parisnow

I never used to get trip insurance. Was traveling with my elderly mother (Medicare does not cover overseas) in Sept. of 2001. Because of 911, we decided to buy trip insurance. Ended up my mother was tripped while we were in Germany and she broke her hip. Guess what I do before every trip now!

Ann41

I have an annual policy here in the UK, and I'm hoping I can find the same thing when I move back to the US. Never got travel insurance before living in the UK, and now I wouldn't think of traveling without.

crefloor--I was supposed to travel on 9/13/2001, but was able to reschedule everything to get out on the 16th. Were you not able to rearrange your plans?

crefloors

Ann41-I probably could have gotten out later in the week if I had pushed it but my brother-was traveling with my brother and SIL-was NOT that excited about going at that point and I was also thinking about all the europeans etc, who had been "trapped" here with the planes being grounded, and thought they needed the seats more than I. We actually went the following May and had a great trip.

GreenEyedCatWoman

I always by travel insurance. True, my group ins. through work would cover medical treatment abroad, and when I pay for my airline tickets with a credit card the CC company covers lost luggage up to a certain limit.

I feel it's sort of like dragging an umbrella along with you to guarantee that it won't rain. I just know that the first time I don't insure my trip, that will be the time I'll really need it.

Something happening to the elderly parents is what I think of most when buying the insurance, but anything can happen - to any of us. As someone else said $100 or so is a small price to pay for the peace of mind.

My in-laws reaped the benefits of travel insurance twice when they were unable to go on cruises, once because his elderly mother became seriously ill, and another time because she broke her hip a few days before they were supposed to leave. In both instances, the insurance refunded every penny they had spent except, of course, the cost of the insurance itself.

The insurance I buy from TravelGuard does cover pre-existing conditions IF the insurance is purchased within 48 or 72 hours (I forget which) of purchasing the flights, etc.
You absolutely must read ALL of that fine print to see exactly what's covered and under what circumstances.

Just a reminder for those to whom it applies, I believe Medicare does NOT cover medical treatment outside the U.S.

WillTravel

There are a couple of people who don't qualify as immediate family, but who I would definitely consider cancelling a trip for if anything happened to them. Has anyone ever had trip insurance which could include cancellation for illness or death of specified non-family persons?

kismetchimera

Thanks Everyone for the Info. It seems that I need to read the small prints and decide which insurance will give me the best price.

Ira my Man, grazie molto.. should I call you collect?

Christina

Kismetchimera, the Dept of Defense Health Affairs dept. is one of my major clients, and I do considerable work for them regarding reimbursement, benefits and coverage for the TRICARE program.

Now coverage for ADDs when traveling outside the US is not one of my prime areas, but as far as I know and in all the TRICARE documents and manuals I have, you are covered abroad. Why do you think you aren't? TRICARE is a fairly generous and comprehensive insurance plan in comparison to many. Even if you are in PRIME (and you don't say, but it sounds like it), you are covered abroad if you must go to the doctor or ER for an emergency. I assume you aren't planning to go for any other reason. Is there some unusual reason why you are not covered abroad on vacation, and where did you get that info?

Right now, actually, I am working on various reimbursement schemes in foreign countries and I am analyzing thousands of claims ever year we get (and pay) for TRICARE ADDs when they are abroad on personal travel, not because the sponsor is stationed abroad.

kismetchimera

Christina, I was under the impression that Tricare will reimbourse my medical expenses upon returning to the US and only after I file a claim..
In the meantime, if something happens while I am abroad, I must have enough funds to pay ufront.
If you know something different reguarding Tricare's policy, I will be happy to know about it.

kismetchimera

Christina,
I will be very happy to receive more info. if you have some time available,can you please send me an e-mail ?
[email protected].

BTW, my daughter name is Christina also.

ira

>Has anyone ever had trip insurance which could include cancellation for illness or death of specified non-family persons? <

I've not come across any sort of insurance that covers Significant Others not related by blood or marriage.

Fodorite018

Regarding Tricare...that is our insurance and I had this question recently. When I called they told me that I would most likely have to pay out of pocket and then get reimbursed. So we are covered, but just have to pay up front. They told me this was because most doctors abroad are not familiar with the tricare system. So whatever this is worth, this is what Tricare told me. Due to that, we will definitely get trip insurance next time just to be safe.

Christina

kismetchimera -- oh, you may need to pay out of pocket in Europe, and then get reimbursed. But you said you weren't covered when you are outside the US. That means you will NOT get reimbursed at all as they don't "cover" those expenses. Being not covered means the insurance never pays.

You had better examine insurance policies carefully, because I think a lot of them require you to pay first and then get reimbursed. That is the norm for many private health insurance policies.

