Do you always buy trip insurance, medical coverage, medevac,etc.?
 

Leaving Tues. for 3 weeks in China and Tibet but forgot to get insurance as trip only booked 3 weeks ago. Should I scramble to find some or take a chance without?

Karen

No need to scramble. Many companies offer insurance up to departure, and you don't need to buy trip cancellation.

It's up to you. I always carry med evac insurance. If you need to be med evac'd it can be very expensive - say $50,000 - $100,000.

I don't carry trip medical coverage, but then my own insurance covers urgent care in foreign countries. I do have to pay at the time of service, but I will be reimbursed when I get home.

I also don't buy trip insurance. I don't go on tours, so my liability if I had to cancel is just the rebooking fee for my plane ticket and perhaps a night or two of lodging. Those things typically cost less than the trip insurance.

But if you've purchased an expensive tour you might want trip insurance.

It depends on how you travel, what costs you'd incur if you had to cancel, and what kind of medical coverage you have from your own insurance. There is no one-size fits all answer for this.

It had never occured to me get any kind of insurance before I checked into this and other travel forum. Ignorance is a bliss what can I tell you. i didn't even get any hep shots or had any thoughts about mosquitos when i went to India and South East Asia.

China is a safe place to go in my book. Medical cost there is a fraction of what you would pay here in the US.

At the end of the day it has everything to do with your comfort level. If you don't have it don't worry about it.

> China is a safe place to go in my book. Medical cost there is a fraction of what you would pay here in the US.

This is the sort of profound ignorance that for the safety of others who read this forum cannot go unquestioned. The implication that it's safe to take risks because it's cheap to get treatment must be as stupid and ill-informed an argument as has ever been seen on this site.

No one should be taking medical advice from a travel forum but instead looking for specialist help via travel medicine clinics and tropical medicine centres, and a read of pages supplied by national medical authorities, such as the USA's CDC. This will offer some understanding of the risks of hepatitis (widespread in both A and B forms, although the risk of catching the one is fairly low), and areas where malarial prophylaxis should be employed (and which type). The news on mosquito-borne infections (also Japanese encephalitis) varies from year to year. Those on very brief trips and staying entirely in cities are at low risk, but experts, not guesswork, should be consulted for the latest recommendations. Typhoid, tetanus, polio, diphtheria, etc., should all be up-to-date where not now superseded by new assessments of risk.

Medical attention in China *at US standards* is at *US prices*. It can cost over US$100 just to be seen by a physician. All other procedures at foreign-run treatment centres come at bankrupting full-scale Western prices, and not without proof of funds or coverage, and only then by certain insurers, and not necessarily without money up front. Care at such standards is any only available in a few major cities.

Standards of care at Chinese hospitals vary wildly, and although reforms are promised are currently driven by the desire to make as much money as possible, which is not achieved by offering limited treatment. Anyone who appears rich gets charged more, and foreigners automatically so. Payment will be demanded up front, extra charges galore added and expensive scans and medicines prescribed as much as possible. Standards of care and even of basic hygiene, even if the necessary bribes are paid and even in the biggest cities, may be well below what is expected.

In short, medical insurance, which should include evacuation coverage, should be obtained by all visitors to China.

Ignorance is not bliss. It is simply ignorance, and can have nasty side-effects both on the wallet and on health.

Peter N-H

And even if medical care in China was cheap (and the dentist I saw in Beijing certainly wasn't) you'd still need medical evacuation insurance. I've only had to use it once, but I was certainly glad I had it then. I've never bothered with trip cancellation insurance, much less baggage insurance, but I seldom take expensive tours.

As mentioned above, you can purchase your insurance up to departure.

If you've prepaid for any part of your ground stays in China or Tibet (hotels, tours, transportation, transfers, etc), these should be covered in case of interruption (accident, illness). Medical might be inexpensive or not, but evacuation is very costly. Doesn't matter whether young or old, anyone can have an accident and even a leg cast might mean you need another seat on your homebound flight.

Few travelers have need for major claims, but if one does... better to be covered than not. Unless, of course, you have lots of credit on your plastic. And, even that might be a problem in remote places.

Happy travels.

Thank you all for your responses. Shall go online to get some coverage and evac/repatriation insurance, I'll feel better to have it. Thought it might be too late. Am up to date with basic vacs, except Hep.A, but not enough time to make arrangements as this was a last minute booked trip. Again, thank you all who took the time to respond. Happy Easter and Happy Passover.

Karen

Your doctor's office should be able to give you a Hepititus A shot. Get one before you leave, then a booster in 6 months.

With all due respect, 'scrambling' IS a big deal. Most Companies will only cover pre-existing conditions if you buy insurance within 14 days of making first payment. We went to Africa a few months ago, and ended up using both our med-evac coverage and trip cancellation. We received a check for $11,000, covering the last week of the trip we missed, all of the med insurance co-pays, my hotel room while husband was in the hospital, and airport change fees ($300). I will always buy insurance for an extended trip. You NEVER KNOW what can happen!

No, we don't. Our US medical insurance covers us overseas. Be very careful if you buy med-evac coverage. There is med-evac coverage that will take you where you want to go, but there is also "med-evac" coverage that will only take you to the nearest medical facility that can take care of your problem. For most travelers that means an ambulance ride, NOT a return to your home country. Read the fine print. General trip insurance (for hotels, airfare, and such) is a very poor buy for most trips for most people.

Rufus, you are quite right that you should read the fine print on ANY insurance policy. I know there are those who believe that if they are in an accident or fall very ill they want to be med evac'd home. I don't. I want to be med-evac'd to the closest appropriate facility. In many places I visit in Asia, that would not be an ambulance ride, but would be a plane to one of the excellent facilities in SE Asia, likely in Bangkok or Singapore.