As many of us know, Medicare is not valid outside of the United States. Therefore, I am considering purchasing a travel medical insurance policy before my next European trip.<BR><BR>If you have any suggestions, comments, or words of wisdom, particularly as to which underwriter to select, I am anxious to read them. <BR><BR>I am most anxious to hear from someone who has actually purchased such a policy and had to use it because of a severe illness or an injury.<BR><BR>Please note that this question does not pertain so much to trip cancellation insurance as it does to issues arising from a severe medical problem while in Europe.<BR>

my husband is covered by Medicare. Last year he was hospitalized in Moscow for 4 days at an American owned hospital. Bill + air fare home in bus. class was over $10,000. To our surprise the majority of the cost was picked up by his AARP supplementary ins. His policy has a provision for 30 days medical care abroad. So if you have AARP check out the fine print. (We have always bought travel ins. with med. coverage and assumed that would be our majaor coverage!)

In this case, was the patient out of pocket the $10,000 and forced to file for reimbursement? I am trying to avoid being placed in a position where might have to fork over $20,000 or more from my own bank account. <BR>

there are different kinds of coverage:<BR>Emergency Medical: Pays the cost of treatment if you get sick while you are on your trip. If emergency medical transportation is included, you may also be covered for an emergency evacuation by airplane or other means, and sometimes your companion’s costs may also be covered if he/she has to accompany you home.<BR><BR>Trip cancellation/trip interruption provision refunds money if your trip is cancelled or cut short for a reason allowed under the policy. Examples include a death in your immediate family or your own health problem. Many companies will waive exclusions for pre-existing medical conditions (in other words, you would be covered even if you have a pre-existing medical problem) if you buy the policy within two weeks of putting down the deposit for your trip.<BR><BR>www.insuremytrip.com allows you to compare policies and quotes from up to five companies simultaneously<BR><BR>World Travel Center is a broker handling a variety of travel insurance policies. They can provide policies for "special needs" or circumstances. In the US call 800 786 5566 or www.worldtravelcenter.com<BR>

I have a travel medical insurance policy through American Express. I pay an additional $99 per year for $25,000 for both myself and another person in my household. You can pay a little more, I believe $149, to get $50,000 in coverage. The policy covers you once you are more than 150 miles away from your home and includes an amazing array of services from flights to the nearest "acceptable" medical facility, flights for a family member from the US to your location, emergency evacuation to the States. The policy is about 12 pages long. Fortunately, I have never had to use it, but I believe that I would not pay anything out of pocket and then get reimbursed. I just call AmEx at the time of the accident/illness and they will provide directions with regards to what should be done next.

Good info and timely for me.<BR>I will check out the various web services right away.<BR>Thanks. I need to decide soon.<BR>

Bob B-<BR>If you are in Medicare HMO - as opposed to standard medicare - you may actually have coverage. A couple years ago my Medicare HMO covered mother required hospitalization in Switzerland, and it was entirely covered. All we did was call the HMO, explain the situation, and they handled everything - no bill ever arrived. This was Aetna US Healthcare - other HMO's may be different. Check before you spend $ on supplementals.<BR> If you do opt for extra coverage, remember that medical evacuation flights (as opposed to a ticket on a commercial carrier) are very expensive, usually thousands of dollars. Take this into account when determining what level of coverage to purchase. Also, if you hold a platinum or similar credit card, some of these offer some coverage. <BR>Hope you'll never need to use this!

Yes, our costs were out of pocket and we did have to file for reimbursement.<BR>The medical incident ocurred in Mid June and we were reimbursed by the end of August.(Had to file with Medicare first!) Fortunately we were able to put all the costs on credit cards.

PS: Forgot to mention that our costs were picked up by two insurors.. AARP and Access America (the insuror we assumed was our major coverage.)

Help! 1) Grandma: Which AARP supplemental plan (A-I, with I being the most $$$) did he have? At the moment I'm going through trying to decide which is the best coverage, especially for o'seas travel. Did he also have other insce. with Access America? (I thought you said he just had Medicare?) 2) Nursie: What's the difference between those 2 Medicare plans? I thought Medicare was just Part A and B, costing $54 per month for anyone who enrolls. 3) Dawn: Your AMEX policy sounds like a great way to avoid heavy monthly premiums for o'seas coverage. Worth looking into. Thanks.

Carl,<BR>In some states Medicare has contracted with various HMO's to handle patients. There is no filing of bills and no additional supplements needed, patients just pay a copay and are entitled to all the services of the regular HMO enrollees. HOwever this has not been cost efective for the HMO's and lots of them are dropping this plan. Then the patient has to look for additional supplemental coverage on their own.

I am not in any type of HMO, so that option is closed to me. I checked out the leads given in the post by Elaine.<BR>Right now it appears Atlas Insurance Co. offers what I can use; the question now is whether or not I buy it.<BR>It is short term coverage, and does not of course cover pre existing conditions.<BR>It is underwritten by Lloyds of London, which I presume is still a reliable company.<BR><BR>AARP did not have anything that would help. I did buy into a Blue Cross Medigap insurance policy, but I have to pay everything up front in Europe, and then file for reimbursement. That is the situation I was trying to avoid. I have visions of being stuck with a $50,000 bill.<BR><BR>The evacuation angle is worth considering. I was in Utah two years ago and the doctor I consulted for an aching shoulder decided I had suffered a heart attack and life flighted me to Salt Lake City. <BR>(False alarm; no attack.) The flight was $7,000.<BR>

My husband was hospitalized in Paris and we had bought Access America coverage. I managed to get the cost person at the hospital in touch with the Access America people in Montreal and all was arranged on the phone: no out-of-pocket expenditures; Acc.Am. guaranteed payment by fax. They were extremely helpful. It is the company recommended by AAA. I have also used Travel Guard, but have never had a claim with them. Another company recommended here was Wallace, which only does health ins. but does not cover pre-existing conditions. With Access America and Travel Guard, if you purchase within 7 days (for AccAm's supersaver 14 days) of your purchase of tour or airline tickets, pre-existing conditions are covered.

I have researched quite a bit for the best policy for the money and I always purchase Wallach & Co. I have medical coverage outside the US and I still purchase travel medical for every trip. I don't know about other insurance companies, but mine can take a year to pay and I understand that you may not be able to leave the country until the hospital bill is paid. For that reason, I purchase the additional policy that is geared to make out of Country medical payments. For 32 days for two of us it was around $250.

Bob, I didn't like Access America or the others because they only offer $25,000 or so in medical. If you are in a serious wreck or have a serious illness you could use that up in one day! I use Wallach because theirs is $250,000 coverage I believe. I have never had to use it.

I've spent many hours on this thing comparing and contrasting plans and I'm still unclear. Am I the only one who finds this issue a confusing mess? Carl

Haven't been able to access our files, but the AARP coverage my husband has is the most comprehensive offered. We live in NY State... don't know if our options are universal. We knew Medicare offered no coverage, that is why we always buy Access America coverage (or similar). When they required us to file with Medicare (for an official denial of benefits) and then with AARP I thought they were nuts and giving us the run around. You can imagine our surprise when we opened the AARP envelope and found a big fat check!<BR>We then sent this info on to Access and they picked up what AARP didn't cover.

Thanks Grandma. To anyone with Medicare: I thought you could have only 1 Medicare supplement. Am I wrong? I know this must be a concern to others traveling overseas. Thanks.