jiejie

Remember that the OP's choice is not between doing nothing vs paying the prices she found. There are alternatives which I tried to present. For instance, the World Nomads policy for a US-resident family for 3 weeks is only $175 (might go up or down depending on state of residence). It does have overlap on the medical side but provides for evac and repatriation. Also some other stuff on the trip cancellation and baggage side. From what I've heard, the providers working under the WN consortium banner have a reasonable record of processing and paying claims.

Chinatrvl

Unfortunately, I cannot contribute much to this discussion. But it puzzles me that such insurance is so expensive for US citizens. In Germany and for non-expatriates (i.e. leisure travellers), health insurance abroad is 10 to 40 € per year, covering all costs and evacuation when absolutely necessary.

Can anybody explain this?

Jenbel

The market in the US is much smaller, and as such, the risks are not shared between such a large pool, making it more expensive is the basic information.

In the UK, you don't go abroad without travel insurance. What started principally as medical insurance (since we don't often have medical insurance) has evolved into a specific policy covering a range of eventualities - trip cancellation, theft, baggage loss, legal assistance - for between £80 - £100/year (more if you go to the US, where risk of higher costs are greater). But that type of policy at that price is virtually unknown in the US - we all have it, hardly anyone wants it over there.

jiejie

I don't think the phenomenon is due to a small market--the market is not really all that small. I don't think it can even be explained by pure risk analysis. My belief is: it's simply predatory pricing. It certainly can't only be explained by higher medical costs in the USA, as most travel insurance doesn't cover inside the US anyway (or only with limited circumstances). Travel insurance and travel medical insurance as presented in the USA to US citizens (or residents) is essentially an unregulated market, but it is protected from direct competition from foreign companies. I find as a US citizen not resident in the USA, I have better options for travel insurance than if I were resident in the USA. But with some research, it's still possible for a US resident to find something more reasonable than what this OP first presented--which IMO borders on robbery.

31570324

40€? Most of them are under 10€ for one year health care. And there are several creditcard which have travel insurance already included.

Loren Pechtel

I think it's a matter of adverse selection--those that are healthy generally don't buy it so it's a group of sick people who are far more likely to need to be evaced.

jiejie

I disagree with this premise, especially if you are trying to say it applies to the USA but nowhere else. For one thing, I've known plenty of healthy younger adults who buy travel insurance. For another, the healthy 30-year old from the USA buying travel insurance for a one-month trip to India will find the options and prices commonly presented to them to be different than the equally healthy 30-year old from Italy or Australia buying similar coverage for the same one-month trip. Your theory of adverse selection doesn't explain this phenomenon. Even in the USA, travel insurance is age bracketed to cover theoretical increasing risk per increasing age.

anacapamalibu

After first hand experience with China Emergency Medical Care
I would buy the insurance and request an evac for a paper cut.

PTravel

What happened?

anacapamalibu

I was a witness to the violent beating of a person. Assisted the ambulance
personnel and traveled to the hospital for trauma care. The victim was
hospitalized for 6 months. I don't know if it was the senseless violence or
the thought that I came about 1 step from being the one in the hospital, but
I left the country the next day.

charlie1960

Yes. It is America. We also don't have a single payer health care system like the rest of the civilized world. Enough said.

charlie1960

Jiejie, thanks for your great suggestions. I looked into them all. You are quite right, the MedJetAssist membership beats any insurance plan. It would have cost $270. World Nomad plan would be $177. I'm glazed over from looking at all this stuff, but I ruled out WN in the end because it was a secondary payer for medical. I think the trip cancellation portion had some exclusions that didn't sit well with me. Though I have emergency/urgent coverage from Blue Cross I have to pay first then submit a claim. No problem for a few hundred dollars but a hospitalization bill is a different thing. I'm not exactly rolling in lots of cash. I do need trip cancellation. It's a big expense for us and an important trip for my daughter. She was born in China and we are taking her back as an introduction to her homeland and to visit her orphanage. If we were to have to cancel our trip it would take us a long time to save the $ to go back.

So yes, on paper, I have duplication of coverage, etc. but I really need to know that I'm protected and not have to deal with a lot of logistics myself if necessary. I ended up getting a TravelGuard policy for $475 for the 3 of us that included med evac to a hospital of my choice. NOt as good as Med Jet Assist as Travel Guard is insurance which means claims but I still have 15 days to look for something else.

I find it interesting and curious as to why some posters think there is no need for insurance because they are "low risk." The whole point of insurance is to protect against unpredictable events that can be catastrophic. And none of us can predict that our low risk lifestyle will not get hit by a car. I'm guessing that those people who think travel insurance is a waste of money (yes, it is way overpriced but, as I pointed out elsewhere, this is America) are (1) making a hefty sum that they don't need to fret about OP expenses; (2) young and invincible; (3) in believe that they will be protected from bad things.

manneca

I do about 5-7 international trips a year. I am a scuba diver. In my more than 40 years of traveling, I have had one problem (actually, my then husband) was in an accident in Bonaire. The cost for the hospital and doctor was about $30. (The cost in the US for looking at the damage from a car accident and a subsequent and IMHO nonessential surgery was $30,000)

I self insure: that is I figure that the cumulative cost of buying insurance is less than the cost of any incident.

I dive, I hike, I am 64 years old. I drive. I think any sort of insurance is a rip-off. YMMV.

You might look into S.O. S insurance. It's another alternative.

I'm willing to take the risk.

I dont' buy travel insurance either. At this point I've saved enough on travel insurance premiums to pay for at least $20,000 in travel cost.

31570324

If you hurt somebody, you and the victim will be happy if you have a insurance which pay for his recovery. So a good third party liability is a must have insurance, at least for your car.

Maybe its different in the usa, but if you can get a worldwide health insurance for less than 10€ for a whole year, you should take it and its not a rip-off.

moondog

Well, many of us here have spent thousands of days in China and have never encountered any serious problems. But, let's say I was in a car accident; I'd rather be treated in one of the better hospitals in Beijing than flown to San Francisco in a private jet (hmmm... on second thought).

More to the point, I simply feel that the products being discussed here are senselessly overpriced, but if you derive sufficient comfort from your new policy, then all is good; to each, his own.