Lois2

Also based on their website I don't even see they have a presence in France..I thought it seemed odd to come on here during a medical emergency

Macross

You were brave to do that under a local! Great doctors there, they impressed me so much during the attacks. I just can't imagine you with crushed bones getting in a taxi and going back to your apartment. You must have a huge threshold for pain.

hetismij2

It has led to an interesting discussion even so, and pointed out why travel insurance is always a good idea. An accident can happen anywhere, and medical care and special transport can be expensive, plus the extra costs of any companions are normally covered or the flying in of a relative/friend if you are alone. OK the chances of making a claim are, thankfully, very low, but that one time...

wunderbar2

MmePerdu, I received two bills, one from each hospital and total cost was a bit over 2000€. I've been to Paris many times and this was a first with no insurance, my ignorance and it will never happen again! However the cost was unbelievably reasonable due to the care I received.

Macross, this was the only option I had prior to surgery the night before and it worked out fine. As to high threshold for pain, no, I'm the worlds biggest chicken however I really wanted to fly home the following day, which I did, and was told it wouldn't be possible if they put me under. Also the doctors told me local was much better for recovery and safer so you do what you have to. Tho I will add.....never again! My husband and I are going to Paris next week and this time I have medical, so Inexpensive, I'm ashamed to admit I didn't get it last trip.

MmePerdu

Thanks for that information, wunderbar2, very interesting and, yes, inexpensive. For most of 50 years I've traveled without insurance but for the last couple of overseas trips, it was offered at a reasonable cost or free and I now plan to have it every trip. The other big factor is that rather than traveling 4-6 months at a time, 1 month trips are likely to be the norm so insurance is much less costly.

Thanks again.

wunderbar2

You're welcome. As they say, live & learn. In the past we've always taken out insurance mainly due to my elderly moms health, on that trip I figured since my husband was staying home in the US, no need. That'll show me!

fuzzbucket

If you're an American citizen, many health care plans will cover emergency care, like the services mentioned above. You must pay the hospital yourself, then your health care plan will reimburse you.
I live in Paris, and when I had an emergency procedure, I was asked to pay before I left the hospital. I submitted the forms to my US health care plan and was reimbursed 100%.

It's a good idea to check with your insurance company before you travel.

Kathie

Yes, do check with your insurance company and see if they will reimburse you. My insurance pays for urgent care any where in the world. Yes, I have to pay first, but my insurance reimburses me in full.

wunderbar2

fuzzbucket, we did consult our insurance here in the US once I returned and no, it wasn't covered. Currently we have a high deductible insurance policy as we've retired and are not Medicare age, which wouldn't take care of medical outside the US. Let me clarify, care back in the States was taken care of by insurance minus our deductible however outside of the US, no. 100% my fault for not having purchased a medical plan, not going to happen again and no matter the cost, I received excellent care and have no issue at all.

kerouac

I have been hospitalized twice in Paris in the 43 years that I have lived here, but I must admit that I never saw a bill either time. My health insurance absorbed everything, and I was never even informed of the monetary amounts involved.

hetismij2

Your US medical insurance probably doesn't cover an expensive flight home, having to change flights, extra hotel bills for a companion, pay docked for the companion overstaying their leave, potential visa problems and in the worst case dealing with the paperwork and transport of a body.

My Dutch health insurance covers me worldwide, but I still have travel insurance.

fuzzbucket

In any case, if the OP's predicament was legitimate, it's probably a moot point now, following Brexit...

Michael

<i>No payment required at that time, just care and concern of my well being.</i>

That may depend on the hospital. When my wife had to be cast and eventually changed during a six week recovery of a broken ankle in the Dordogne, the Périgueux hospital billed us immediately, and payment was expected; we were eventually reimbursed by our U.S. insurance (Kaiser, both the insurer and the provider).

thursdaysd

"If you're an American citizen, many health care plans will cover emergency care, like the services mentioned above"

IF you have employer group coverage, that is probably true. If you have an individual policy, much less likely. If you are on Medicare, absolutely not true. Some (not all) of the Medigap plans provide coverage, but they only pay 80% with a lifetime cap of $50,000. And I have never heard of a US medical plan that includes evacuation and repatriation. (And not all evacuation plans include repatriation, read the fine print.)

Michael

<i> If you are on Medicare, absolutely not true. </i>

Not quite. As a retired state employee my supplemental is paid to Kaiser which acts as the insurer and will cover emergency care abroad. Unfortunately it is impossible to make universal statements about coverage from the States given the patchwork system that we have.

thursdaysd

Supplemental with Kaiser is not Medicare.

Michael

<i>Supplemental with Kaiser is not Medicare.</i>

That is true, but I suspect that most people do as I would--submit the cost of the treatment and see if it will be reimbursed; and from my point of view, I am under Medicare since I deal with a single medical agency, whatever the technical details that allow me to be reimbursed.

thursdaysd

That is very nice for you, but most people don't have that luxury. As I said already, there are Medigap policies that will provide some coverage, I have one myself, but that doesn't alter the fact that Medicare itself does not provide coverage outside the US, and the coverage provided by a Medigap policy is minimal. Saying that Medicare provides coverage is incorrect and dangerously misleading.

Michael

I never recommended to count on a Medicare reimbursement, just to try and see if some reimbursement will be provided--do we all read the fine print?

I once did file a claim for urgent care in Taos, received two checks which did not cover the entire amount minus the standard co-pay, cashed the checks and two days later was told that the claim was not eligible for reimbursement; but they never tried to get their money back. Since most threads on this topic seem to reflect an after the fact issue, it does not hurt to try to get reimbursed.

thursdaysd

First quote:

" <i>If you are on Medicare, absolutely not true.</i>

Not quite"

Second quote:

I never recommended to count on a Medicare reimbursement"

What part of "not quite" does not mean that Medicare may reimburse you for overseas medical expenses (last I checked, Taos was still in the US)? It is <b>not true</b> that <b>Medicare</b> will reimburse foreign medical expenses, never mind what your Kaiser coverage does.

When dealing with medical insurance only an idiot ignores the fine print.