Of course, in Germany, you might be able to go to a military facility, I don't know all of those rules, but there are numbers and places to go in various countries that would "accept" TRICARE insurance and you would not have to prepay. There are a lot more than there used to be, because there is even a contract now to set up PPO networks, more or less, in Europe and other parts of the world, also. I think there may be the most in the Pacific area. Most of these services are for people stationed abroad, but it's possible a traveler could go to those providers.

I don't have details on whom to contact on that, some TRICARE representative should be able to tell you if there is such a thing in a destination in Europe that you have, and give you the info.

lucee

Thank you, Travelnut, for the URL. Just what I wanted.

Underhill

if anyone comes across trip insurance that covers things like pet sitters who cancel at the last minute or pets who become seriously ill i'd like to know.

jtspclaw

For those who asked about whether TRicare covers you - YES. My husband, who is active duty navy, became seriously ill in Paris. I called the embassy to see if they recommended a particular doctoror hospital. They send all their people to the American Hospital in paris. We cabbed over there, were the only ones in the emergency room, go tseen immeidately, were back at the hotel in 3 hours and paid only $106 USD oput of pocket which was reimbursed readily by tricare. BTW the embassy called us the next two days in a row to be sure he was okay and that we were hapy with the care he'd recieved. Since I have NEVER been in a hospital in the states where I didn't pay $400-500 just walking in the door before any services were rendered - I didn't hesitate to pay out the $106 and get reimbursed later!

Nancy45

I'm so glad sallyjane posted this message! Which travel insurance company covers flights on airlines that have bankruptcy issues? We wish to purchase trip insurance for the flights as well as the uncertainty of elderly parents health. We already have the plane tickets. Thanks so much.

ewt

Someone mentioned above that SRI was a good company. I tried the insuremytrip.com website and they came up with a good rate for a pretty comprehensive package. However, if something happens, how good are they at making sure you aren't paying out of pocket expenses? Do these companies give you an insurance card to use if you happen to have an accident and have to go to the hospital? Or do you pay and they have to reimburse you 10 years down the road?

I have regular health insurance which will cover emergencies. I'm mainly worried about something serious that may have to get me shipped to another hospital. I want to know if insurance companies (like SRI) make you pay like 50K out of pocket and then later you have to fight them to be reimbursed. Any direct experience with this anyone?

Christina

I was going to say that if one is going to buy extra policies just because they dont want to pay out-of-pocket, they are going to have to read the policy's rules very carefully for two things -- whether that policy also makes you pay out-of-pocket and later reimburses you, as many will. Secondly, cheaper policies will state that they are secondary to any other insurance you have, anyway.

So, it would really be a waste of money to buy such a policy if you already have coverage like Tricare -- unless you wanted it for other things, of course, but for the medical, it would just be a waste of money. I really would not worry about paying a minor doctor's fee abroad out-of-pocket. It could never be that high (probably cheaper virtually everywhere in W Eur than in the US). The greater expense would be a hospital bill.

A lot of travel policies won't reimburse you until later for doctor's fees. Some will do as mentioned above by Tricare for hospital fees as those are major expenses. I think many of them will try to make arrangments to pay at least a deposit, if required.

I don't know all the various policies and rules as I work for public sector insurers like Tricare/Medicare, etc., but I think that Travelguard may be one of the best for supplementary medical travel insurance in that they are large and have a PPO network in Europe where you might not have to pay out-of-pocket.

I wouldn't ever buy a supplementary travel policy for health insurance if I had coverage on my regular policy, and really wouldn't worry about out-of-pocket doctor's fees. Some of these policies are fairly reasonable (if you aren't trying to cover a lot of expenses) and cover lots of stuff, though. But if someone's goal is to avoid any out-of-pocket expense, you do have to read all the fine print.

Kate

Just a quick question from a non-USAer. Is travel insurance very expensive in the States? Because here in the UK, most people take out trvale insurance as a matter of course. You can get annual, worldwide coverage for about £100 a year (only excluding dangerous sports - skiing and the like). Can't see the reason to just risk it for that price.

travelbunny

..my comment is can you sleep at night without it..ie can you deal with the likelyhood of a "worse case scenario"? The biggest problem isnt lost luggage..a modest shopping spree will usually do but rather a catastrophic illness (in you or a family member at home or your travelling companion) or a missed plane. Check your own insurance through work as to whether they will cover health care (think car accident, MI, CVA) and whether they will cover repatriation which may include travel on an air ambulance (think Lear, 2 pilots, and RN<RT and MD). If not I would get insurance as I might toss and turn. Many travel policies will cover pre-existing conditions providing you are stable, have declared it on the form, and pay the appropriate fee (and carefully read what is defined as stable..and if questions get answers in writing!). Re missed flight- depending on our ticket this may be a small fee or a full fare one way which is outrageous. Some insurers pay for missed connections providing there are "legal times" between the 2 flights or pay if your cab has had a flat/accident...the bottom line is that you dont need it til you need it but do check existing policies to check coverage.