I was told that medical care is all I pay first and then come back to the states and get reimbursed. If something catastrophic occurs, God forbid, and we need hospitalization, how could I come up with a ton of cash to pay upfront? The ATM's won't do it. I don't know if they take credit cards but those would soon get maxed out. What do you all do?

That's why there is travel insurance. So far, I haven't needed it but in March, a man on my tour ended up in the hospital in Vienna. His travel insurance covered it.

You need to talk to your provider here in the States, if that is where you are from. They will tell you the procedures. In my case, I ended up in the American Hospital of Paris, which is in Nuilley sur Seine, just outside of Paris. Took a bus there, actually. Things could not have gone more smoothly. The doctors and most of the staff spoke English, the equipment and standard of care was excellent, and (believe it or not)they had actually heard of credit cards. I'm sure that if payment became an issue, they could actually call your insurer to arrange for funding.

My insurer told me they welcome that sort of situation in that medical care in France is usually billed at a MUCH lower rate that from an American hospital. Your insurance company will get off cheap.

Stop fretting and enjoy your visit to Paris.

Go to www.insuremytrip.com and you can pick out whatever insurance that you want. Or, there was recently a very good article in the ITN magazine. It listed CSA Travel Protection's Free Style and Free Style Luxe policies. You might look at them.

I would never travel without medical and medical evacuation insurance.

Joan

There was another in that same artice:
www.hthtravelinsurance.com the Trip Protector plan...you put 0 in for trip cost if you only want the medical. Very interesting article...maybe you can check it out online www.intltravelnews.com article in the June 2009 issue "Eye on Travel Insurance"

Joan

Thanks for your input.

You need to take into consideration your overall health and if you'll be doing activities that are a lot different than you normally do.

Typically people who need to see an MD on vacation have a minor problem - a small injury or bad cold/flu etc - for which you can easily pay and be reimbursed - DEPENDING on your plan. You need to check on them before you go.

Anyone with any sort of chronic problem - or who anticipates being much more active than normal - would be foolish to go without medical/evacuation insurance.

ANYONE, chronic condition or not, would be foolish to go without medical and evacuation insurance. Accidents can happen to anyone, no matter how healthy. When I needed my insurance in '06 it was because I fell and broke my wrist, and I wasn't doing anything very exciting at the time,either.

Definitely find out what your current medical coverage will cover when you travel. Then, if you need anything extra, look into trip insurance. For us, we would have to pay out of pocket and then get reimbursed. We are young and in great shape, but things can and do happen, and I want to make sure we are covered. So we buy trip insurance and do a bit extra by making their medical the primary.

On our trip to Paris a couple weeks ago, I took a really bad fall. Somehow missed a step or tripped, no sure, but at any rate I went flying. I can't tell you how close I was to going to an ER. Even during the week I almost went. The only thing that held me back was knowing I had an excellent knee doctor here at home and I preferred having him treat me. But, it just shows that you don't have to be old or in bad shape...things happen. We saw 3 other people during our trip get tended to by paramedics. One lady fell in the street, face first, another older man fell on the sidewalk, face first, the other younger guy was in a crosswalk.

My point is simply to make sure you are covered because you never know what can happen.

thursdaysd--We were posting at the same time, with the same thoughts

BTW, for minor things, the pharmacies there are fantastic!

mms - you do have evacuation as well as medical insurance, right? It can be VERY expensive if you actually need evacuation. (Hope the knee is better.)

I need to contact my insurance. Thanks for the tips.

Pharmacies-do they have things over-the-counter that are usually prescription here?

Yes pharmacies do have OTC items that might be Rxs here. Also the pharmacists are trained to treat minor medical problems and can also prescribe certain drugs. I'd always check with a pharmacy first, they will refer you to a physician if needed and make the appointment for you.

THanks, avalon. THat certainly is a great service the pharmacies supply there. Good to know!

Are all the meds and medical services equivalent to what we have in the US?

<i>Are all the meds and medical services equivalent to what we have in the US?</i>

Same answer as you got on your Tripadvisor thread. The French health service is generally rated the best in the world.

No. Medical care is excellent. But there are not exact equivalents of all drugs marketed in the US. If you're taking a specific medication you should have enough with yuo for the trip. (Even when they have the same drug the dosages are not always the same. And they don;thave everything. I couldn;t get Robitussin in Portugal - although the pharmacist did give me a small bottle of some coughtmixture with codeine.)

Good to know, nytraveler. However if you need medicines unforeseen over there, it appears you could get by on something about equivalent?

Can you please explains to me how the insurance works? Being a military dependent all my life, the insurance procedures are Greek to me and I am clueless of what to do, if something happens when I am overseas.

When I got my FFMIles from AA I bought also travel insurance for my trip.
If for instance I need to see a dr while I am in Italy or france for example:


1-What are the procedure?

2- do I must go call the Insurance company to have an approval?
3- do the dr. office have any kind of knowledge about insurance?
4- (Knock on wood)-if I need hospitaliazation must first contact the Ins.Co.?

As you can see my knowledge of insurance is Zero.

Can someone that used their insurance while they were abroad can give me a clue?

BTW, after many years and countless trips abroad, I bought my first Traveler Insurance.

The procedures vary depending on the company. You need to the fine (and finer) print on your policy, and call and ask questions if you are confused. I have never bought insurance through AA - my US medical insurance covers me for emergencies abroad, and I buy medical evacuation insurance from tenweb.com. Are you sure the the AA insurance includes medical, and is not just trip interruption/cancellation insurance?