travel insurance

[CJ]

hey, im from the uk and will be having top surgery in Florida with dr G in october. Do i need to get travel insurance? if so then which company would you recommend?

[spacerace]

Whether or not you need it is a decision you have to make for yourself - you do not necessarily need it, but you will be having a medical procedure in another country, so who knows what could happen

this is a good article about travel insurance:

http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/travel-insurance/

[randomroads]

I haven't done any travel abroad yet, but when I do get to go somewhere I will always buy travelers insurance. I'd rather waste money than die. You may see it differently, but my advice is to buy it and if you don't need to use it that's great. If you do, then you've covered your bases well. It's a good investment.

[Mattfromengland]

hey, im from the uk and will be having top surgery in Florida with dr G in october. Do i need to get travel insurance? if so then which company would you recommend?

Hey exciting times CJ. I'm from the Uk and that's where I want to go when the time comes too (feeling jealous - in a good way of course)

Great question. I'd defo say yes get insurance!!!!!

My question to tag on from that is what type of insurance do you need and is it easy to get? Just wondering if the insurance companies might not like the fact you're travelling abroad to have surgery?

On another note if you're travelling (so not for surgery) do you need to disclose to an insurance company your trans status and if so does it effect the cost of the insurance etc?

[Tessa James]

I can't recommend a company but strongly encourage you to get the insurance.  It literally has saved lives for a couple of my friends.  Our health care system in the US is sadly dominated by insurance companies and there is little public assistance if things go bad.  You already know there are risks and any piece of mind you can get is worth it.
Congratulations on a big step and happy landings.

[Antonia J]

I travel a lot on business, and Medex is usually a good buy (though I travel from the US outward to Asia and Europe). I've used them for over 10 years for my travels, and their rates are usually decent.  You can find them at www.medexassist.com.   BUPA may also offer a policy, but I think their limit is a minimum of three months.

[randomroads]

sadly dominated by insurance companies and there is little public assistance

Not entirely sure what this means, since I've lived without health insurance for most of my adult life and have always been able to be seen by a doctor one way or another. If you call 911 and tell them you're bleeding to death they will show up, and the ER doctors HAVE to treat you in order to save your life. They aren't going to deny you medical care just because you can't give them an insurance card.

There are also plenty of walk-in clinics for emergency care besides going to a hospital. None of them require insurance, either, but if it's life threatening they will call 911 to transport you to a hospital.

[Tessa James]

Not entirely sure what this means, since I've lived without health insurance for most of my adult life and have always been able to be seen by a doctor one way or another. If you call 911 and tell them you're bleeding to death they will show up, and the ER doctors HAVE to treat you in order to save your life. They aren't going to deny you medical care just because you can't give them an insurance card.

There are also plenty of walk-in clinics for emergency care besides going to a hospital. None of them require insurance, either, but if it's life threatening they will call 911 to transport you to a hospital.

Hi Randomroads,

I admire your adaptability and sense of enterprise in meeting your health care needs.  Good for you.  I hope you stay well and strong.  I spent a 35 year career as a provider on staff at major medical centers in several cities and worked for various HMOs and other systems.  I also volunteered at some of those rare and overloaded "free clinics" where people can walk in.  While most hospitals do, and are required to, admit Emergency patients it depends on their service and capacity.  The majority of hospitals in this country are now privately owned and part of a corporate system.  They most certainly will not provide routine health care without payment or insurance. The vast majority of clinics in this country are privately owned and for profit and they certainly will refuse patients without insurance and sometimes even patients on medicare and medicaid.  Most of the modern nations of the world have some guarantee of access for all and a social contract that says health care is a right regardless of your economic status.  This is often derided in this country as the scary "socialized medicine."  The UK has had it for decades and citizens there do not literally go bankrupt due to medical bills as happens here too often.  Children and the unemployed are most at risk here and are a large percentage of the uninsured.  The World Health Organization data also indicates we have poor outcomes in many categories.  We have great individuals, nurses, doctors and hospitals but the inequities in access means many people do not get the preventive and routine care they need.  Of course this is part of a national debate and some politicians get lathered up about repealing the modest insurance reforms contained in what they call Obamacare.  But hey I'm getting kinda soapboxy here and really twisting a simple request thread;-)  Travel insurance is often less about health care and more about delays, flight or hotel screw ups and problems that are gratefully not life threatening emergencies.  I hope CJ has a great trip and enjoys that Florida sunshine too.

