Post: #26

(11-12-2014 06:01 AM)CodyB Wrote:  I work in travel insurance. These are some statistics.

Rarely costs more than 5% of your prepaid travel cost (it will go up a lot once you reach your 70s)

1 in 17 people claim
1 in 26 people make a claim > $1,000 (Aud)
Out of 1.5M people insured per year, roughly 400 need a specialist medical evacuation

Anecdotally, all sorts of fucked up shit happens outside of the travellers control. Earthquakes happen, relatives die, weather shuts the road to the airport, people put their passport in the washing machine. Shit, something as benign as an inner ear infection will ground you for a week.

Take it out. It's a few percentage points, and most decent policies cover electronics like Ipads / Laptops and shit like that.

Hi Cody, thanks for this info! Since you're in the industry, who do you recommend that's good, specifically for the medivac? Busted laptop I can handle, it's for an elderly relative that I'm more concerned about

(11-12-2014 06:22 AM)Seadog Wrote:  My grandmother actually had to get a medical evac from Florida back to eastern Canada about 10 years ago.

Honestly it was a painful experience, and I really don't think very high of insurance companies. Basically she had cancer like 3 years prior, but her doctor up here gave it the all clear, and then it came back down there.

They decided to send here back to Canada via Air Ambulance, and then the insurance company didn't want to pay the $37k because they said it was preexisting. The doctor said no it wasn't, but the insurance company said yes it was. So then we had to get the lawyers and doctors involved, but it eventually got paid.

Also be careful with relying on credit card coverage because I know some of them don't cover trips for longer than 15 days. Similar to the free rental car insurance a lot of CC's offer.

Sorry to hear about the messed up experience. So did you have to initially pay the $37k upfront and then try to get reimbursed?? This is probably my biggest fear as I don't just have $30k lying around for an emergency. A few thousand, yes, but don't want to be put in a difficult situation.

Also, do you mind telling the name of the insurance company?

Thanks in advance!

Post: #27

Sorry double post

Post: #28

Be careful when picking insurance company, I picked one that everybody in my country just blindly takes for travel - big mistake.

Recently I found out there is a high chance I might have lymphoma and need biopsy to confirm which is fairly expensive.

Even though doctor wrote that it's urgent they don't care, not paying for doctors/test here and ofc refusing to pay flight back to home country.

I have the most expensive package that should cover it all. Guess I'd need to be in a coma for them to consider doing something about it :/
They will probably pay up after lawyer sends them letter but still, unpleasant crooks that I hope I'll never have to deal with again.

Post: #29

(11-27-2014 06:01 AM)ballybally Wrote:  Be careful when picking insurance company, I picked one that everybody in my country just blindly takes for travel - big mistake.

Recently I found out there is a high chance I might have lymphoma and need biopsy to confirm which is fairly expensive.

Even though doctor wrote that it's urgent they don't care, not paying for doctors/test here and ofc refusing to pay flight back to home country.

I have the most expensive package that should cover it all. Guess I'd need to be in a coma for them to consider doing something about it :/
They will probably pay up after lawyer sends them letter but still, unpleasant crooks that I hope I'll never have to deal with again.

All insurance companies are pricks, don't ever assume they have a shred of decency. They operate solely and only based on their contractual obligation, which does make sense, because it would be impossible to run such a business with appeal to emotion. In your case, they most likely are going to claim pre-existing condition, but as you say, that is only if you should reasonably have known about it.

Get well man, get back home if you need to.

Post: #30

Sorry to hear about your situation Ballybally. If you look earlier in the thread, I believe there was another member who had to also get lawyers involved. I think we should share the contact info of which lawyers are good (they deserve to be rewarded for their results) and also which insurance companies suck. I agree, it's a business, then therefore, we as consumers have the right to know how they respond in emergency situations so that the good ones get good reviews and therefore more business. I'll say a prayer for ya man. Stay strong

Post: #31

Hello all, as mentioned in this ER thread: /thread-43308.html

I don't want to double post so will provide more insurance related info here. This was listed on the CDC website:
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2...-insurance

FINDING AN INSURANCE PROVIDER

The following resources, although not all-inclusive, provide information about purchasing travel health and medical evacuation insurance:

Department of State (http://www.travel.state.gov External Web Site Icon)
International SOS (http://www.internationalsos.com External Web Site Icon)
MEDEX (http://www.medexassist.com External Web Site Icon)
International Association for Medical Assistance to Travelers (http://www.iamat.org External Web Site Icon)
American Association of Retired Persons (http://www.aarp.org External Web Site Icon) (for information about Medicare supplement plans, see below)

Also for those of us in US, for long term insurance, I found these 3 options. Not quite sure how Obamacare will play into all this so will update as I find out more. As I want to live abroad long term, this is especially important for me as what good is earning/saving thousands of dollars only to have it all get F-'d up by one medical emergency? Better to have a contingency plan to protect yourself:

http://www.cignaglobal.com/health-insurance-plans
https://www.geobluetravelinsurance.com/p...erview.cfm
http://www.aetnainternational.com/ai/en

Post: #32

(11-12-2014 06:02 AM)CodyB Wrote:  On a side note- America is far and away the most expensive country in the world for medicine. For you Americans on health insurance in the states, do they cover your costs overseas considering they are going to cost far less?

