Tag: travelinsurance

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Why You MUST Buy Travel Insurance

What if something happened to you while you were traveling in a foreign country? What if you needed medical care? What would you do?

Would your medical insurance cover you? Most likely not. Most health insurance from the US does not provide coverage outside of the continental US. Or, they may say they do, but have you ever tried to find a network provider for your plan in Timbuktu? It’s very likely there isn’t one.

So, if you have an illness or injury, are you prepared to cover the cost out of your pocket? As in up front, in order to get treated? What if you were in a bus accident, rendered a little loopy from a head injury, in a country that may not have many English speakers?  Would you be able to make the necessary arrangements to get your injury paid for in advance and treated?

Since our domestic insurance doesn’t work in foreign countries, most hospitals would require you pay for your treatment in full, sometimes before they will even give you so much as an aspirin. Most of them will require cash, a few will take credit cards. But considering how quickly medical costs can add up, do you really carry enough cash on vacation or have enough available credit on your Mastercard to cover a sizeable claim?

Then, when you do get home, do you really have the time to wait to “maybe” get reimbursed by your insurance only to find out it all applies as non-network benefits, meaning reduced reimbursement? Of course, hopefully you remembered to ask for an itemized bill translated into English when you paid your claim or that could add more time to your reimbursement.

This is where travel insurance could be one of the best decisions you may ever make. Most policies can:

  • provide help for you to find quality care, anywhere in the world
  • cover your treatment costs–most begin payment after you pay the deductible
  • help transport you (and even family members) home as soon as you are stabilized

Some policies even build in some non-medical benefits such as:

  • assistance recovering stolen passports or other documents
  • help coordinating emergency funds transfers
  • legal referrals
  • coverage for lost or delayed baggage
  • even reimbursement for trip cancellation or interruption

While I don’t usually consider the non-medical benefits when purchasing trip insurance(I want it to cover the big ticket items and get me home in an emergency) it is nice to know that the non-medical perks are there.

Most policies can be purchased for the price of a tank of gas for your car.  When pricing policies, here are the ones I like:

ALLIANZ–plan came in the priciest, but it was for the Premier plan which also includes trip cancellation and trip interruption.  They have a pretty rich travel plan that recently priced a $1,000,000 policy at $130 for a 1 week trip to Mexico.

GEOBLUE–a subsidiary of Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.  They offer various coverages such as vacation, long-term multi-trip, and expatriation.  They do require that you also already have a primary health plan, but it does not need to be an Anthem plan.  Their coverage was also for $1,000,000 in medical for $25 for the same 1 week trip to Mexico.

WORLD NOMADS–their plan came in a little higher for the same Mexico vacation at $69 for a $100,000 plan.  However, WORLD NOMADS also offers the flexibility of extending  your coverage while you’re already using it.

You enroll for any of these plans easily online, choosing your deductible and amount of coverage. All of these carriers also have an option for long-term coverage, up to 90 days  continuous, that can run through a full year at a time.

Considering the costs of a serious, high-dollar claim, these premiums add value.  Even if you never use the insurance while abroad, you’ve still purchased some valuable peace of mind.

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Tragedy in Huatulco, Mexico

Well, not really a tragedy, but definitely a small scare. After our mountain excursion, which included a hike to the Llano Grande waterfall, I got to experience Mexican Medico care.  I remember on the ride back to the resort having an achy feeling on my face right on my jawline. I didn’t really think much of it–I figured my face was just breaking out from using so much sunblock.

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We returned to the resort after the excursion, had a little dinner, walked around and caught some of the show, and headed to bed. I woke around 2am to an excruciating pain on my jawline. When I reached up to touch my face, I realized something was bad wrong. In the dark of our room, I could feel a knot on my jaw that was burning hot and about the size of a hard-boiled egg. I quietly laid in bed until about 5am, but when I realized the knot was getting bigger and probably wasn’t going to go away without some antibiotics, I woke hubby. I wouldn’t let him turn on the lights to look at the presumably freaky-looking growth on my face. Instead, I told him he was going to have to get me to a doctor–and soon!

IMG_3326

We knew there was a Medico on resort, and called reception to find out where he was located and what his hours were. Apparently the reception agent though my 6 am call was serious enough and he patched me on through to the Medico, whom I obviously woke up. He said he would be on resort by 9 am and could see me then. I was in so much pain by then, we were waiting at his office an hour early.

The doctor was dressed in a pink shirt, white pants, pink shoes, and had two assistants whose combined age probably wasn’t even 40 years old. (Really, they looked like tweens.) He took a look at my face and said he believed I had been bitten by “something” and said he would need to give me a shot in the cheek (he clarified the shot would be in the big cheek, not the little cheek) and write me two prescriptions, which I could then fill conveniently right in his office. He said it would require $450 USD in order to get treatment.

I’ve always been in the habit of charging resort services to our room and presumed I could do that with the medico fees. Nope! No credit cards either. He said $450, cash, US dinero. I was rooting through my small purse (which is only big enough to carry a little cash and a cell phone) trying to count up the cash I had on hand. The tweens, who were now on either side of me intently looking down into my purse as I was sorting the cash, now felt like thugs. I was sure if I balked at giving them every last dollar I had in my little purse, they would take it anyway. We had only brought about half of the requested amount up from the room with us (thinking certainly it wouldn’t cost THAT much), but the good doctor said he would be leaving the office soon and we could put the rest in an envelope and slip it under his door before noon that day.

