fransknorge

You might have been without insurance when travelling all this time. Read the policy it should be fairly explicit whether or not it cover you while travelling.

gnomey

you can sometimes file claims for treatment you received abroad against your health insurance here bc some of them do cover.
but really, sometimes the expenses are so minuscule that i am not sure if the effort is worth it
nobody knows what your regular health insurance plan covers unless you read the fine print yourself.

put it this way, US is one of the most if not the most expensive countries when it comes to health care bills.
most other countries out there are way less when it comes to OOP expenses, such that should something happen to you while uninsured, it will not break your bank.

i personally think the concern to be covered should be way way way greater for a visitor to the US, rather than the other way around.
but because everybody here is brought up with the mindset that health care should cost XYZ and that's the benchmark, therefore quite a few people subscribe to insurance mindset.

i can assure you that there are many travelers out there who never buy insurance in their life, and travel regularly, because to them, the costs of paying insurance is not worth it and if something were to happen to them, they will end up paying less OOP to whatever treatment needed versus the payments they would have incurred over the years for insurance. it's all abt your own risk evaluation

medical evacuation is another issue. i think before buying that coverage, it's important to consider how feasible is it to be evacuated from wherever you are. i have been to places in the world where i cannot imagine an emergency medical evacuation would save my life, simply because the infrastructure is not there. so what i m trying to say is that even if i have such coverage, i think i will probably end up dying because help will not reach me in time. and the locals concurred when i describe that.

LWkitty

Okay, let me take a stab at answering this question, since U.S. based medical insurance benefit design is what I do for a living.

First of all, even without knowing the details of your policy and insurance carrier, I can tell you that I'm about 99.9% certain that your health insurance will cover costs for a medical emergency you have when traveling overseas. However, how that works is that you must pay out of pocket for those services, and then get reimbursed by your insurance company once you return home. This likely won't be a huge hardship for a relatively minor outpatient procedure, like getting x-rays and a cast for a broken arm. However, this could be financially devastating when the issue is major surgery with a long hospital stay.

Secondly, one thing you are not covered for out of the U.S. is medical evacuation. This can be a huge deal, depending on the nature of your medical emergency and where you are traveling to. For example, we see this sort of thing happen often in the Caribbean, where most of the islands don't have the medical infrastructure to manage issues that would be considered routine in the States. Add to that the reality that someone experiencing a medical condition, especially a potentially infectious disease, will be denied boarding on any form of commercial transportation. They won't take the liability of transporting someone who is not "medically fit to fly". So, apologies for being morbid, but without Medical Evacuation coverage, you could be left to die in a less-developed foreign country from something that could easily be managed in a more technically advanced location (such as stroke, heart attack, septic infection).

Now, all that said, I'm pretty confident that you won't need to worry about being denied coverage for "emergent/urgent" medical care due to being in a country with a Level 4 warning. U.S. domestic health insurance policy exclusion language isn't that sophisticated.

sushanna1

Unfortunately Medicare does not cover medical care abroad.

northinsouth

So if I may ask a somewhat daft question: as someone who has only paid out of pocket once for my kid's asthma treatment in Iceland (minor cost, not worth the hassle), if I have travel/medical from say either say from a provide (for instance, GeoBlue or World Nomads) or from my cc, don't I still need to cover the costs upfront and then get reimbursed on the backend for any hospital stays or medical treatment?

Agree on your point about med evacuation: that's something I don't ever want to mess around with.

artemis

That depends on the insurance plan. Some offer primary coverage, where they pay the bills upfront. Others offer secondary coverage, where you pay the bills and then file a claim for reimbursement.

JNelson113

Thank you so much, everyone, I hugely appreciate your time and the information.

GUWonder

There are Medicare supplement plans that provide Medigap coverage outside of the US, but most tourists from the US probably never sign up for that in mind for trips abroad.

Not sure how any of those Medicare supplement/Medigap plans may be impacted with Covid-19 situations and the State/CDC travel advisories.

Msafiritx

I agree completely. For Americans, travel health insurance is mostly unnecessary - the cost imbalance is so lopsided in most situations. I remember I had to spend 2 nights in a hospital due to an emergency in a foreign country one time and the total bill, including prescription med, was less that 2 night stay in 2 star motel in the US.

I have looked at and considered multiple COVID coverages, but the math still doesn't add up based on my risk-reward calculus.

ExpatExp

Medjet has updated their offering to include global coverage for COVID hospitalisations (for US residents):

nmpls

Anyone have any suggestions for travel insurance that covers covid, particularly if one tests positive at the end of the trip and needs to quarantine before returning?
Bonus points if it is an annual policy. Purchased out of the US, does not need to cover the US.

Diplomatico

Check Allianz. IIRC, their annual policy covers COVID and covers trips of up to 45 days in duration per trip.

SanDiego1K

I am also wondering the same. We are going to Oman and are required to show one month coverage for Covid. I am not looking for an annual policy, though wouldn't be adverse as we will have more international trips in the next 12 months. We have MedJet evacuation insurance already.

All passengers must have international health insurance covering the cost of COVID-19 treatment for the period of at least one month.

SanDiego1K

And that's great news. I've got MedJet. But I read your post to mean that it covers the cost of hospitalization, and I don't think it does. It covers the cost to evacuate from a hospital world wide.

https://medjetassist.com/medjet-blog...rt-coronavirus

Martin Weinstein

Deciding between AIG Travelguard and Allianz for trip insurance for upcoming trip from US to Europe. Mainly concerned with costs of quarantine and changing return flight if we are unlucky enough to test positive the day before return to US despite being vaccinated. Lots of fine print - just wondering if anyone has experience with these two providers as far as do they actually pay claims or do they try hard to avoid paying legitimate claims. Any other suggestions for a reputable provider that pays legitimate claims without a major hassle would be welcomed.