I just found out my DD should get medical evacuation and repatriation travel insurance for a short-term study abroad trip coming up in a few weeks. The group she’s going with has travel insurance for trip cancellation and the like, apparently (still a bit foggy on this). And our family medical insurance reimburses for any emergency medical care DD needs during the trip. But, I’m concerned about coverage for getting her home in case medical evacuation is needed. She is in normal heath, but will be in rough, rural terrain.
What should I be considering and where might I find an appropriated retail policy for her soon?
Squaremouth.com can be very helpful. They filter a lot of plans and come up with a couple of good choices. https://www.squaremouth.com/101?utm_source=Bing “Voted best travel insurance comparison site.” We used them in 2014 and were very happy with the plans chosen.
Pay attention to the fine print. Many/most policies only cover evacuation to the nearest facility that can adequately treat, not all the way home. MedJet is one that will transport to the destination of your choice
I was just going to post what @alooknac said. Your regular insurance will probably pay for care at the “nearest medically appropriate facility” (though call and ask). But note that they get to determine what that is, and if you want your D moved to what you think is a better place, or want her brought home for treatment, you’re probably on your own. That’s the big cost that IMO should be covered. Make sure it explicitly covers medical transport all the way home.
Another thing to look for is coverage for your own hotel and meals, if she can’t be brought home immediately, and you want to join her over there.
It’s cheap, especially when you consider that the cost of a transatlantic air ambulance can run tens of thousands.
Thank you. My family med insurance does cover transportation to that (nebulously defined) nearest approriate facility, but not repatriation. And I’ve found out I should check for coverage for a travel nurse for the repatriation flight. And, although my DD won’t need it, folks need to be very careful about the pre-existing condition exclusion and seriously consider buying a waiver . Some travel insurance comes with provided liaisons for coordinating care and payments that can be difficult if you don’t know the language and are trying to respond from back in the US.
The CC give has saved me again! I’m ready to get this done today! More advice welcome…
There are also limits on activities. Stuff like scuba and zip lining can be restricted (no coverage if injured while doing those, but sometimes you can add riders to cover them).
We buy, and have used, Travelex’s Travelite policy. My D got sick and had two doctor appointments on vacation and it covered them both as primary coverage - paid the docs directly, didn’t involve our insurance at all. I called them, spoke with a person who followed up along the entire illness (which actually turned out to be nothing but they paid for it all anyway). I filled out one brief form after I got back home.
I was very happy with them. They offer several plans but the Lite one includes med evacuation up to like $250K. You’d have to check and see if it pays for it there or you pay and get reimbursed.
I bought the rider for my kids when we went to Belize because we knew they would be zip lining. As I cheered them from below, I didn’t get it. We all went cave tubing, but that wasn’t on the restricted list.
I have a kid with type 1 diabetes and some other things too. On my own, I got nothing but no’s from many insurers. Squaremouth found me two (travel) policies after filtering for type 1 and the other things. Not for non-urgent care unfortunately, so my daughter has been unable to study for any length of time abroad due to precondition clauses. Not to start a tangent here, but even major grants like Fulbright would not make study abroad possible for her. This must be an issue for others and it is too bad. The ADA is a US law!
The Affordable Care Act doesn’t cover travel insurance unfortunately. So those companies are free to turn down an applicant with preexisting conditions.
I think you can buy a rider for travel insurance to cover pre-existing conditions, but I’d hope it would be affordable. (Edit: I just remembered such a rider would be for emergency care, not non-urgent. Sigh.)
Travel for folks with disabilities is difficult and to think that study abroad might be one more arena of struggle just frosts me. I wonder which advocates work on this issue. Is it ADA, Title IV, etc.?
And, walking an active volcano…