Healthcare while traveling in Europe?
 

My husband and I are going to London, Paris, and Venice,Rome and Florence and we leave tomorrow.... if we were to get sick over there or need medical care, where do you go? And is it really expensive to see a doctor in a foreign country? I have no idea how all of that works....

If you have good health insurance in the US, it might pay you back when you return home. However, if you have something major like a broken leg, you should call and notify them when it happens. My cousins wife is French. When they lived in England, she went to France to have her baby as she didn't think much of British health care.

>she didn't think much of British health care.

British health care is a bit Ryan Air-like. You get to your destination pretty safe and on time but without any frills.

Assuming you have medical insurance where you live, check with them first
to see what is or is not covered.

I did this with the company that provides my group insurance and they gave me a toll free number to call
from Europe as well as to remind me to carry my insurance card.

If you aren't covered you need to check
out the cost of buying coverage before you go. I'm sure any travel agent could
give you a list of companies providing
short term out of country coverage.

You might also check out
iamat.org
The International Association for Medical Assistance for Travelers can provide you with a list of English speaking doctors in the countries you'll be visiting. Membership is free although
you should make a donation.

Hope this helps,

Rob

Consider also insurance so that you can be transferred back to the US if necessary. Medical evacuations are extremely expensive.

<< Medical evacuations are extremely expensive.>>

Also extremely rare. These companies make a huge profit from the fact that almost no one ever gets evacuated (from Europe). The condition that must be satisfied is that the care cannot be provided in the locality where the illness or injury occurred, and that the patient would likely have a better outcome from being transported across an ocean rather than treated there.

Rather like the probability of being struck by a meterorite.

Best wishes,

Rex Bickers, M.D.

Check out insuremytrip.com, which has a dandy comparative chart of various kinds and prices of insurance.

Additional insurance is essential is you have Medicare, BTW.

I've used the British Health Service and thought it was excellent, and I don't think they even gave me a bill (if so, it was very minimal).

The US is about the most expensive country in the world to see a doctor. Any place in Europe that I've been is very reasonable for medical care, in comparison. I believe the US state dept. website or something has a list of English-speaking doctors in various countries. Actually, I may be thinking of the embassy website for a specific country, try that. Like the US embassy in France website has a list of English-speaking doctors in Paris.

IN practicality, if you have some emergency, your hotel ought to be able to guide you as to what to do.

awesome- thanks for the help!

Rex - I think Medjet covers for any reason as long as you are 150 miles from home.
http://www.medjetassistance.com/memb...artner=default

There is a thread in the lounge about someone currently needing transport home for heart surgery.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35083756

rex it is true that is is seldom needed, but then again most people will not need to visit a doctor whilst on holiday, or make a claim for a lost stolen piece of luggage. But Still people take out insurance agianst such an eventuality.
My permanent travel insurance (Dutch based) includes medical evacuation in the policy, but I have heard of people being stranded for a long time in a foreign country because they could not travel back on a scheduled airline, or without medical asstitance.

Hi KY,

>I think Medjet covers for any reason as long as you are 150 miles from home.<

I think that Medjet's fine print says that your physician and their physician must agree that you cannot get proper medical care without being flown home.

This is not going to happen in Europe.

((I))

Hi J,

Call your health insurance provider last week and ask them what the procedures are.

Should you have a medical emergency in any of the places you are visiting, you will be taken care of.

Medical costs are usually relatively low.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

ira:

Thanks for raising a point that's occasionally puzzled me.

Medevac obviously can almost never make sense from anywhere in Europe west of Belarus. And the only times it might look as if it might make sense - when someone's very, very, ill - are the times moving them to an international airport and flying them 5,000 miles is probably a really rotten idea.

So the overwhelming likelihood is that insurance companies virtually never allow it from western Europe (from Chad or Nepal is a different issue). Yet Americans often go on about it.

Does anyone know of a single documented example of a US insurance company actually forking out for medevac from western Europe in the past half century. And if (as I suspect) there isn't such an example, why are people such mugs as to fork out for something they can't ever get?

Incidentally, the thread in the Lounge isn't about someone "needing" heart surgery in the US - something that, amazingly, is easily available in Ireland where that someone is. It's about someone's family wanting a patient in need of heart surgery to be flown a third of the way round the world. Whether it's good for the patient or not.

Kyb...

...you're right, MedJetAssist does offer a program at $225 (actually good for one calendar year, not just one trip) that enables the evacuation to be undertaken at the <i>member's</i> discretion, not at the discretion of the <u>company</u> (most policies) or the attending physician, away from home (second most common).

I'll just add the anecdotal information of the rather &quot;famous&quot; thread here on Fodors of a woman whose mother broke her hip in France (I helped locate the hospital, a nearby hotel, and some info on services for non-French-speaking visitors to patients)... and while there was a brief period of rather frenetic thinking about transferring her back to the US for the definitive surgery - - the ultimate decision, as agreed upon by the patient, the daughter, the doctors in France and doctors who knew the patient back in the US was... far better to have the surgery and convalesce in France. The transport would have added needless risk and discomfort.

Admittedly, an anecdote of one... but it sticks with me... if that [a geriatric patient with a potentially life-threatening fracture] wasn't a case for evacuation (traveling in Europe) - - then when are there ever circumstances that require evacuation?

I would equate it to car insurance. Would I drive a new expensive car without collision insurance? No, never.

Would I pay $225 (even for an entire year) - - for insurance against the steering wheel breaking off in my hands? Likewise... no, never.

A colleague and his wife who were vacationing in France were struck not by a meteor, but by a drunk driver. I don't recall how many bones were broken, or how badly, but my colleague also had a severe head injury and was in a coma for several weeks. Since they didn't know if or when he would regain consciousness, a medical evacuation back to Canada made sense, and he was home--still unconscious--within a couple of weeks. It took longer to get his wife home. Both of her legs were broken, but her insurance would not pay for stretcher service, so she had to wait until she could sit for the entire flight.

This insurance also covers evacuation of remains. Although I can't think of anyone I know who had to be evacuated for medical reasons, I do know of three people who had heart attacks and died while overseas and the families had to get their remains home (which can cost a fortune!).

I cannot believe that it could ever make sense to fly someone needing immediate surgery for fractures half way around the world. How would you keep someone immobile for that length of time and distance? What if the fracture caused a life-threatening bleed?

The only time someone could safely be moved would be after they'd had treatment/surgery and been stabilised.

Ira - I don't see that on their web site. Do you have a link? It just says the requirements are that you are in the hospital and need to be in a hospital when you get home. I doubt I would ever buy such a policy, but they do have shorter, cheaper travel policies if you didn't want to pay $225.

Most insurance plans (personal health not travel polcies) are renewed the first of the year. It's a good idea to read the fine print as many are dropping coverage for certain things. Mine no longer covers outside the US.

I'd just as soon be treated in France or Italy than be shifted onto a plane even a private medivac one. For remains, it would be a lot cheaper for cremation and someone flying over to pick them up!