Do you get international medical insurance when you travel?
 

I have not done this in the past but now considering. Do most of you get travel medical insurance or trip insurance when you travel? I know some is covered by your credit card but I don't think much. Wondering what the general consensus is. We're American traveling to Europe and Morocco.

Yes, go to insuremytrip.com You can say your trip is costing 2000 and get great evac insurance from Nationwide. I have used Allianz but have bought the Nationwide policy last three trips. You can hit three and compare. I just wanted money to fly home as a client paid 24,000 to fly from Colorada to Fl recently on a medical plane to get him back to his home.

I usually don't.

However, I'm taking my niece to Europe in December and I bought insurance for the both of us. There are just too many 'what if's' this time around and I feel an added responsibility taking a 19 year old on her first trip to Europe.

Thank you Macross, I just purchsed!
Melnq8, definitely. I just looked and my current health insurance doesn't cover us abroad so I don't want to take any chances!

Did that insurance cover medical evacuation as well as treatment? And did the evacuation coverage get you (and a companion if relevant) home and not just to the nearest "suitable" facility?

While you can purchase a medical evacuation policy from Medjet.com, I usually get a medical-only policy that includes both medical and evacuation coverage. If you put $0 as the trip cost, you'll get the cost to purchase just the medical portion of a travel insurance policy. I usually buy from Square Mouth and get Arch RoamRight, which is the cheapest travel policy with good coverage that I've found.

I don't. But for a trip like Europe and Morocco I probably would consider it.

My health insurance will cover "routine" care abroad -- not all policies do! -- so I don't buy medical coverage for the sake of medical coverage. But I do buy coverage that includes both evacuation to a hospital of my choice and repatriation of remains. I use both insuremytrip and squaremouth to research my options for each trip.

I put in 2000 and pay under 130 for both of us. After the delay fiasco I had last week and out over 600 I think trip interruption is not such a bad thing now. I found the nationwide policy had the best evac and med insurance for the cost. I have great health care insurance and they will reimburse so not so much worried about that as getting home. Squaremouth is good. I also think I have reached the golden age when premiums rise. (65) We book tickets now with CSR. I didn't for the domestic flight last week and told my husband from now on that is my travel card.

I use World Nomads, but it doesn't cover preexisting conditions. I think there is also a cutoff for age limit. Underlying coverage is with Nationwide if you're based in the US.

I do have some emergency coverage overseas, so I'm mainly buying for the evacuation policy. Credit cards do cover some of the other things as well.

CSR = Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card

Thanks schmeel, Chase Sapphire Reserve has some of the best travel benefits. I started getting insurance when the first time I bought it I had to use it for trip interruption. My sweet Mom passed while I was in Italy and it covered my getting home, hotel and change fee. I bought it through the airline and allianz told me next time to buy through squaremoiuh or insure my trip to get more coverage for less than I paid with airline. As I get older I might just do what Doug suggest. Someone on another board said they had to cancel their trip to the US as the insurance was more than their ticket.
Because of their age they were afraid not to have some medical coverage in the US. My friend had a heart attack a week before our Scotland trip and she just had the insurance that the airline offered. It only paid for airfare. We ate the shared cost of hotels and apartments.

There is a narcissistic, irresponsible traveler who lives on our street. She and her equally-flaky girlfriend recently went to Venezuala without any health insurance, despite the latter's recent brain tumour diagnosis. Their shared 'magical thinking' surprised us, given the financial risk to her children (and grandchildren) if ever there'd been any long-term hospital stay and other associated costs of returning up to Canada.
I am done. The end.

For our year long trip we used a service called SafetyWing. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), we've never had to use it so I can't speak to the quality of it.

Zebec, my friend's mother in law was visiting her from Canada, broke her hip, had the surgery but Canada sent a medical plane into Daytona and flew her home to Toronto, cheaper than paying US medical cost at a rehab facility. My niece and nephew each cost 25.00 in Canada. Five days at five dollars. 40 and 38 years ago. :)
I think it is smart and cheap to get,

Wouldn’t consider leaving home without it. Most frequent cause of requiring medical assistance while travelling? Motor vehicle accidents. Could happen to anyone at any time anywhere.

Small group adventure companies we have travelled with require proof of insurance which includes medical evacuation.

I have travel insurance that came with my bank account but if I didn't I would definitely get it. Its very cheap and gives you a peace of mind.