No American healthcare generally doesn't provide health coverage abroad. Just another one of the benefits of our incredibly expensive healthcare system.

I'm going through this now and trying to figure out the differences among the various policies. GlobalBlu and Cigna Global Health are the two I'm pricing out. For older guys (i.e. above 40+) it's a bit more expensive than what I've been seeing quoted around the forum - I'm getting around $1700-2200 per annum pricing for up to $2m total coverage with $750-1000 deductibles. The good thing is that this covers you around the globe wherever your travel (including the US up to 90 days).

Post: #33

Hey Akula, thanks for the post. After I posted the above post, I tried calling every single one of them up and only got their voicemails. In addition, a few of them had British accents which didn't make me feel comfortable (no offense against Brits but how would you feel if you called up two different companies that claimed to have offices in England and heard American accents? You'd probably think they weren't as local as you thought they'd be)

I left them all messages but haven't heard back from any of them.

I really want to hit up Ukraine and Thailand next year but have to bring an elderly relative with me so need a solution.

Post: #34

Bumping this thread due to some upcoming trips and not finding much luck with travel insurance. Apologies for the delay, but to answer the questions, my grandmother got really sick, really quickly, and the doctors didn't think she was stable/well enough to travel without medical supervision. They were actually debating what would be more cost effective, treating her in the US, vs flying her back and getting treated for free here, and settled on that. And finally we didn't have to pay the 37k upfront, everyone (us, docs, hell even the insurance ppl) understood it would be covered, so the bill just went to the insurance co. It was only after someone took note 2 months later after she had passed and investigated they tried to get away with not paying.

Anyways, I'm looking at a bunch of big trips over next year (Egypt, SE Asia, Oz this summer, Africa for the fall, Oz/SE Asia over winter, South America next spring) and trying to find insurance for the year. Almost everywhere I look has 30 days max per trip, and want a single specific destination. It doesn't seem like it should be this difficult. Also, has anyone ever had luck with just high deductible "only if shit hits the fan" insurance for cheap as recommended by folks like early retirement extreme?

I did find this place: http://www.imgeurope.co.uk, but I'm just a little hesitant going with some company I've never heard of based in the UK.

What do the people who take up mini-residences in Columbia or Thailand or where ever else for 4 month do?

Post: #35

Oh and Insurance Co was Blue Cross. As much as I dislike Michael Moore, the one scene in Sicko about insurance adjusters sitting in a room trying to weasel out of paying probably isn't too far from the truth.

Post: #36

I used worldnomads.com during my two months in Thailand and China last year. Available to customers in pretty much any country in the world and coverage pretty much anywhere (and with additional options for high risk adventure travel and other things).
Emergency medical coverage for the base insurance is up to 1 million Euro if I recall correctly.
They are very much aiming at people who travel for long periods of time and to multiple countries, with coverage ranging from a few days up to a year or so, with the possibility of extending while you're traveling.

I had to file one claim with them for an 11000 THB treatment for food poisoning in Krabi. Went smoothly and I got around 75% of the money back (there was a small... don't know the English word, up to a certain modest amount you have to pay yourself).

Post: #37

I get it just in case, but only travel health insurance. Better safe than sorry I guess.

Post: #38

(06-11-2015 06:06 AM)Seadog Wrote:  Anyways, I'm looking at a bunch of big trips over next year (Egypt, SE Asia, Oz this summer, Africa for the fall, Oz/SE Asia over winter, South America next spring) and trying to find insurance for the year. Almost everywhere I look has 30 days max per trip, and want a single specific destination. It doesn't seem like it should be this difficult. Also, has anyone ever had luck with just high deductible "only if shit hits the fan" insurance for cheap as recommended by folks like early retirement extreme?

The CAA and their associated regional networks offer travel insurance for unlimited periods of time. It will be priced by how long and which countries you go to, you can put in multiple countries as well. You can also get multi-trip packages as well.

I don't usually get insurance if I am going for a long period of time because the price just grows way too quickly, but I used to get it fairly frequently.

