atlantamom

It was certainly a surprise for me! I recently had to pay for yellow fever and typhus vaccines and antimalarial medications for my family of four. When I was originally planning our trip, I had naively assumed this would be a minimal cost, but it was over $1000 (not covered by insurance). I used our county travel clinic because I assumed it would be the cheapest, but I may have done better shopping around. A friend in California said hers was free with her insurance, and I don't remember my last typhus vaccine costing an arm and a leg. Anyway, just something to be aware of.

qwovadis

Boy did you get ripped off "churned" by "travel clinic"

Recently did 2 nice weeks in Peru including air for less

than you paid for mostly unneeded jabs.

mdtravelhealth.com for info all you need is Hep A

and YF jab/cert if crossing borders or doing deep jungle

you can get them all cheap free in SA

or at public health clinics if you do not have cover.

Best for me to do careful homework to save.

qwovadis

few malaria risk areas in SA except for deep jungle.

if I take malaria preventives Doxycyline works great

I pay $12 for #270 at wal mart

malariahotspots.co.uk for risk areas amazingly few

So caveat emptor and do careful research.

qwovadis

Last YF jab cert other shots for me

lap.com.pe $20 all in a great place to go.

atlantamom

I am sure that the immunizations we received can be obtained more cheaply. That's why I posted. However, we did not use a private clinic, but the public clinic in our county. Here in Georgia, the public clinic is supposed to be where to go for affordable healthcare, so I assumed that the prices there would be cheapest. Doing a quick google search showed me that most of the private clinics in our area would have charged something comparable.

Also, we only received the vaccines and meds recommended by the CDC for the areas to which we are traveling and I further consulted with my children's pediatrician and a good friend who is a pharmacist. I am aware that you do not need these for most places in Peru.

pdx

I think the county health clinic is probably uses a sliding scale fee system. Because you have an income they nailed you for it. The poor student traveler probably would have been able to get the vaccines for $5.
Boggles my mind that your insurance doesn't cover vaccines. Think how much they would pay out if you came back with a round of malaria or typhus.

mlgb

Kaiser covered my Yellow Fever, typhoid and Hep A/B jabs. All I had was a $35 copay for malarone. If you are going to spend time in the jungle around Iquitos they are all recommended at this time.

Because YF and typhoid are not medically necessary in the US you will find insurance may not cover it, and YF can only be had at certified centers. Lucky for me my home Kaiser facility is a YF center.

Lgoldie

I'm about to go on a trip to South Africa. Will only be in Kruger for 3 days. My question is how long Malarone lasts. I have leftovers from a prescription that "technically" expired on 10/10 (Oct last year) and it's now 4/11 (only 6 months later). I leave in 1 day and would rather not scramble to get a doctor's visit + fill new prescription . Thoughts? (I seem to recall seeing somewhere on this Forum from "Chuck" that GSK gives their Malarone a 5 year shelf life, and I filled the prescription at a CVS in Jan 2009. Chances are really good it'll still be good, so I'm tempted to take my chances. HOwever, I DO have insurance so it'd only cost me $50 to get a new prescription filled. Now it's more about time and hassle of having to see a doctor in order for them to write a prescription. I'm staying in a pretty nice place and HATE mosquitoes (and have rather sweet blood, it seems!), so I'll be covering up a ton with clothes those 3 days. Any advice (urgent) would be much appreciated.

doug_stallings

My health insurance paid for my Malarone when I went to India last fall. I paid for typhoid. If I had been able to get my immunizations at my doctor's office, then I would have had to pay only the co-pay for the office visit. But I could get only tetanus and polio boosters from my doctor. You do have to read the fine print of your policy. Many so not cover travel immunizations, but some do. Either way, you did pay far too much.

sf7307

My health insurance didn't pay for anything - not typhoid, not Hep A/B. But in any event, I don't think $1000 for a family of four is that much.

dutyfree

I don't think that you overpaid at all for a family of four.Here in Chicago at a franchise called Passport Health which is all over the country you pay quite a bit for a consultation(mandatory) before you get the pills or shots. Yellow fever shots can sometimes be difficult to find-two years ago I had to wait 5 weeks to get in on a 5 pack shot packet with a family of four for my job.
Doxycycline is cheap but isn't always recommended for women and people who are going to be in the sun.
The airline I fly for has had 7 crew members come down with malaria in the past year and 2 have died so anything you pay is definitely worth it!

mohan

Health insurance should at least pay for Hep A/B. You need it in your home country too. My Blue Cross /blue shield paid for all immunization when I was preparing for the S.E. Asia trip. Insurance company only pays when it's 'medically necessery', there are times you can argue if you get your doctor on your side.

madgicsh

Nice to be able to choose your own insurance! Sorry Americans but I find your system quite strange;-)