After my shot, and two filled prescriptions for medications I’ve never heard of, we left the Medico’s office. We returned before noon and slipped the rest of the money under his office door. It really felt like we were committing some type of crime instead of paying the doctor’s bill. Thankfully, within a couple of days, the swelling was subsiding and I was starting to feel better.

I .IMG_3411

This was one of the incidents that made me see the value in travel insurance (See blog post Why You MUST Buy Travel Insurance) . While this small claim probably wouldn’t have even met the deductible I likely would have chosen on a plan, and I still would have had to pay cash up front, what if it had been worse or cost even more? Or, what if I didn’t have the cash on hand? I don’t even want to think about that.

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Countdown Mexico

We’re headed to Mexico soon. Meeting up with our British friends, the Beards, for a replay of a vacation 7 years ago at The Grand Palladium in the Riviera Maya.  Here’s a list of what I’ll need to get done before we go:

  • Check cambio to see what the current exchange rate is so I can decide how much money to exchange (please be a good exchange rate, so I can shop more!)
  • Gather up travel insurance info, which is already saved in my email
  • Get our passports out of the safe
  • Make color copies of our passports to leave behind with trustworthy friends in case they’d need to bail us out of any situation. I also keep a copy on my phone.
  • Switch my phone over to Mexico calling and text package (we rarely use our phones while out of the country, but you never know when you may need more than wi-fi
  • Alert my bank and credit card company of our travel dates, so they don’t think someone stole my cards and ran off to Mexico
  • Bring the suitcases up from storage, so we can start packing
  • Round up a lot of small bills for tipping

Things to remember to pack besides clothes:

  • iPad mini  and chargers
  • Water shoes or dive boots (probably boots this time considering how many sting rays we saw in that area last time)
  • Underwater camera—I’ll make sure everything is cleaned and fully charged before packing it in my carry-on
  • Ear buds and a book for the plane (I will also have a sweater and pair of socks in my carry-on in case it’s a cold flight)
  • Band aids, nail polish, and polish remover pads
  • Prescription meds and OTC meds–Tums, Benadryl, ibuprofen, Imodium just in case. It costs way more to buy them there
  • Sunscreen and insect repellant to ward off mosquitos
  • Snorkel gear: mask, snorkel, fins—the last time we needed to borrow fins the crew could only find one fin in hubby’s size
  • If we decide to dive, I can rent that gear there
  • Dive log

Clothes wise, I will mostly pack:

  • bathing suits
  • Cover ups
  • Dresses for dinner
  • Flip flops and sandals
  • One pair of tennis shoes
  • Some gym/workout clothes (the resort has a pretty cool gym)

Pretty much anything else beyond that, is going to be overkill for a week-long trip. Honestly, I probably don’t need much more than the bathing suits anyway.

Posted on

Tragedy in Huatulco

Well, not really a tragedy, but definitely a small scare.  After our mountain excursion which included hiking to the Llano Grande waterfall, I got to experience Mexican Medico care. I remember on the ride back to the resort, having an achy feeling on my face right on my jawline. I didn’t really think much of it, I figured I was about to have a break-out from using so much sunblock on my face.IMG_3311I woke around 2 am to excruciating pain on my jawline. When I reached up to touch my face, I realized something was really wrong. In the dark of our room, I could feel a knot on my jaw that was burning hot and about the size of an egg. I quietly laid in bed until about 5 am, but when I realized it was getting bigger and probably wasn’t going to go away without some antibiotics, I woke hubby. I wouldn’t let him turn on the lights to look at the assumably freakish-looking growth on my face. Instead, I told him he was going to have to get me to a doctor–and soon!IMG_3326
We knew there was a Medico on resort, and called the front desk to find out where he was located and what were his hours. Apparently, the front office agent thought my 6 am call was serious enough and he patched me on through to the Medico, whom I obviously woke up. He said he would be on resort by 9 am and could see me then. I was in so much pain by then, we were waiting at his office an hour early.
The doctor was dressed in a pink shirt, white pants, and pink shoes and had two assistants who’s combined age probably wasn’t even 40. (Really, they looked like tweens.) He took a look at my face and said he believed I had been bitten by “something” and said he would need to give me a shot in the cheek (he clarified big cheek, not little cheek) and write me 2 prescriptions, which I could then fill conveniently right in his office. He said it would require $450 USD in order to get treatment.
I was in the habit of charging resort services to the room and presumed I could do that with the medico visit. Nope! No credit cards either.  He said $450, cash, US dinero. I was rooting through my small purse (it’s really only big enough to carry a little cash and a cell phone) trying to count up my cash on hand. The tweens, who were now on either side of me intently looking down into my purse as I was sorting the cash, now felt like thugs. I was sure if I balked at giving them every last dollar I had in my little purse, they would take it anyway. We had only brought about half of the requested amount up from the room with us (thinking certainly it wouldn’t cost THAT much), but the good doctor said he would be leaving the office soon and we could put the rest in an envelope and slip it under his door before noon that day.
After my shot, and 2 filled prescriptions for medicines I’ve never heard of, we left the Medico’s office. We returned before noon and slipped the rest of the money under his office door.  It really felt like we were committing some type of crime instead of paying the doctor’s bill.  Thankfully, within a couple of days, the swelling in my face had subsided and I was starting to feel better.IMG_3411This was one of the incidents that made me see the value in travel insurance (see my post on Why You MUST Buy Travel Insurance).  While this small claim probably wouldn’t have even met the deductible I likely would have chosen, and I still would have had to pay cash, what if it had been worse or cost even more? Or what if I didn’t have the cash on hand? I don’t even want to think about that.