Check List For Study Abroad

Parents Forum
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<p>Medical Evacuation Insurance</p>

<p>One other item to add to the pre-departure checklist is medical evacuation insurance. If your child is traveling to somewhere remote or where you don't have absolute confidence in the medical care system, it is a good idea to purchase some travel insurance that provides coverage for emergency evacuation stateside for medical treatment. </p>

<p>Be aware, in making your choice, that some plans provide coverage only if evacuation is determined to be medically necessary by the insurance company's own medical staff, or by the local physician caring for your child, and may only evacuate to the nearest facility that the company considers to be competent to provide the appropriate care (which may or may not be in the U.S.).</p>

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<p>When my daughter did a study abroad in Peru, her college offered a low cost travel insurance package that included evacuation. This was much less then what we ended up getting for her independently as an adult.</p>

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<p>I lived on the East Coast of Africa when I was young and had both clothes and shoes made for us, but I don't know how much things have changed in the last 30+ years! If she's spending time outside the cities in Africa she might want to bring a good supply of feminine hygiene products.</p>

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<p>oh my gosh, I can't believe I forgot that mathmom! My daughter took about a years worth of tampons and deodorant with her. Both are very difficult/expensive to buy in China. When we went to visit her in April she requested we bring two more boxes of tampons for friends.</p>

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<p>I found out today that you can get foreign currency through many banks and through AAA. I have ordered yuan from AAA which will be delivered in 2 business days.</p>

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<p>smile dog, medical evacuation insurance is a must for those traveling abroad.
Son #3 has traveled abroad past two summers and will do semester abroad this fall; son #2 has been in China past 15 mos. We bought a family policy
which covers son#3 but not #2. We did purchase something separately for him. Policies are also good for medical evacuation if you are traveling in the States and wish to be transported home. Our policies allow us to determine
facility and location if evacuation necessary. Son #3 worked with 64 year old American who had serious heart issues in China; he does not have American health insurance or evacuation insurance but has some funds and is in Thailand for additional medical care -- perhaps bypass surgery. Son #2 sees that medical care in his non-Western China city is 15-25 years behind medical standard of care here. Son #2 has Type 1 diabetes and we have stressed we do not want him in China longer than 1 1/2 years without access to American medical care -- even though his diabetes appears stable and he has sought checkups locally.</p>

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<p>3boysnjmom:</p>

<p>Medical evacuation insurance certainly does provide me with a measure of security when it comes to sending my boy overseas. </p>

<p>But I've realized that the first time we sent SmilePup1 to China, we didn't really know the limits of what we were purchasing (the med. evac. insurance we purchased then was significantly cheaper but didn't really provide what we thought we were getting, which was evacuation stateside, at the discretion of his doctor here at home - fortunately, we didn't need to use it!). This time around, we've purchased a "Cadillac" version which costs a bit more, but actually does what we thought we were purchasing the first time around! The policy we signed on with this time actually is good for a year and just provides evacuation services (in a plane that, according to the company, is "equipped like an ICU" - now THAT'S what I'm talking about!).</p>

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<p>Does anyone know what the best way is for a student to renew prescriptions while abroad in Europe?</p>

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<p>Haven't been to Africa, but our son did a study abroad program that went to Hong Kong and I don't have financial tips for HK, but will note that the highlights of touring there were the Peninsula Hotel's high tea (has a high price, though, I will note) and seeing the view from Victoria's Peak in both the day and night (so urge her to make the trip there twice, even if on the same day). The skyline in HK is the nicest I've seen anywhere in the world. She should have a great time there.</p>

<p>I am thinking we used a credit card to pay for the Oriental Pearl Tower in Shanghai (and got "Shanghaied" as nobody spoke English there to explain how long the wait to the top was and the line was worse than at Disney World in winding around indoors such that you had no idea how close you were getting - it took us HOURS to get up part way and then we had to give up as we had a program with students in Shanghai to attend that night, and you don't even want to hear about the taxi nightmare coming back from the OPT). I am pretty sure we used credit cards in Beijing with no problem, and I know I got money out using my credit card at an ATM no problem (still remember the soft serve blueberry ice cream and green tea ice cream we got just after using the ATM at a mall; the blueberry was excellent, but the green tea wasn't so hot, no pun intended).</p>

