Annual travel medical insurance??

[Jersey42]

Steve:

 

Are there any good options today for annual travel medical (and evacuation) insurance?  We have purchased GeoBlue Trekker in the past and the policy met our needs.  GeoBlue was also very good about refunding the unused portion of our last policy when COVID-19 hit.  I understand the Trekker policy will not cover COVID, and I don't want a policy with that exclusion.  GeoBlue's Voyageur (single trip plan) will cover COVID, but when I priced it for a potential spring trip, I could purchase one of your comprehensive plans for only a few dollars more.  

 

My preference is medical/evacuation insurance only, because I am comfortable self insuring for cancellation/interruption, plus my credit card also offers some benefits in these areas.  

[iamtrustworthy]

2 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

Steve:

 

Are there any good options today for annual travel medical (and evacuation) insurance?  We have purchased GeoBlue Trekker in the past and the policy met our needs.  GeoBlue was also very good about refunding the unused portion of our last policy when COVID-19 hit.  I understand the Trekker policy will not cover COVID, and I don't want a policy with that exclusion.  GeoBlue's Voyageur (single trip plan) will cover COVID, but when I priced it for a potential spring trip, I could purchase one of your comprehensive plans for only a few dollars more.  

 

My preference is medical/evacuation insurance only, because I am comfortable self insuring for cancellation/interruption, plus my credit card also offers some benefits in these areas.  

Hi Jersey42,

 

I haven't found an annual travel medical plan that covers Covid. I suspect that the companies view the risk as unknown and potentiall too large. I think when there are widely available vaccines that have proven effective they will figure out how to include the coverage for a reasonable price.

 

For now, the better way to insure against Covid is to get a Trip Cancellation plan. If you require pre-existing conditions coverage and don't want to insure the full trip cost, I have 3 plans that won't penalize you if you just insure a $500 p/p trip cost which is the top of the lowest range.

 

One plan is ending on December 31, 2020. The other two are the IMG iTI SE plan (https://tripinsurancestore.com/img-iti-plan-details-fl/) and the TravelSafe Classic plan (https://tripinsurancestore.com/travelsafe-travel-insurance-plan-details-for-fl-residents/).

 

I don't recommend the IMG iTI SE plan (https://tripinsurancestore.com/img-iti-plan-details/) for FL, KS, MO, VA and WA residents because the medical is Secondary and is too low.

 

I hope this help you,

 

Steve Dasseos

[jimblack1]

I add trip insurance to my cruises because I thought it protected me if I cancelled my cruise. Now RCL tells me that even though they cancelled the cruise not me they will not return my insurance cost. This seems unfair and I wonder if it is even legal?

[iamtrustworthy]

2 hours ago, jimblack1 said:

I add trip insurance to my cruises because I thought it protected me if I cancelled my cruise. Now RCL tells me that even though they cancelled the cruise not me they will not return my insurance cost. This seems unfair and I wonder if it is even legal?

Hi jimblack1,

 

If you bought the plan directly from RCL you didn't buy a real travel insurance policy.

 

What is commonly know as a “pre-departure waiver / protection” plan is mostly a promise to pay on the part of the cruise line, tour operator or travel supplier for the trip cancellation and trip interruption benefits. These plans can include elements of insurance to pay claims for trip delays, accident and sickness medical benefits, evacuation and/or baggage protection.

 

The phrases “travel insurance”, “trip insurance” and “cruise insurance” are glibly thrown around causing many people to assume all plans are essentially the same – they are not.

 

Here’s Why: Insurance is actually a legal term and it has certain understandings associated with it. Yet, many people in the travel business, who are not insurance agents, seem to apply the phrase “travel insurance” to every type of “protection plan” and “waiver plan”.

 

I say this on the page below:

Steve’s biggest Pet Peeve is the Deceptive selling of “non-travel insurance pre-departure waiver / protection plans” as “Real Travel Insurance Plans”.

 

Here's the page on my website which covers this subject in greater detail:

https://tripinsurancestore.com/travel-insurance-vs-travel-supplier-waiver-plans/

 

After you look this page over, write a followup and include a link to the actual plan you bought from RCL. I'll look it over and see if I can figure any solution for you.

 

Steve Dasseos

 

 

[sparkers]

I have the same question and am not as concerned with the cancellation/interruption. I normally travel very often so did purchase a year long policy from Travel Guard. I had searched for a long time for a good policy that would cover  medical/evacuation. Alliance also has a plan. I would love to learn more about the various options and exclusions that are out there.

[vermonter16]

I've been looking at travel insurance, have always done it on a per trip basis and used Travel Insured which has always served us well - only needed to use it 1 time 10 years ago.  But - all the different insurance providers cover many different things at different amounts, etc.  My husband is 69 and generally in good medical health - however, something recent has come up.  I always bought travel insurance, right after we booked the cruise or after final payment but now I see anything pre-existing is not covered unless you purchased it soon after the made the initial payment.  I was looking at GeoBlue, Travel Insured, and Roamright - but I'll be honest, haven't heard much about Roamright and there medical coverage looks like a total of $25,000 which honestly, doesn't seem to be a whole lot.  Does anyone have any advice?  I am totally confused.

[GeezerCouple]

2 hours ago, vermonter16 said:

I've been looking at travel insurance, have always done it on a per trip basis and used Travel Insured which has always served us well - only needed to use it 1 time 10 years ago.  But - all the different insurance providers cover many different things at different amounts, etc.  My husband is 69 and generally in good medical health - however, something recent has come up.  I always bought travel insurance, right after we booked the cruise or after final payment but now I see anything pre-existing is not covered unless you purchased it soon after the made the initial payment.  I was looking at GeoBlue, Travel Insured, and Roamright - but I'll be honest, haven't heard much about Roamright and there medical coverage looks like a total of $25,000 which honestly, doesn't seem to be a whole lot.  Does anyone have any advice?  I am totally confused.

 

Contact Steve at www.TripInsuranceStore.com

He may have a good policy for you, but it can vary state to state, so what worked for us might not work for you.

 

We found ourselves in this situation not too many years ago.  We always used Travel Insured (and we've had several claims with them, all paid promptly).

But there was one trip that we really didn't think we'd actually take.  We reserved our preferred suite, etc., so we'd have it if we wanted it, but we didn't start the insurance.  Ooops!

And then, it turned out that we DID want to go after all, but we hadn't started the TI insurance.

He found another policy that seemed fine, from what we thought of as a good name insurer.  We didn't have a claim, so I can't speak to that aspect.  But we had a policy that did not exclude pre-existing conditions.

 

GC