Medical/Trip Insurance
 

I will be traveling to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Paris this August from the US. I know that Medicare will not cover my husband over there. I purchased the travel insurance when I bought the flight, but what about travel insurance for the rest of the trip? And a rental car? And should I be looking for medical insurance? Is it more economical to purchase the different types of insurance separately or get a policy that covers it all. I'm seeing prices as much as $1000 which seems really high!

You probably should have purchased a general policy when you bought the original insurance. Check your health insurance to see what it covers--especially medical evacuation. I bought an Allianz policy for two of us for about $300 which covered medical, trip interruption and cancellation. Check out insuremytrip.com.

Medical usually excludes any pre-existing conditions unless you buy it within two weeks of booking anything.

happytourist is correct that you're better off with buying a policy from a third party ... but if you bought it with your flight, it probably covers your from the moment your board the flight until the moment you land back home (and possibly when you're enroute between home and the airport).

Look at the T&C of the policy.

You need medical insurance and medical evacuation/repatriation insurance. It will not be cheap. I buy mine from Seven Corners, but you can compare policies at insuremytrip.com and squaremouth.com.

Does you husband have Medigap insurance? Some plans have limited medical coverage abroad, although not evacuation/repatriation.

I believe the trip insurance I got when I bought my flight was for the flight alone. I've done some research and have gotten quotes of anywhere from $500 up with the average seeming around $1000. It seemed really high to me. I'll check Allianz and squaremouth.

Do you want trip cancelation/interruption insurance plus medical, or just medical? It will affect the quotes you are getting.

If you bought insurance in conjunction with the flight it almost certainly only covers the flight and is almost certainly an unnecessary expense.