Greatam...... Are you Around for some Questions?

[sail7seas]

I so appreciate all the info you have shared here re: travel insurance.

 

I need to purchase coverage within the next 5 days and can't decide between TravelEx and TravelGuard.

 

The high points I care about are:

 

Pre-existing condition coverage (why I need to purchase soon)

Primary Payer

 

Is there a particular policy by either of these companies you like better than another?

 

Thanks to anyone who can/will help me.

 

Greatly appreciate all assistance.

[greatam]

I so appreciate all the info you have shared here re: travel insurance.

 

I need to purchase coverage within the next 5 days and can't decide between TravelEx and TravelGuard.

 

The high points I care about are:

 

Pre-existing condition coverage (why I need to purchase soon)

Primary Payer

 

Is there a particular policy by either of these companies you like better than another?

 

Thanks to anyone who can/will help me.

 

Greatly appreciate all assistance.

 

 

I buy the Travelex policies. There are a couple of new ones besides the Travelex Lite that I have purchased for quite a few years. Travelex Lite is now even more a la carte, so you can pick and choose. The Travel Max policy is now only a few dollars more than the basic Travelex Lite and offers better coverage, IMHO. ALL Travelex policies are PRIMARY coverage. I usually buy direct from the Travelex website after I compare prices on insuremytrip and travelinsurancestore. I LIKE the primary coverage. I LIKE the fact that Travelex has been in business WORLDWIDE for a lot of years. I like the fact that they have "on the ground" employees/contractors almost all places in the world (for their currency exchange business if for no other reason).

 

And I was very grateful for the help I got in the jungles of Cambodia a few years ago. The language/interpreter help was invaluable in getting me into a hospital in Vietnam when I needed it. I didn't have to pay a dime and when I got to Vietnam, everything was taken care of in advance and it almost seemed like the hospital was waiting for me. THAT was priceless.

[sail7seas]

You are a treasure and I hugely appreciate your help.

I am very appreciative you happen to be around today, saw my question and so generously shared the info.

 

A great many thanks.

 

[Betsy's Mom]

I have filed this information in my travel folder. You saved me a good bit of searching! Primary insurance is a priority for me!

Bonnie

[eandj]

We usually purchase Travel Guard. They too have a policy that you can "build on". Adding coverage on things you find important. Had one experience with a medical claim and TG handled it within two weeks and I had my money. Super easy and efficient.

 

Sail7Seas, you just have to know what coverage you want and need. It's a waste of money to buy a plan rec here if it's not really what you need. We always buy "evacuation to the hospital of our choice" especially in the Carib where hospitals aren't top notch. Preexisting conditons too, is a must for us. Things like lost luggage and delay is not a priority for us. We look at the BIG stuff. ;)

 

Good luck.

[sail7seas]

Yes, Thank you.

[Donray]

You probably will have to pay your medical bills yourself while on your trip. That's because travel insurance plans are "indemnification" plans (you will be reimbursed - indemnified) after your trip by the insurance company. Travel insurance is not a "pay on behalf of" plan. You don't just give the medical facility a card. In some cases, a few companies can guarantee payment to the medical facility, but it's on a case-by-case basis.

[greatam]

You probably will have to pay your medical bills yourself while on your trip. That's because travel insurance plans are "indemnification" plans (you will be reimbursed - indemnified) after your trip by the insurance company. Travel insurance is not a "pay on behalf of" plan. You don't just give the medical facility a card. In some cases, a few companies can guarantee payment to the medical facility, but it's on a case-by-case basis.

 

Quite a lot depends on whether you have primary or secondary coverage. For a trip to the ship's infirmary and/or MINOR problem shoreside, you are correct. Pay first, then get reimbursed. For more serious matters and having GOOD travel insurance with GOOD medical/information assistance (especially in far distant foreign countries-not the Caribbean or Mexico), they will make arrangements to get you into a hospital or even an urgent care medical clinic AND take care of all the bills. Twice I have had it happen-once in Cambodia as previously posted and DH had to be admitted to a clinic in Kuwait last February. The Kuwait bill was less than $1000 but it was taken care of in full before we left. We didn't pay a dime out of pocket, even for the prescriptions.

[sail7seas]

This might be of interest to some of you so I brought this thread forward to continue the conversation.

 

I chose Travelex as the company with which to write insurance.

We are willing to self insure the price of trip cancellation or interruption. (It would at least $1,500 to cover cost of trip. It's a pricey cruise in a costly cabin thus the high insurance premium. If we were to cancel, we are prepared to eat the price ..... gulp. Certainly hope that doesn't happen.)

 

 

By doing that, we can purchase Travelex policy called Travel Max (Without trip cancellation). You cannot eliminate any other features of the policy such as baggage, which we don't need covered.

 

For only $110 per COUPLE, you can purchase $100,000 medical coverage and $1,000,000 medical evacuation. It depends in which state you live (surprisingly to me) but we can wait 30 days from date of deposit and still have pre-existing condition coverage. Our regular medical pays worldwide but it could be a matter of having to lay and then submit claim and as importantly, in the event of severe emergency, Greatam's comments about on the ground by local reps is priceless.

 

The caution to keep in mind is that if you later decide to upgrade the policy to cover trip cancellation, you will lost the pre-exisitng medical condition coverage. That must be done within the thirty days (for my state - the number of days varies).

 

This is a great buy IMO

 

It would almost be irresponsible to not write something (at least) as good as this.

 

Thought this might interest some of you. Depending upon the price of your cruise and associated expenses, you may just wish to buy medical and evacuation coverage which does include lost baggage and assistance etc

[happy cruzer]

Good points. Trip cancellation and trip delay are known expenses. Easier to self insure.

 

Medical costs and Med evac can be very high/unkown.

 

Devil is in the details.

 

Hope all works out well, and none of us ever need our insurance.