One of my children is taking a trip to Argentina and Patagonia that includes a weeklong pack trip on horseback. Health insurance doesn’t cover outside of country. Getting a GeoBlue policy to cover medical care seems simple enough. We also think based on the locale and the horse portion in a remote area she should get some type of evacuation insurance. She has looked on the internet but is confused by the various evacuation policies. The prices vary widely. I’d appreciate any suggestions.
She feels she doesn’t need trip cancellation, baggage delay included in the policy.
Based on our various experiences, I would suggest trip cancellation, baggage delay, and whatever else is standard on these types of policies, especially for international travel. Apparently AAA has insurance, and someone recently recommended TravelGuard.
I think we used TravelGuard at least once. Check with Costco to see if they offer anything.
We use Travelguard, also. You can call and talk to them about the coverage you would like and they can direct you over to the plan to read more about it.
My D has used World Nomads travel insurance (the one that covers certain “adventure” pursuits) when traveling to locations where she will be doing things like scuba diving etc.
Diver husband has Divers Alert Network which provides evacuation. He got it for the whole family even though only 3/5 are divers.
I use insuremytrip.com whenever we need travel insurance.
Most US health insurance will cover emergency medical procedures outside of US, and more often than it would be sufficient. But they do not cover for emergency medical evacuation, and it can be as high as 50K. Medical evacuation can be important if you need to get back to the States for certain medical treatment.
Last year when we were on vacation in Cancun, we met a couple whose husband fell and broke his hip. The wife wanted to bring him back to the States to have him operated on, but she found out she would have to pay out of pocket for the air ambulance and the cost would be around 50K. The H was operated at the best hospital in Cancun. There were many mishaps - wrong pain killer, H fell off the bed one night…etc, so the family decided to pay for him to be airlifted back home. Their health insurance paid for the surgery in Cancun (they had to pay out of pocket first), but didn’t cover the airlift. The family had to come up with 50K cash to get him home. Most travel insurance would pau for the airlift and medical care while on a trip.
If you travel a lot, you can take out an annual travel insurance for around 400-600/yr. I have AmEx platinum card with 4-500 annual fee, which would pay for emergency medical evacuation whenever I travel 200 miles outside of my home address. I currently have my kids and my mother on my card for this particular coverage. Both of my kids have studied abroad, and having such coverage while they were away gave me a peace of mind.
is a good “consolidator” for trip insurance. (although I once did AAA as well). But squaremouth vets several agencies and weeds out ones that get complaints. You can compare policies and costs pretty easily and tailor what you think you want . Pick what you want in the filters to get down to the companies that would write the policy you need.
And good point that some credit card (signature visa) come with built in trip insurance, so check that if you have it. Of course you have to book the trip using that card but…
Like any contract, INSURANCE is governed by the written terms. Read them over carefully so you know what you are buying. The terms can be VERY different among policies and may have exclusions for pre-existing conditions, dangerous activities, etc.
Pay special attention to the terms of any evacuation policy–who determines whether the insured is evacuated and WHERE they are evacuated to–is it insured’ choice or insurers? Can insured choose US Hospital in (or close to) hometown?
Many evacuation policies are at discretion of insurer, not insured. Being airlifted is expensive, but you may wish to be transported as close as possible to your hometown for treatment, where you can communicate with medical staff and get home afterwards.
Read the plan details pertaining to evacuation very carefully. Quite often they only cover evacuation to the nearest hospital equipped to deal with the injury or illness, which may very well be in the foreign country, not evacuation back to the US.
I bought MedJetAssist for myself and D when we went to Africa, went ahead and signed up for a full year. If you are more than 150 miles from home, they will transport you to the hospital of your choice in your home country. That means you can go directly to a specialty center like Mayo if you want.
They have a variety of plans, including collegiate and short term, but not so many that it’s overwhelming to decide. The year plan we got is $270.
Per recommendation from other CC threads, I used Travel Guard for my last big trip. The thread mentioned the high cost of insurance for an expensive trip. My trip, using FF miles, and visiting family was reasonable. So there was little to reimburse, should something go awry. However, it still covered loss, theft and evacuation, among the basics that I needed.
A friend developed pneumonia on a trip overseas a few years back. Not only was the hospitalization covered, she had someone to turn to for rebooking complicated flights and making sure things went well all the way from airport to home. That story alone made me feel travel insurance is a necessity at a point in life.
Do you have a broker for your homeowner’s insurance? That person might be able to secure the policy for you.
Yes, the older we and our loved ones get, the greater likelihood something may go amiss and we may need trip cancellation, evacuation or some other service.
If cancellation is important to you, please read the terms so you don’t end up with an expensive exclusion or not covered cancellation.
With AmEx Platinum you do not need to book the trip with the card to get the medical evacuation.
I always buy Travelsafe for a reasonably priced plan that includes primary medical coverage and emergency evacuation.
Thank you. I learned a few things. I know she had looked on insuremytrip but she was confused about the different evacuation policies. I will make sure she gets one that includes airlifting to hospital of her choice and also evacuation back to the U.S.
I will also suggestto her a consult with her insurance broker and see if they have any ideas.
I second the recommendation to check insuremytrip.com to compare policies. Travel insurance is generally very cheap for the coverage you’re getting. The trip cancellation coverage is great to have, even if she thinks she doesn’t need it.
We’re covered under International SOS. It’s a global emergency concierge service that many multinational companies subscribe to for their expatriate staff. International SOS also offers personal coverage.
https://www.internationalsos.com/
Anywhere in the world our family travels, we can call them for assistance in an emergency. I have a expat colleague whose little kid was injured on vacation, and Intl SOS had the kid med-evac’d to treatment.
Intl SOS also tracks crisis situation globally. Even when we were in a “tame” destination like Rome, we got updates about potential street demonstrations & transportation strikes. Our S was covered by our family coverage when he did his study abroad in South America.
Will your daughter even get a cellphone signal in the remote area she is travelling?
Gmtplus7- thank you for that link. It looks promising but it looks like evacuation transport is not to location of insured choice. It could be just to closest medical facility. The concern is coverage if she breaks a limb or gets injured and cannot ride her horse back to the start point of her trip. The Estancia she will be traveling from is also only accessible by horseback.
I doubt she will have cell phone on the pack portion of her trip. The group will have a satellite phone for emergencies.
If she is going to a REMOTE location, you may be grossly OVERestimating the number of choices that are locally available. It’s not like little podunk clinics in the middle of nowhere in a developing country are going to be in your user nerwork and set up swipe a foreign insurance card and process a co-payment.
We have int’l medical insurance coverage under Cigna. We pay first, then file a claim for reimbursement later. Another company we’ve had int’l medical coverage with is Allianz. We also paid first, then filed a claim for reimbursement later,
FWIW, my colleague I mentioned in post # 17 were on a snorkling trip on a minimally developed island in Southeast Asia.