I never, ever, got a really low deductible (usually went for the $1000 or 2500 option). I don't need medical/travel insurance for paying for some antibiotics I might need or going to see a doctor over an ear infection or a broken finger. The countries I visit these types of things can cost as little as $10-40. The only reason I would need it is if I got hit by a bus or in a car accident or something serious where the resulting bills could cost thousands of dollars.

Also, don't get caught up in all the add-ons either, just get the bare bones medical insurance, things like trip cancellation and baggage insurance are things that should be covered at least partially by your airline and just don't be an idiot and lose your shit.

Post: #39

(06-11-2015 10:18 AM)Americas Wrote:  I don't usually get insurance if I am going for a long period of time because the price just grows way too quickly, but I used to get it fairly frequently.

I never, ever, got a really low deductible (usually went for the $1000 or 2500 option). I don't need medical/travel insurance for paying for some antibiotics I might need or going to see a doctor over an ear infection or a broken finger. The countries I visit these types of things can cost as little as $10-40. The only reason I would need it is if I got hit by a bus or in a car accident or something serious where the resulting bills could cost thousands of dollars.

Also, don't get caught up in all the add-ons either, just get the bare bones medical insurance, things like trip cancellation and baggage insurance are things that should be covered at least partially by your airline and just don't be an idiot and lose your shit.

This is what I'm finding. CAA seems to require trips less than 30 days. World nomads maxes out at 6 months, and even for the 7 week trip this summer it's $250, with all sorts of 'trip cancellation' and 'luggage protection' stuff I don't need. Basically I'm just looking for something to cover the 150k air ambulance or other extreme stuff, even with a big 5k deductible I'd be fine with. As shitty as a 1-2k ambulance or hospital bill would be, it wouldn't affect my trip at the end of the day, and I'd prefer to stick with the odds.

Part of me says fuck it, but then a guided tour to Africa I'm looking at says they require travel insurance with adventure coverage.

This sort of policy seems to be fairly common in the UK, and reasonably priced around 50-100 pounds for the year, but you need to be a UK resident.

Post: #40

Sorry to hear about your grandma. My condolences.

Did you check out any of the links I posted earlier, specifically the ER one? Just because you have insurance, you gotta make sure the good hospitals will take it. I don't know about you but if I got fucked up in another country, I would want to be treated at the best places. So it depends on the specific country. Off the top of my head, I remember Thailand having a lot of good options whereas Ukraine had Shit. Latin America had a few spots as well.

Blue cross I think was the only one that gave their customers access to a worldwide map that listed their doctors who accepted their insurance whereas everybody else just offered the same kinda policy. I also remember one of the review sites where say a particular policy sounded good (on paper) but when it came time to pay out, the actual coverage and experience was completely different. As an example, maybe the insurance didn't pay out (or not without a fight)

Post: #41

American companies seem fucked for travel insurance.

Australian companies generally offer 'Unilimited' Oseas medical and dental. By virtue of it being unlimited, they cannot reasonably exclude you from using any hospital.

Look out for these underwriters;
Allianz
Mondial
Munich Re:

i'm not sure if they're available in the states but they are the best.

Post: #42

I'm looking at Geoblue, HCC, RoamRight and WorldNomad. The other policies some guys have listed really cost a lot more.

Now I understand, they may not have the same exact coverages. But I am just looking at this in the event something bad happens.

Geoblue seems to be the cheapest and covers trips up to 70 days. Its choice plan is $165 for the year. $95 for just one trip.

HCC was $157.62 for about 3 months (I put in a few extra days).

RoamRight was $235 for the year but trips less than 30 days.

WorldNomad was $169 or $243 for 2 months.

Seems like GeoBlue is the best bet for me, anyone actually need to use them before? Meaning you actually needed to use the policy?

Thanks.

Post: #43

(08-09-2015 12:05 AM)samsamsam Wrote:  I'm looking at Geoblue, HCC, RoamRight and WorldNomad. Seems like GeoBlue is the best bet for me, anyone actually need to use them before? Meaning you actually needed to use the policy?

samsamsam, what way did you end up going with this? Hopefully, you did not have to make any claims.

Post: #44

Travel insurance is cheap if you go for less than 17 days at a time - and as many times. However, once you go over 17 days, it starts to get real expensive.

Post: #45

(11-01-2015 07:20 AM)popeyearms76 Wrote:  

(08-09-2015 12:05 AM)samsamsam Wrote:  I'm looking at Geoblue, HCC, RoamRight and WorldNomad. Seems like GeoBlue is the best bet for me, anyone actually need to use them before? Meaning you actually needed to use the policy?

samsamsam, what way did you end up going with this? Hopefully, you did not have to make any claims.

I went Geoblue Voyager.