My mom managed to contract viral meningitis once while visiting us here in Switzerland and spent a week in the Swiss hospital.  Her insurance covered it, but it took a while to get it all sorted out.   

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It is extremely unlikely that any normal medical insurance policy, issued in the USA, or in another country, would cover expenses in another country. If it did, the hospital would probably not accept the policy as proof of insurance, or proof of payment, because the staff there would probably never have heard of the insurance company, and also would have to assume that they might never receive payment, if they accepted the insurance policy.

 

Many years ago, I had an annual policy that covered my overseas trips on a yearly basis. Possibly I purchased that via Clements International, a reputable insurance agency in Washington, DC

 

Your DD should be prepared to pay, upfront, for any medical care she might need. Probably the cost would be extremely low, compared to what it would cost in the USA.

 

If she has a Gold Visa or MasterCard, it may have coverage that will help her. 

 

If your DD is going to be in Nairobi that sounds like a very large city and I assume there is at least one private hospital that is excellent, if she should need medical treatment.  , 

 

Our medical insurance here does not cover us in other countries, so we will purchase temporary coverage, for our trip to the USA before we go.

 

I hope your DD has a safe and wonderful trip!

 

 

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Also if the tickets were purchased by credit card, does the credit card company offer some sort of automatic insurance that can be upgraded if necessary? This was the case for many of our travels.

The university purchased the tickets, so I have no idea about anything.

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Does your current insurance company offer an add-on option for international travel and short stays?

 

You are very smart to be looking into this.  My mom managed to contract viral meningitis once while visiting us here in Switzerland and spent a week in the Swiss hospital.  Her insurance covered it, but it took a while to get it all sorted out.   

No, I checked with our HR Benefits Coordinator and it doesn't cover this situation.

Glad your mom had insurance to cover her situation. No insurance would have made it all that more scary and stressful. Stuff happens. Hopefully we won't need the insurance, but I want it just in case.

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It is extremely unlikely that any normal medical insurance policy, issued in the USA, or in another country, would cover expenses in another country. If it did, the hospital would probably not accept the policy as proof of insurance, or proof of payment, because the staff there would probably never have heard of the insurance company, and also would have to assume that they might never receive payment, if they accepted the insurance policy.

 

Many years ago, I had an annual policy that covered my overseas trips on a yearly basis. Possibly I purchased that via Clements International, a reputable insurance agency in Washington, DC

 

Your DD should be prepared to pay, upfront, for any medical care she might need. Probably the cost would be extremely low, compared to what it would cost in the USA.

 

If she has a Gold Visa or MasterCard, it may have coverage that will help her. 

 

If your DD is going to be in Nairobi that sounds like a very large city and I assume there is at least one private hospital that is excellent, if she should need medical treatment.  , 

 

Our medical insurance here does not cover us in other countries, so we will purchase temporary coverage, for our trip to the USA before we go.

 

I hope your DD has a safe and wonderful trip!

She will have a card, but not "gold". She has a flight into and out of Nairobi, but not spending any time there. She'll be a very small "remote" village.

Thank you!

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OP Possibly this link will help get you started:

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/go/health/insurance-providers.html

 

Here (in Colombia) we usually purchase "Assist Card" travel insurance. There is another one but I can't remember the name.  In 1999 we went up to Miami and I got really sick. Assist Card sent a doctor to our hotel room and he gave me a prescription.  I took the prescription to a nearby pharmacy and had to go back, about 6 hours later, to pick up the medicine I needed to take. Here, we get the medicine instantly...  At the time, I didn't realize that Assist Card would have had me go to another nearby pharmacy and they would have paid most or all of the cost, so after we came back I filed for reimbursement for the prescription.

 

Great that your DD has a Credit Card. In the unlikely event that she has a medical issue, I believe any large private hospital will accept a Visa or MasterCard.

 

NOTE:  It is EXTREMELY URGENT that your DD register with the ACS (American Citizen Services unit) in the U.S. Embassies in both countries she will be in. I am assuming she is a U.S. Citizen.  Probably she can do that via the web site of each embassy. Look for ACS.or American Citizen Services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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We've used Allianz for short term trips like your daughter's, and International SOS for the year we spent traveling all around.  No major claims, fortunately.

 

As other posters already said, costs for ordinary little things will be so cheap relative even to co-pays in the US that she'll be unlikely even to file; you're really only looking for coverage of med-evac / big issues.

 

Just so you know -- Americans are sometimes surprised by this -- med-evac typically does NOT return the patient all the way back to the US; it typically takes the patient to the closest world class medical center.  From Rwanda, that would likely be Johannesburg (when we were in Zambia & Malawi, that's where we would have gone; an acquaintance of ours recovered nicely in Johannesburg after multiple complicated fractures in Zimbabwe).  When I lived in the Philippines, patients were taken to Singapore, and so on.  I'm not sure which direction Kenya would go -- check with whatever provider you talk to.

 

Agree with Lanny that it's worth registering with STEP.  If nothing else, you get notifications of any relevant developments; if you're lucky you get invited to the July 4th party.

 

 

What a great opportunity for your daughter.  It can be a little daunting to imagine all the things that could "go wrong," but the odds of any of them are extremely low, whilst the odds of extraordinary, eye-opening, horizon-broadening experiences are very high indeed.

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