Travel Medical Insurance Advice

[grgs]

After reading this TUG thread from earlier this year, I decided it might not be a bad a idea to get travel medical insurance for our January trip to Puerto Vallarta:

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70947

I'm not particularly concerned with general travel insurance (i.e. reimbursement for air/accommodations in the event I can't go on the trip), but specifically for coverage in a medical emergency as discussed in the thread above. I did see the TUG advice article on travel insurance, but I had more specific questions:

Any idea how much coverage would be reasonable for medical evacuation?
$100,000?, $250,000?, $500,000?

The InsureMyTrip.com site is great for getting quotes, but are there any specific policy details I should be checking for?

Thanks!

Glorian

 

[aliikai2]

Glorian, We bought the Amex

Purchase Date: 12/10/2008
InsureMyTrip Order Number: 9006312
Company: American Express
Plan Name: Global Travel Shield Deluxe
Fulfillment: Email
Premium: $ 232.00

with the 100K evac, and an extra 500k life. From PV it should only run 50K max but medical bills add up fast .

We used the medical portion for Joyce in 2007, she had a quick ER treatment that was $13,000 pesos, ( $1250 usd) that the insurance paid all but the $250 deductible.

We don't get this type of insurance to go anywhere in country, but out of country, I feel it is a great investment.

jmho,

Greg

After reading this TUG thread from earlier this year, I decided it might not be a bad a idea to get travel medical insurance for our January trip to Puerto Vallarta:

http://tugbbs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70947

I'm not particularly concerned with general travel insurance (i.e. reimbursement for air/accommodations in the event I can't go on the trip), but specifically for coverage in a medical emergency as discussed in the thread above. I did see the TUG advice article on travel insurance, but I had more specific questions:

Any idea how much coverage would be reasonable for medical evacuation?
$100,000?, $250,000?, $500,000?

The InsureMyTrip.com site is great for getting quotes, but are there any specific policy details I should be checking for?

Thanks!

Glorian

 

[BarCol]

Travel without travel insurance - I don't think so - and get the BEST there is...

As our friends on this site will know, our son was involved in a serious MVA while in NZ (this was not a third world country or else we would have shipped his remains home) - we had insurance but the costs of what he (and I suppose we) went through run like this:
Hospital stay (Auckland Hospital ICU and Neuro ward for 1 month)
Cavit's ABI rehab 3 months plus 1 month outpatients - about $600,00O NZ (ultimately paid by the NZ government)
Our costs for getting there and staying for 3 months in my case, 5 months in my husband's to support him before our son could even be transported home - $24,000 CAD
Cost of transport home in 3 stages (AKL-HNL, HNL-YVR, YVR -YYZ) $8,000 CAD
Cost of canceling the timeshare week in PV for the Christmas we spent far from home - $1,000 reimbursed from the II insurance package.

Cost of reahb andongoing expenses here in Canada - unknown anad climbing...still

Do you want to skimp on trip insurance for yourselve or anyone close to you?? - I don't think so...
I hope the friend of the OP's sister will be better in time - it's a long hard climb back to somewhere when there's an head injury.

Moral of the story (among many we have found) Never go anywhere without travel insurance to the max - nothing less than 1 to 5 million.

 

[Gramma5]

IMHO I think out of the country medical insurance is the thing to do. Just today one of my clients was telling me her husband, her Dad and she went on a Cruise in early Dec. To Aruba and the Panama Canal etc. After a few days on the ship, her dad (only 71) took ill (blood clots in the lungs)and had to be admittd to the hospital in Aruba for 4 days before being stable enough to fly home.
She said that his medical insurance wasn't good over there and they did not take a check. It caused alot of problems...very expensive and frustrating. And she had even considered getting medical insurance but thought...oh no, we're healthy.
A neighbor of ours was in Mexico 2 yrs ago for Christmas and her husband had a severe heart attack and dropped dead. She did not have insurance was alone in a foreign country and said the arrangements to fly him out of Mexico were horriffic and costly!
I think anytime I'm out of the country, I will definitely get coverage.
Sherry