Travelling to the US without medical insurance...

[slowmotion]

The annual premium for my travel insurance policy is about £200 if I stick to Europe. That includes winter sports. World wide, including the US and Canada, it would be £600-£1000, according to a trawl through Money Supermarket.

Healthcare in north America is a very profitable business.

 

[MontyVeda]

Try Travelbag or Trailfinders for insurance. You can haggle with them on price, because (and you'll hate me for telling you this) the profit margin is almost 100%

thanks for those... just using their online tools, Travelbag quote £23 and Trailfinders quote £77. Decisions decisions.

 

[jefmcg]

thanks for those... just using their online tools, Travelbag quote £23 and Trailfinders quote £77. Decisions decisions.

Read the policies. Take special note of exclusions and excesses.

 

[MontyVeda]

Read the policies. Take special note of exclusions and excesses.

both have different levels of cover.... eg £5,000,000 and £10,000,000 for medical expense cover. £750 and £2000 for loss of personal possessions, £1000 and £5000 cancellation cover, and so on. Exclusions and excesses are much of a muchness between the two... i can ride a bicycle, skateboard and play table tennis.

 

[MontyVeda]

I would.

 

[jefmcg]

I wouldn't go with less than £10 million cover (which seems to be the industry standard these days).

Apparently before Obamacare, US health insurance policies had a life time limits of typically one million. So I would think either coverage would be more than adequate. Assuming surgery would cost $20,000, and ICU $20,000/day, a million would get you 50 days in ICU or 50 operations or a mix of the two. Your insurer will have found a way to get you back under the NHS's care long before you have spent that long in hospital.

I'd go with the cheaper policy, unless you are taking a lot of electronics or an expensive bicycle.

 

[Nigeyy]

Life time limits prior to the healthcare reform act differed from state to state (another complication in the USA is state vs federal regulation). It was something most people were completely unaware of, and given the costs involved it was surprizingly easy to get to or exceed limits, particularly with any kind of mid to long term care or a long term disease that required maintenance and multiple hospitalizations. Of course with all the co-pays and deductibles beeding away your savings if you did have a long term disease and you lapsed on coverage (as you may be lost your job and hence your coverage) there was then the issue of health care insurance companies legally denying you coverage for pre-existing conditions. The healthcare reform act was intended to mitigate some of this stuff (there are still flaws mind you) but joy of joys, the current president and house majority are of the persuasion that some of these things should be rolled back (interestingly both the president and house members have excellent health care coverage provided at the tax payers expense as well as incredible personal wealth. Me? Bitter?). But I digress.

But I'm also of the opinion that as a tourist you won't usually need greater than $10 million -it could happen that you end up in ICU with multiple surgeries for months and months, but hopefully that will be rare -I think most times people are stabilized enough for transport within a couple of months. Personally, I'd be as much concerned with what a policy covers as well as costs for transporting you back home. I'd think $1 million plus should cover most things adequately unless you are really unlucky, though personally I'd think $2 million plus would be much better.

Apparently before Obamacare, US health insurance policies had a life time limits of typically one million. So I would think either coverage would be more than adequate. Assuming surgery would cost $20,000, and ICU $20,000/day, a million would get you 50 days in ICU or 50 operations or a mix of the two. Your insurer will have found a way to get you back under the NHS's care long before you have spent that long in hospital.

I'd go with the cheaper policy, unless you are taking a lot of electronics or an expensive bicycle.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

i can ride a bicycle, skateboard and play table tennis.

At the same time?
No wonder you can't get insured, show off.

 

[mjr]

[...] landing flat as a pancake on my face. I was taken to hospital in an ambulance, and released, still bleeding and heavily concussed when they discovered I didn't have insurance. [...] Maybe this should be in the helmet thread..

Most helmets don't cover your face or do enough to prevent concussion, so it would be a nearly-irrelevant anecdote... which are fairly common there

 

[MontyVeda]

I will be travelling to the US with insurance. ...at a mere £22.87p for the week, I'd be daft not to

 

[KneesUp]

Glad I only read the last post

 

[the snail]

Another thing to consider is other risks, legal costs and liability. There was a report on the radio recently of a couple whose rented accommodation burned down while they were staying in France, and they got a bill for £500,000. Apparently the occupier is liable under French law. Travel insurance didn't cover it, but fortunately their home insurance did.

 

[byegad]

A friend came back from Noo York two months ago. He's diabetic, and crap at controlling it!

His foot lost 3sq/in of sole during his week there and on return he consulted his NHS doctor. By this time his whole left leg was swollen and there was talk about amputation below the knee. Fortunately this is no longer the case, although he's still getting it dressed every other day and walking with a stick.

He knew he had an issue on day three of his week's stay, but not having travel insurance 'because with his health issues it would have been expensive' he'd toughed it out until he was home.

Given US hospital costs, had he walked into a doctors surgery, while in NY, he could have seen the costs comfortably exceed his house's value!

One word to describe him sums it up.

Pillock!

 

[jefmcg]

Apparently the occupier is liable under French law. Travel insurance didn't cover it, but fortunately their home insurance did.

That's interesting. Every travel insurance policy I have had included public liability cover.

 

[mjr]

He knew he had an issue on day three of his week's stay, but not having travel insurance 'because with his health issues it would have been expensive' he'd toughed it out until he was home.[...]
One word to describe him sums it up.

Pillock!

I think that's a bit harsh. Your friend gambled on saving maybe more than £200 and lost... but at least it seems like he didn't lose his leg.

People with chronic illnesses like diabetes or other blood disorders get charged stonking amounts by insurers, even if their condition has been under control for years and never yet caused any acute symptoms in the UK, let alone while travelling. @MontyVeda gets US insurance for £22.87 but I think I last paid about three times that just for the EU and a few neighbouring countries, with some annoying exclusions (about activities, not medical conditions). A lot of those who do offer insurance try to exclude anything possibly related to pre-existing conditions, so he could have actually bought some insurance and still been unable to seek help for a diabetes-related problem like that!

I think you should direct a bit of your ire at both the insurers for being a bit crap and the government for allowing insurers to be charging diabetics so much more that it scares so many off. Surely we should all pay a bit more to make it less scary for people like diabetics so the NHS doesn't have to spend so much picking up the pieces when people return home?