<p>I all also pretty sure I used a credit card with no problem quite a bit in Hong Kong. But credit cards CAN and DO get "eaten" by ATMS, so anyone traveling should have at least two if not more. Our son's gotten eaten by an ATM in Lithuania last summer, and someone on his study abroad gotten eaten at an ATM inside a monastery in Taiwan, of all places. You ideally should have one in a safe in your room and another in your travel pouch under your shirt and another in a pocket or fanny pack, seems to me (and have all the bank card information in the travel pouch and safe and with someone back home should you get robbed).</p>

<p>Everyone in our family has their own credit cards so it is easy to track who has spent what. Our son has a credit card for business expenses (which are reimbursed by MIT now, but was used for figuring out his taxes back when he had his own businesses) and one for personal expenses (like his treating us to dinner last night and my parents to lunch today in honor of Father's Day), and I feel that's also a good thing for people to get used to doing early on.</p>

<p>Also tell your children to never put the passport in a place where it could be easily forgotten, such as an airport bin or the seat back of a plane (a student on one of our son's study abroad programs in France did that and thanks to the Honors College director being fluent in French, he was able to get him and the girl back on the plane to retrieve it about 30 minutes after they had left the plane, but it gave everyone a scare that she and the director were going to miss the connecting flight).</p>

<p>Our son has been to 30-some countries now between business and pleasure and has never used traveler's checks. I used to use them, but came to find credit cards more the way to go. To this day, I have no interest in debit cards (and indeed canceled my bank one sent to my house that I didn't request just this morning). Our son has been responsible in his charging (has had credit cards since he turned 13 and starting taking business trips on his own; is 16 now), so we have trusted him to not "go nuts" on purchases. After all, he knows he'll be paying the amount in full each month from HIS savings (as we made sure he had thousands in savings before he got his first credit card and he's never had a limit anywhere near what he has saved, which is enough to buy several cars at this point). If a kid isn't mature enough to not go overboard on spending, are they mature enough to go abroad? That's not a rhetorical question, mind you, but just one to discuss/think about.</p>

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<p>Oh, another thing....don't have the credit cards be through the same bank.</p>

<p>I was on vacation with friends at age 19 and for some bogus reason (no fault of my own), the bank frozen my account and both my Master Card and Visa card were from that same bank, so I couldn't use either of them, and hadn't brought enough cash to cover me. Luckily, my friends had no credit cards and so took out a lot of cash for the trip and were able to spot me the money (which I quickly got back to them once back from vacation). But have different banks be behind the credit cards or the extra card(s) could be for nothing.</p>

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<p>And also some will cover flying someone back to the USA for medical care, but not if the person dies overseas (where I am thinking some cover sending back the body if deceased, as well). Now hopefully nobody here will ever need <em>that</em> kind of insurance, but on our son's one study abroad, a 19-year-old girl who had no idea she was ill (only symptom was headaches that had started about a week earlier) climbed the Great Wall of China and by the time she got back to the bus, she could hardly talk. She still went to lunch, oddly, but by the end of lunch, could barely walk and then someone from the trip called an ambulance. Turned out the poor thing had a brain tumor and died before the parents could even get to China (they were in the air when she took her last breath). Most families that can afford study abroad programs can probably afford the pretty costly charge for flying back a body, but every now and again, it causes a financial burden, so if it would for your family, you might want to check that insurance coverage, too, morbid that it is.</p>

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<p>Oh, and check your health insurance policy to see if they cover medical evacuation (stateside or overseas). Some do. But those never cover the "dead body" scenario, I am pretty sure.</p>

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<p>OK, my experience is dated, but when I lived overseas the two things I wanted the most were dental floss (hard to find) and deodorant (the ones they had were sickeningly perfumey).</p>

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<p>"Does anyone know what the best way is for a student to renew prescriptions while abroad in Europe?"
twinmom, check with your Rx provider. D is going abroad for the semester and they waived the 3 month limit so she will be able to get the whole 6 months filled before she goes. Took a few phone calls but everything is in order.</p>

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<p>csleslie: Thanks. I will check into that.</p>

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<p>csleslie 51 -- interesting that your insurance provider allowed 6 months' worth of meds to be filled for your daughter going abroad. I have a 25 year old son who is Type 1 diabetic and has been in China for 15 months. The pump company provided a back up pump for emergencies but the insurance company refused to waive the 3 month limit for insulin. Don't tell anyone but
our pharmacist is wonderful and filled the Rxs and put through insurance every three months for us. Plus we and another son took over additional insulin for him. You are lucky.</p>