Medical and Evacuation Coverage, Only......

[sail7seas]

I want to buy insurance for medical and evacuation coverage and don't care about insuring for cancellation or trip interruption.

 

I'm not sure about the company I have dealt with in the past as there is verbage that is bothering me so I'm hoping someone can direct me to an insurer who will insure for pre-existing condition (I'll buy it within the designated time requirement) and emergency evacuation.

 

Does TravelGuard have such a policy? I have not been able to find it but I am not a very good researcher. :o

 

Thanks if you can help.

[GeezerCouple]

Contact TripInsuranceStore.com

 

But CALL them after (or instead of) browsing the website.

 

They handle several different insurers and many different types of policies.

 

They can help you sort through which policy is best for your needs.

 

You also might want to include MedJetAssist separately - ask them about that, too.

 

GeezerCouple

[sail7seas]

Thank you, Geezer Couple.

I have had MedJetAssist for years but my experience has been when buying travel medical coverage, they include evacuation coverage. That's okay. Provides more peace of mind.

 

[GeezerCouple]

Thank you, Geezer Couple.

I have had MedJetAssist for years but my experience has been when buying travel medical coverage, they include evacuation coverage. That's okay. Provides more peace of mind.

 

 

We decided to add MedJetAssist because of one key factor: They will transport us to any hospital of OUR choice - assuming we are already an inpatient and in a condition to be moved safely - if WE decide we want to be moved.

 

Chances are, we'd want to be brought to our regular local large city hospital, but we could also imagine occasions when we'd choose a specialty hospital elsewhere.

 

We aren't required to get approval from a local doctor or hospital administrator who would need to declare themselves "unsatisfactory" for our treatment.

 

That's quite different from how most other medical evacuation policies are written. Usually it's to something like the nearest suitable facility, as determined by the beancounters at the insurance company as well as the local medical folks...

 

We certainly hope that we'll never need to use their services, but ... it's "just in case", as with all insurance.

 

Obviously, other coverage is needed for the "regular" medical/surgical expenses if something happens while we are traveling.

 

GeezerCouple

[sail7seas]

Exactly. I know one doctor who had MedJetAssist and became very ill while traveling internationally. MedJet took amazing care of him and his wife and brought them home to 'his' hospital. They had lots of good things to say about them.

 

But, in the meantime, I need to find an insurer, fast so that I have pre-existing coverage, for just medical. I am fine to self insure trip cancellation or interruption but being on Medicare, I know I need out of country medical coverage.

 

Any suggestions. I looked at TripInsuranceStore but how does one know if one insurer is more reliable than another? How to ''trust' I've chosen the best in case I should (hopefully not) need to make a claim.

 

Any experience with Travel Guard or Travelex?

Would anyone here recommend one over the other?

 

Thanks for your help.

[GeezerCouple]

Exactly. I know one doctor who had MedJetAssist and became very ill while traveling internationally. MedJet took amazing care of him and his wife and brought them home to 'his' hospital. They had lots of good things to say about them.

 

But, in the meantime, I need to find an insurer, fast so that I have pre-existing coverage, for just medical. I am fine to self insure trip cancellation or interruption but being on Medicare, I know I need out of country medical coverage.

 

Any suggestions. I looked at TripInsuranceStore but how does one know if one insurer is more reliable than another? How to ''trust' I've chosen the best in case I should (hopefully not) need to make a claim.

 

Any experience with Travel Guard or Travelex?

Would anyone here recommend one over the other?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Strongly suggest you CALL TripInsuranceStore.com folks!

 

And we now have a "testimonial", although one we would have preferred to avoid.

 

With less than 2 weeks to go before our first "BIG" pre-retirement trip (DH doesn't want to retire, but he agreed to take "real" vacations, finally :)), he developed a very serious medical condition, almost overnight. What was initially a 2 week restriction on travel anywhere at all ended up being 2+ months of "no travel, don't leave town", etc.

 

We had coverage by TravelInsured, recommended to us by TripInsuranceStore.

 

There was a bit of a snafu submitting the documents, and we had no quarrel with their needing proper documentation.

 

Once all the docs were received... in less than two weeks we got a call from them telling us that the check was being mailed for the full amount.

 

There was NO nonsense about challenging anything at all, and that was a surprise, given what I've read elsewhere on CruiseCritic.

 

The check did indeed arrive a few days later, a hefty amount.

 

As I wrote elsewhere, we really got the non-medical coverage primarily for the "CFAR" (Cancel For Any Reason), in case "work called" at the last minute, and DH felt strongly that he shouldn't go. When he's really retired, we'll drop the CFAR option.

