epaulino

Traveling with my husband, who some months ago had a serious heart attack while traveling in the US, doing well and able to travel without apparent problems.

We have BC/BS in the US (I work in health care/hospital). I have read that emergency rooms have signs (Paris, Madrid)indicating that services are not covered by your insurance and bills must be paid by cash or credit card.

Should we be buying international health insurance? I just want to have peace of mind without overdoing it.

Thanks!

Padraig

I have no idea what your current policy covers, and this is not the place to ask. Ask your insurer.

Hospitals in Europe have no advance idea what any individual attendee's insurance cover is, so a sign saying that the service is not covered by insurance is nonsense. What might arise -- and what I suspect the notices really mean -- is that the hospitals do not have arrangements with overseas insurers for direct payment, so they want the patient to settle the account and then the patient can deal with the insurer.

Marija

BC/BS does have "network" hospitals in Europe, which can be used for certain types of policies. If you're covered abroad make sure to get a list of their hospitals and keep it with you.

Dukey

If the biggest risk is a possible repeat infarct (heart attack) there is no WAY you will be able to "pick and choose" which hospital your husband is taken to since the nearest medical facility (hopefully with the capability of dealing with this sort of emergency) is the one that should be used, whether or not it might be participating in any sort of insurance plan.

if you do buy travle insurance which has a medical component I urge you to be thoroughly familiar with any and all medical exclusion provisions which are often a part of these policies.

bob_brown

I would. I sure as heck would. And I would get a policy that had provisions to help me get home!!

Jake1

Yes, do contact BC/BS. Our policy covers us overseas--just like at home there are network doctors/hospitals and non-network doctors/hospitals. Either way, most expenses are covered. But not all BC/BS plans are the same.

If you do want a policy that includes "evacuation" insurance be aware that most "evacuation" insurance only evacuates you to the nearest medical facility capable of handling your medical problem, not to your home city/country. Read the fine print carefully.

camelbak

The one thing I always make sure I have when I travel is international medical insurance. You do not want to be anywhere in the world without being able to get proper medical attention b/c you do not have insurance.

Example? DH and I were in Mexico (I know, different country, but same principle?) and a man on the resort was injured. He fell from the 2nd story onto his back...we found him...groaning and very, very injured. It took 2 hours to move him and he stayed in a room for 1 1/2 days until the hospital could confirm his medical insurance. They wouldn't treat him until they knew that they would get paid for it.

He had to be medivacced out back to San Diego..which wasn't covered by his regular insurance...it cost him $15,000.

Found out a few months later that he had broken both of his legs, and b/c of the lack of treatment they got infected. He was in hospital for 2 months and rehab for a year.

Lesson: If he had interntational medical insurance he could have gotten treated, and sent back home within 12 hours.

For a little $ you get a lot of reassurance, especially since your husband has past medical problems...I wouldn't mess around.

WillTravel

As mentioned, though, you will have to be sbsolutely certain this policy will cover his preexisting conditions, as most insurance will not.

grandmere

A good friend of ours recently broke her leg bicycling along the Danube and had to have emergency surgery in Austria. Her HMO back here uses Assist America, which arranged her "evacuation" 7 days later (during which time she was hospitalized) and involved ambulance transfer from the hospital to Vienna airport, business class seats for her and her husband, transfer at JFK, and finally ambulance met them at PIT to take them to their home. They have only good things to say about this service. It's made me realize how important it is to have this coverage as part of insurance when traveling internationally.

They had to pay the hospital, medical costs out of pocket (to be reimbursed by HMO), but the interesting thing is that the amount was only $500/day, including the surgery, etc. Sharp contrast to what all this would cost in US--but that's another topic!

PalenQ

Not to say not to buy it - i bought Travelers Insurance that would pay to get me back home and limited medical otherwise relying on my BC

but i did go to several doctors on my last trip in Jan 07 - fell in Naples and cut my nose badly - bleeding all over - first went inside train station to a clinic and was atteneded to and they called an ambulance to ER where i was stitched up and seen by two other doctors and a battery of X-Rays - total cost $0

and doctor in France i went to to removed stitches - 21 euros or $30 a visit.

I did bike trips with groups for ten years and had many scrapes, etc. and in Germany, Belgium, Holland and France was never charged for ER services -most said they had no facility to collect.

Anyways i'm not saying not to buy extra but many medical costs are free in Europe even to travelers it seems

hetismij

Medical costs are most definitely not free in Europe. We all have a compulsory insurance of some sort. I am amazed and disgusted that you did not have to pay for treatment at Dutch hospitals. They won't even look at me without I can prove I have insurance. And they do have the facilties to collect from foreigners. You were just lucky.
OP if you can find an insurance which will cover pre-existing conditions and will get you back home if needed (Including worse case scenario transporting a corpse) than take it out. Do not rely on European hospitals being free or cheap.

