Gpanda

We're beginning to outline a plan for a November Asia trip, but we will need to buy trip insurance that will cover both Beth and me, if I need more focused treatment. Can anyone give me the name of a trip insurance compnay that will write a policy covering a pre-existing condition and pay when additional medical treatment is required? Thanks.

DonTopaz

Let's start out by saying that all insurance polices are written by attorneys.

I got a Travel Guard policy for a trip I took last year. I got the policy through insuremytrip.com, which is an excellent site for comparing different types of policies. For the policy that I got, and for many of the policies that I looked at, the key to getting coverage for pre-existing conditions was to purchase the policies within 15 days of making your initial payment for your trip.

You might also want to consider insurance that will get you back home in a medical emergency. (From what I've seen, travel insurance policies will get you to the nearest reputable medical facility, but not back home.) I've also got a policy with Medjetassist.com -- if you're hospitalized while traveling, they'll arrange for you to be returned home. You can get a MedjetAssist policy either for a single trip or on an annual basis. I don't recall their policy on preexisting conditions.

bookchick

I echo Rizzuto's recommendations. Insuremytrip.com has all kinds of features and you can compare policies "side by side". On my trip to Capri, I was re-routed due to weather and essentially lost a day of my vacation, and then on the way home my luggage was delayed, so I actually used and collected from my trip insurance.

Here's some more info on the short-term policies that Medjetassist has:
http://www.medjetassist.com/plans/shortterm.aspx

This claims that no health questions, deductibles or claims forms are ever needed. Being a legal eagle, I'm sure there's a lot subject to interpretation, but you have the professional chops to weed your way through it all.

BC

Craig

For medical evacuation insurance, the cheapest way to get it is to become a member of Divers Alert Network (DAN). A family membership which includes $100,000 worth of insurance, "TravelAssist" is $55/year.

tengohambre

Below was a recent blurb about Medjetassist. We also want to give them a call to check out pricing and particulars. Yet, the outfit is well known and seems to get good feedback. The pricing, if accurate as advertised, seems good for what is offered, I think:


For a Guarantee That You'll be Evacuated to a Hospital of Your Choice Try MedjetAssist Posted by Arthur Frommer at 6/17/2010 2:26 PM EDT

Travelers who are anxious to guarantee that they will be evacuated home, if a serious illness requiring hospitalization is incurred, often learn that their policy of emergency evacuation insurance isn't quite as effective as they would have wished. Some policies require that you prove a serious level of illness before evacuation will be provided. Other policies simply provide that you'll be flown to a better, nearby hospital that's not necessarily in your home country. Thus, a person trekking the trail to Machu Picchu in Peru, and falling seriously ill, might simply be moved to a hospital in Lima, and not in the United States.

Those examples have recently been used to justify the rather serious fees -- $250 for a year's travel protection -- charged by a company called MedjetAssist (www.medjetassist.com). Unlike many of the other insurance companies offering emergency evacuation, MedjetAssist will apparently evacuate anyone who has been admitted to a local hospital by the doctors of that establishment. And it will then fly the patient to a hospital of his/her choosing, not simply to the nearest hospital. This difference in policies has recently been noted by magazines as distinguished as The Economist.

(A short-term policy covering only a single trip of a few days costs $95).

If you're a person who worries about such matters, you might want to study the website of MedJetAssist; persons who travel to remote countries of an underdeveloped nature might want to consider the protection it offers.

Craig

And DAN does not screen for pre-existing conditions.

shelleyk

Andy, I believe Medjet Assist offers a discount to AARP members. And the key to covering preexisting conditions on a trip insurance policy is that you must purchase it usually 14 or 15 days from the date of your first booking, but I've seen some policies that require 10 days from first booking. If you do not want to compare the policies on your own on your computer, call insure my trip directly (they are brokers for many policies) and tell them of your situation and concerns and ask them to recommend the best policy for your situation. I did thios once, and by paying a little more than a policy I was going to purchase, they recommended a different company with much better coverage. I'm happy to hear you got a good MRI report and are making plans to continue travelling.

Marija

Doesn't DAN just evacuate you to the nearest medical facility that is qualified to treat you, while MedJetAssist will take you to the hospital of your choice as long as you meet inpatient criteria for both the sending and receiving hospitals?

Nywoman

I used to have American Express, until I discovered they only cover you for 45 days. Now I have DAN and of course my Medicare Advantage that covers me worldwide.

tengohambre

No doubt I could find this out eventually but I still haven't found out yet:

does AMEX cover you for medical evacuation? Does it depend on the AMEX card you have? Or, is there an option to sign up for it before you depart? Thanks.

rhkkmk

the other thing to do is to have no insurance and just self insure.... meaning that in the case of cancellation of your trip that you just absorb the $2500 airline costs yourself.... i personally hate to pay insurance premiums for something that would pay only a small amount of money, i.e. $2500. we have dan insurance and are quite happy with it at $55 a year for the two of us...

seeing that you are looking at bkk, evacuation insurance is really a mute point with B hospital right on your doorstep...

thursdaysd

"you just absorb the $2500 airline costs yourself." - it can be a lot more than $2500 - if you're on a stretcher, for instance.

DonTopaz

The Banker is right, though -- insurance is, by its nature, a losing proposition, on average, for the consumer. If you take 100 trips and buy insurance for each one, you'll spend more on premiums than you'll get back in payouts.

That said, there can be sound reasons to buy insurance. Knowing that you're in an above-average risk group, or being unable to absorb the cost of a loss are two of them.

rhkkmk

the OP is able to absorb the cost, but like all democrats he wants someone else to absorb the cost for him...

now this should bring people out of the wood work!!

Gpanda

We are DAN members, so the medical evacuation part is taken care of. It is the cost of the flights and hotels about which we are concerned. It's a straight betting situation. Does it make sense to pay the premium given my diagnosis and the likelihood of having to cancel our trip? We compare the premium to the total cost and use a percentage estimate of the likelihood on cacellation.

Bob's political nonsense is beside the point. He did these calculations as a banker for hundreds of years.

rhkkmk

there should be no potential hotel expense as you do not pay in advance..

what's $2500. in the scope of things if you are sick?? and the tickets could be used probably at a later date up to one year...

Gpanda

Like I said. It's simple math. How much are we risking and how much do we spend to insure? If it costs $20 per person for trip insurance, it's a good deal. If it cost $500 per person it's a bad deal. Do they even have arithmetic in Needham? If so, why?

shelleyk

You can look at it the other way-If you can afford the cost of the trip insurance, you can go away with peace of mind knowing that you are covered "just in case". If you need to change your return plane reservations, it could cost more than the original roundtrip ticket.

Gpanda

I did just see a $730 BOB-BKK fare on FinnAir on Travelocity. If we grab that, we may go with einstein's plan and just hope for the best. Of course, i wonder whether the travelocity Insurance would cover us.

Kathie

I have to admit that I have never purchased trip insurance. I do carry med evac through DAN since that's the really expensive thing one could need. My regular medical insurance covers urgent medical treatment in other countries.

I always pause and consider what I have to lose if there is a problem. Airfare? deposits on hotels? Or what I'd have to pay to get myself out of a situation - change fees on my airline ticket? a new ticket? Each time I've done the math, it hasn't been worth it to me. But your situation is different, so your numbers are different.