Governator

I want to take my wife to Europe from the U.S. She is not a U.S. Citizen, so in order to get a 'Schengen Visa' one of the requirements is.

Medical health/travel insurance that includes repatriation for medical reasons, urgent medical care and/or emergency treatment in a hospital.

First of all what does this mean. I think it means my insurance company would pay to bring an injured person back to the U.S.

I doubt if my health insurance covers this. When I called to ask they didn't even know what I was talking about. Does any health insurance cover this?

Can such insurance be purchased for the duration of a trip?

kp

A number of people have suggested www.insuremytrip.com

alanRow

<<< Does any health insurance cover this? >>>

It's called travel insurance and people in Europe buy it all of their time for their trips

Kellye

You can also try a company called MedJet (I think the website is www.medjetassist.com). They sell evacuation trip insurance and seem quite competitive.

Governator

Thanks for that info.

One other thing, in order to get the visa you need to buy the tickets first. What if you buy the tickets and are turned down for the visa. I never even consider refundable tickets because, I think, the price is always much higher. Any suggestions?

Heimdall

Sounds like Catch 22. Assuming there are no underlying reasons why a visa would be denied, I guess you will have to go ahead and buy your tickets.

You may want to do a search on http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/. The Schengen question comes up frequently on that forum.

This is a question that really ought to be directed at the embassy of one of the countries you will be visiting.

lincasanova

i do not know which country you are applying to for the schengen visa but make sure you are within their time frame.

you may get all the documents together and find out that it takes weeks (past your departure date, for ex.)to process!

travel insurance is very common. usually you can cancel it if you end up not going.
-

good luck.

Alec

You'll find that embassies advise people NOT to buy a non-refundable travel ticket prior to getting their visa. They normally only ask for dates and itinerary of your trip, not an actual travel ticket (unless it's fully refundable).

hopscotch

You could buy a fully refundable ticket, get the visa, return the ticket, then get a non-refundable ticket.

The Schengen thing should be amended. Specifically, the 90 day limit requiring 90 days out for Americans. This makes it difficult to plan a major sortie. Is UK still outside the Schengen Zone?

Heimdall

>>Is UK still outside the Schengen Zone?<<

Yes.

Alec

UK is planning to restrict visitor's stay to 90 days. Whether they copy Schengen's 90-in-180 days rule remains to be seen, but even now frequent visits to UK often raises immigration service's eyebrows, unless there is a convincing reason, e.g. a business traveller.

nanabee

How long do you plan to stay in Europe?
If it is less than 90 days, you are fine.
Just as a aside, it was our experience that anyone can use medical facilities in most European countries - at very reduced costs. My daughter got free medical checkup for brochitis in France. My husband met with a doctor in the south of france for food poisioning and paid $20. for the visit and all meds.
It may be that because of this the European Union countries are requiring American travelers to have supplemental insurance to take the burden off the local taxpayers?
Just a guess.

Alec

nanabee

No, you were just lucky. US travellers cannot use subsidised medical facilities in Europe without paying as a private patient. EU has introduced a health insurance card for EU citizens and their dependants travelling in other EU countries as a proof of entitlement on the same basis as an insured local. As US has no reciprocal agreement, you have to pay. In UK, treatment at hospital A&E is free to anyone, but any subsequent treatment, surgery and in-patient or out-patient care has to be paid for. Your US medical insurance may cover some of the costs, or you can take out a travel insurance with medical cover.

nytraveler

Very few US health insurance policies cover you outside of the US - since they don;t have HMO providers there.

If you have really good fee for service insurance it many cover part - you can check with your provider.

Otherwise you need to get travel insurance that covers not just medical care but emergency evacuation for both wife and you in case either has a problem.

flanneruk

"It may be that because of this the European Union countries are requiring American travelers to have supplemental insurance "

Nonsense. On VERY tall stilts.

European Union countries make no common demands on anyone. The minority of EU countries that belong to the Schengen agreement require <b> visa holders </b> (in almost every case, by definition non-Americans) to have health insurance - for the very good reason that people from poor countries are more likely than Australians or Japanese to come to Europe for medical treatment.

A number of non-Schengen countries in the east of the EU impose a similar requirement on all visitors (most of whom, in practice, are from their poor neighbours) who aren't citizens of an EU country.

&quot;The Schengen thing should be amended.&quot;

Well, I wonder where this preposterous 90 rule for foreigners comes from? They'll be introducing fingerprinting next.

hetismij

Well said Flanneruk!

Alec

'Well, I wonder where this preposterous 90 rule for foreigners comes from?'

90-in-180 days rule is there to stop people having virtually unlimited stay by doing 'visa runs' - popping over the border to a non-Schengenland and then immediately coming back to reset the clock. It's also there to make things difficult for people who want to get illegal permanent jobs.
It does have the effect of making life difficult for genuine visitors, with sufficient means, to have an extended stay in Schengen - but the hurdle needs to be set sufficiently high to discourage those of lesser means getting under-the-table jobs (though it doesn't prevent it). Not all US visitors are in the affluent income brackets.

hetismij

Alec, I think Flanner was having a dig at the US rule which says we can only visit there for 90 days without a visa - hence the reference to fingerprinting. Whats good for the Goose.....

Governator

Alec said 'They normally only ask for dates and itinerary of your trip, not an actual travel ticket'.

But the one of the requirements are:

* copy of itinerary with confirmed reservation, airline ticket to be presented prior to issuance of visa.

I like Hopscotch's idea to buy a refundable ticket to get the visa then return it and buy a non-refundable ticket.