PalenQ

hetismij - the Dutch experience was several years ago and i think the Dutch gov't has cracked down a lot. Naples was two months ago and i mentioned that in another post and folks in Italy, Germany and Britain echoed the same policies. So i should have said Dutch was a longer time ago.

I fully expected to pay for services in Naples and had insurance extra that would have covered it and was amazed when they just kicked me out - also happy - i went to ER in Florence to get a Tetitinus shot and again no charge for ER service but did charge for the Tetitinus shot - 15 euros.

CarolA

Just a thought.

If you are covered by Medicare you have NO coverage outside of the US. (NONE!!!) So you will need some type of insurance.

Some of the Medicare supplements offer this plan.

flanneruk

Pal Q is half-right.

I broke my arm in Italy last year and no-one asked to see my EHIC or passport before whizzing me off for an x-ray and all the trimmings. No hint of payment. Indeed in Britain, the policy is clear: all emergencies are treated free at any public hospital (and there are virtually no others) wherever the patient's from.

Problem is, not only is the law about this different from country to country, but how it's implemented varies a lot from hospital to hospital. Unless you know you're entitled to free treatment in the European country you're visiting - and preferably have an EHIC to prove it - you really do need insurance that lets you use whatever hospital you need.

sashh

Flanner seems to have given the best advice so far.

In the UK all emergency treatment is free - well paid for out of taxes for any pedants out there. But everything else is chargeable. So in the case of an MI he would get clot busters, ECG's and possibly angioplasty if appropriate, but the angiogram afterwards to see damage would be chargeable and in all probability you would be told to get it when you got home.

One other thing - as said in the UK at least, if your husband is unlucky enough to have another MI you will be taken to an NHS (public) hospital. If you have private medical cover after emergency treatment you can if you wish transfer to a private hospital.

One final point - the medical evacuation insurance will be worth it because if your husband has another MI (or angina for that matter) your airline may refuse to carry him.

cshellen

My sister got sick when we were in London, and the visit to the clinic was totally free (though we had to wait 2 hours to get in). But we always buy the insurance. It's actually not that expensive (we get ours through STA (Student Travel Association, but I've heard that Travelers insurance isn't bad either).

Definitely get it... it also covers a lot of other unexpected issues (missed flights, trip interruptions, etc.).

artnuvo

there are sevearal answers to your question-in general, you should have medical evacuation insurance coverage that at a minimum evacuates you tupically to the "nearest adequately equipped hospital."

That, however, may be a 3rd world or worse hospital standard and not up to us standards.

Your BC.BS policy may reimburse you for some of the medical/hospital or clinic costs and prescriptins after the fact when you file and Overses Claim form.

Typical trip cancel insurance may include or permit optional med evacuation coverage but usually it is to the "nearest adquate facility," however, that is interpreted by the insurance company.

When my nose would not stop bleeding at the top of Machu Picchu last year, my trip cancel policy covered the evac to a Cuzco clinic more than 300 mileas and 4 hours distant, the clinic was not up to US standards tho it was the best for Peru, so I was told. But if I had needed more care I would have been limited to a local adequtely equipped hospital which may not have saved my life.

Some articles have suggested that the Amex Platinum card, $450 per yer, provides a cardmember, and a partner at additioanl $175 annual cost, med evac insurance to a hospital near your home.
But the Amex website summarry of the terms of the insurance benefit only says that they will transfer you to the nearest adequately equipped hospital if free transport is not available.

I asked Amex customer service for more details but they did not have that kind of information and gave me n email address that proved undeliverable.

That being the case, particularly if you or your spouse have a discrete medical history that could act up-such a history of cardiac problems, gi problems that could intesify, etc. you should consider a Med Jet policy that provides med evac to a hospital of your choice when you are stable. The cost of such evacuation can be as high as $100,000 or more so a few hundred annual premium is a smallprice to pay to obtain quality medical care.

Then too, maybe you should nt be in remote or exotic or third world locations (like russia or peru,for example) where the unexpected always can happen and qualtiy medical care may not be readily available and the lack of which could prove life threatening.

artnuvo

addendum- somne foreign hositals or clinics will provide care free or at nominal cost, our epxeirenc of the former whiole in athens 2 years ago at the clinic adjacent to the airport, and the latter on a recent trip while in lisbon, portugal.

But for the peace of mind you are seeking you shuld at least have trip/cancel insurance that has medical insurance coverage (that is secondary to your own coverage such as BC/BS) AND, additionally, medical evacuation/repatriation insurance such as Med Jet in light of your spouse's health history.