 

But we didn't really think that there would be a pre-departure medical situation that would cause the entire trip to go "poof" at the last minute.

 

We still won't bother with insurance for domestic trips and inexpensive travel costs. Our regular health insurance would cover the care anywhere in the USA. The only thing we might need then is the MedJetAssist if something really bad happens.

 

GeezerCouple

Edited June 18, 2014 by GeezerCouple

[GeezerCouple]

Exactly. I know one doctor who had MedJetAssist and became very ill while traveling internationally. MedJet took amazing care of him and his wife and brought them home to 'his' hospital. They had lots of good things to say about them.

 

But, in the meantime, I need to find an insurer, fast so that I have pre-existing coverage, for just medical. I am fine to self insure trip cancellation or interruption but being on Medicare, I know I need out of country medical coverage.

 

Any suggestions. I looked at TripInsuranceStore but how does one know if one insurer is more reliable than another? How to ''trust' I've chosen the best in case I should (hopefully not) need to make a claim.

 

Any experience with Travel Guard or Travelex?

Would anyone here recommend one over the other?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

By the way, it's really good to hear about an actual need for MedJetAssist, and that it worked "as advertised".

 

Thanks.

 

GeezerCouple

[ScriptOhio]

I want to buy insurance for medical and evacuation coverage and don't care about insuring for cancellation or trip interruption.

 

Does TravelGuard have such a policy? I have not been able to find it but I am not a very good researcher. :o

 

Thanks if you can help.

 

Travel Guard has such a policy (MedEvac Per Trip): however, it is only available on a per trip basis. Their annual plan (unlimited trips for 12 months) is no longer available.

 

http://buy.travelguard.com/TGI2/proc/productlisting.aspx?intcmp=clc-001-Nav-2-AllProductsListing&br=tgdirect&cn=1&st=36&arc=000329

[KirkNC]

We use trip insure for that coverage. We don't have any pre-existing conditions so I am not sure how they handle that.

[Keith1010]

You can do as you want.

 

We use insuremytrip.com to find companies and compare plans.

 

Keith

[donaldsc]

InsureMyTrip.com.

 

By the way, that is all I carry - medical and evacuation. I self insure for everything else and I consider it a waste of money. We also have a yearly policy that covers us for any trip we take anywhere for a full year instead of taking out single trip policies. The rate is quite reasonable. Ask them about it.

 

DON

Edited July 6, 2014 by donaldsc

[cherylandtk]

I haven't seen anyone mention it here yet, so I will:

1. The way to insure for medical only is to use a trip value of $1. This means you only have $1 coverage for cancellation or interruption (which you don't need), but are covered for medical issues while on the trip.

2. The glitch is that the PEC waiver on most policies ONLY applies if one insures the full trip pre-paid non-refundable cost. Since a medical only policy does not do that, one usually cannot get PEC waiver. In most policies you cannot get PEC coverage AND not include the cancellation full cost. There may be a policy out there that is an exception, and for this I would contact one of the well known and oft-mentioned insurance brokers. (steve at tripinsurancestore, squaremouth, etc.) TravelEx Max used to have something like this, but one would have to check on what the policy currently states.

Edited July 7, 2014 by cherylandtk

[sail7seas]

I haven't seen anyone mention it here yet, so I will:

1. The way to insure for medical only is to use a trip value of $1. This means you only have $1 coverage for cancellation or interruption (which you don't need), but are covered for medical issues while on the trip.

2. The glitch is that the PEC waiver on most policies ONLY applies if one insures the full trip pre-paid non-refundable cost. Since a medical only policy does not do that, one usually cannot get PEC waiver. In most policies you cannot get PEC coverage AND not include the cancellation full cost. There may be a policy out there that is an exception, and for this I would contact one of the well known and oft-mentioned insurance brokers. (steve at tripinsurancestore, squaremouth, etc.) TravelEx Max used to have something like this, but one would have to check on what the policy currently states.

 

 

 

My recent call to Travelex re: MAX policy indicated they still will cover for Pre-existing condition if you purchase within 30 days of first deposit, are fit to travel on the date you buy the policy and meet all terms. You do not have to insure price of trip.

 

Anyone interested should call and verify for themselves.

 

[cherylandtk]

7seas, good to learn that policy still works that way; I take it that it met your needs?

[sail7seas]

7seas, good to learn that policy still works that way; I take it that it met your needs?

 

 

 

I think there are good features to that policy. Another thing I like is you have 30 days after date of first deposit to write the insurance. Many other policies have a shorter window you need to purchase in order to have pre-existing coverage.