[LordKAT]

I was in a motorcycle accident and 3 hospitals refused to see me or the person I was with when we crashed due to no insurance. Some places will see you but many won't.

[randomroads]

I must have been leading a very sheltered life in very poor/low income areas. I've never heard of ER hospitals refusing to save someone's life. If you showed up in an ambulance and they rejected you right out the door, then sue them. If it's not life threatening, then yes, they don't HAVE to treat you. They can defer you to a clinic because your 'non emergency' (which could be, but that's a different story) would clog up the emergency system and deny care to someone who might die within minutes of showing up. You can also pay out of pocket. That's how I did it for years because -

I admire your adaptability and sense of enterprise in meeting your health care needs.

I was unemployed and unable to afford $300-400 insurance premiums every month. Nothing about adaptability there, just did what I had to do to stay alive. Several hospitals in rural areas of the US have saved my life (which is no exaggeration), although I did pay out the nose to cover my medical bills.

I've also walked into doctors offices and declared my intent to pay out of pocket. They admitted me no problem. Hell, even now with insurance I'm paying out of pocket for doctor visits just because the company we are paying for is a waste of space and doesn't do anything at all. I still owe my Endo $200 for my last visit even though it was coded properly so that any OTHER insurance company would cover it.

However, this topic isn't about routine care. Hospitals do not provide routine care. Emergency services are not there for routine care. This topic is about emergencies, not getting your teeth cleaned while you're on holiday in the US.

[Tessa James]

good morning Random Roads,

Perhaps you will then consider yourself resourceful in meeting your health care needs?  This thread started with a request for assistance and I believe you supported getting travel insurance.  Me too.
I also agree with you that most hospitals, depending on their services and capacity, do admit patients for emergencies that includes obstetrical or birthing care.  Many major metro areas become overwhelmed on a busy Friday night and all of them have triage systems to handle it.  Yes people do get turned away at times.  This country used to have more County or City Hospitals and University Hospitals are fabulous but the whole system is dominated by that third party payer and for profit concept that has privatized care and put the insurance companies, big pharmacy and sales people in the catbird seats. 
It's a great and worthy debate about what is best for us but perhaps it deserves a new topic thread?

[Jack_M]

Being a citizen in the US and not having insurance is entirely different to being on holiday in the US.  You will still be treated for medical emergencies, but you will have to pay every single penny of your treatment and you will be held to that debt.  It's absolutely not worth it.  Get travel insurance.  When you look into it (there's tons of compare sites) you'll see how little it costs for peace of mind. I sometimes cycle down to Seattle for a weekend and I wouldn't dare go down without travel insurance!

[Tessa James]

Jack you are one helluva cyclist!  When I do a century ride it take me a day to recover but you know that cities like Seattle, Portland and Vancouver are best negotiated by bike.  Roll on friend, I salute your pedaling power.   Staying active might just keep us outa those hospitals in the first place?

[Jack_M]

When I'm working I cycle 1.5-2hrs a day, now I've been off work more just 1hr a day, but with workouts now.  So yeah, those are short cycle rides for me and Seattle isn't as big a deal as it would be for someone just jumping on a bike for the first time in donkeys lol.

Cycling is fun and google maps now works out good bike routes so it's more bike friendly roads or separate bike paths.

But yeah, for all the good cycling does for our bodies; there's a lot of bad drivers out there!  I always go down with adequate insurance for sure.