Barb

Any suggestions for medical insurance best buys for 79 yr. old with heart disease traveling with us. Also how does one pay the least amount of money for exchange, with a visa card, travelers checks or cash?

nancy

Cheapest exchange, in my experience, is with ATM card but you'll probably be charged $2.00 for each withdrawal so get as much as you want each time. Next cheapest is credit card. Forget the travelers' checks.

xxx

Forgive my cynicism, but why should any insurance company sell temporary insurance on a 79 year old with heart disease at any rate other than $1 buys you $1 of coverage?<BR><BR>Put yourself in the insurance company's shoes. What odds do you want to place on the chance on having to pay out a claim?<BR>

Aunt Jennie

Do you mean travel insurance? My Mom, also 79, just got travel insurance through "Travel Insurance Select." Don't know if this was cheapest, but it was recommended by the group she was touring with. Perhaps you could ask for recommendations from a travel agency. Maybe Fodors has a discussion on this elsewhere on this web site.<BR><BR>My Mom's travel insurance covers a number of things, including trip cancellation, but the largest single item is $25,000 for Medical Expense/Emergency Assistance. My Mom actually bought supplemental medical and evacuation coverage though The Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania. This added quite a bit of coverage and was considerably less expensive than the initial policy. This is probably because the initial policy included the cancellation coverage, which probably accounts for the bulk of their losses. <BR><BR>Have a great time. Hope all goes well!<BR>

Ann

If one does not have medical insurance, one should not be traveling, regardless of one's age.

Ann

Just in case anyone misunderstands, my previous post refers to the fact that your medical insurance travels with you. The only reason you would get medical insurance to travel is if you didn't have insurance in the U.S.

Andre

Ann,<BR><BR>I don't think so - Medicare doesn't cover health expenses outside the US as far as I know.<BR><BR>Thanks for the info, Aunt Jennie! This could come in handy for my 89 year-old grandma...<BR><BR>Andre

doctor

Apparently there's some confusion about the your use of the term "medical insurance." (And I love the post that lectures you about having health insurance. Gimme a break.)<BR><BR>Do you mean trip-cancellation insurance. Or insurance that covers medical emergencies in countries out side the US?

cd

Ann<BR>We have great medical insurance but it does not cover us outside of the US and it certainly does not cover emergancy evacuation (ie: you're on a cruise, have a heart attack and have to be lifted off ) nor does it cover flying your dead body back to the states should you die overseas.

Christina

I'm a consultant in the health insurance field -- many insurers do not cover you abroad, and Medicare does only in the case of some emergencies near the Mexican or Canadian border. I think that's for residents near the border for whom the closest emergency room is in Canada or Mexico. So, it's an individual thing and you have to check with your particular policy, but Medicare won't cover him or anyone abroad. Many people don't even have insurance at home in the US, for heaven's sake because it's so expensive if their employer doesn't provide it (young people often may not also who are college students or don't have a good job yet). Health costs are usually cheaper abroad than at home because health costs are so high in the US--so I actually think it would be safer to be in France or Italy without health insurance than the USA. I don't understand the lecture about being forbidden to travel without it, maybe people who don't have it in US should be forbidden to go to the store.<BR><BR>I don't work in the travel health insurance area but know two main companies are Travelguard and Access. www.highwaytohealth.com is another site I've heard of, and Mutual of Omaha (whom I like as a company, in general, for quality and pricing) has a travel product, I believe. They have a good web site www.mutualofomaha.com where I think you can get info.<BR><BR>There are some Medicare supplement policies ("Medigap") plans that do cover travel abroad. I gave some good URLs for info on that on a thread previously. IN general, they are more expensive policies in many ways, not just the travel coverage, so if you don't want that deluxe product for other reasons, it would probably be cheaper to buy a policy only for this trip. If you do want info on Medigap plans and premiums, there is very good info on www.medicare.gov and AARP has a good reasonably priced insurance product, also, and their web site is very helpful for Medigap insurance. Basically, you need plans C-J to get foreign coverage (not A or B which are too basic).

Shanna

Barb, I've researched travel insurance for a Paris trip with my 84 yr old mom. As soon as I get home from this not so much fun trip (my dad's interment), I'll get back to you with what I found. Essentially it covers any age, nothing about pre-existing conditions, covered doctor, hospital, evacuation etc., about $10 a day. Since I've yet to use it, I don't know if it's any good, but all the others were limited to under age 70. It'll be a couple of weeks before I can get the information to you.

Shanna

Barb, don't know if you're still looking. What I found was InterMedical insurance at www.travelinsure.com. Let us know what you decide. I'm still planning to get Mom to Paris.