Regielya

Is it necessary to do a travel insurance when visiting South East Asia for 1-2 years? I've heard that medicals and stuff are quite cheap over there.

What do you think?

Christopher

Well, that's true no doubt for simple medical interventions. But what happens if you get some emergency condition (doesn't have to be exotic: let's say acute appendicitis) when you're miles from anywhere and you need to be taken by ambulance to a hospital hundreds of miles away? What happens if you're involved in a motor vehicle accident and require treatment in intensive care for several weeks? What if you need to be repatriated for medical treatment?

And then there are the non-medical things. What happens if your luggage doesn't arrive with you on a plane and all you have is what you're standing up in? What happens if you're robbed of most of your possessions?

And so on and so on. Personally I think it would be crazy not to have proper travel insurance.

If you're going for 1–2 years though you might need to look carefully at which policy you need, since most one-off travel insurance policies will be for shorter periods than that.

rankourabu

Travel medical insurance costs about $2 a day - why would you not get it, no matter how cheap care is.

Other insurance ...meh.. I just go with what the credit card provides for free - luggage delay - flight delay - etc.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

yes to insurance. While care is cheap, it's not free. Medical evacuations are also going to be expensive.

JohnnyColombia

Repatriating your corpse in a zinc lined casket is awfully costly, upto $20,000. As LHR/MEL/Europe FF points out, medical evacuation is even more expensive, budget $100,000 if you want to skimp on insurance

Regielya

Well, I'm looking at my statistical past. I've been a vegan for years, and have never, ever been sick whatsoever. My strategy was always to exercise often and consume fresh nutrient-dense food, but what actually scares me is that, like any living organism which is taken away to a different environment, things can go quite surprising.

Are you sure complex medical interventions are expensive over there? I have encountered the following paragraphs from nomad CodyMckibben from ThrillingHeroics.com:

Local Medical Coverage:

You can walk in to the hospital, clinic, and pharmacies all over Thailand. Over the counter medications, prescriptions, and almost every medical service imaginable is incredibly cheaper than in Europe or the US. You can get x-rays or see the doctor for less than $10, so if you have trouble finding traveler’s insurance (which you will with travel advisories right now) I wouldn’t worry about your health. People flock to Thailand for medical tourism reasons because they have some of the most affordable healthcare in the world. You can see the eye doctor or the dentist and get service for pennies on the dollar as well, typically all very high quality.

Sydney: Any recommendations for health and dental coverage and finding doctors overseas?

Cody: It’s easy to find decent online travel insurance. Much of the world has far superior health care to the US actually. I’ve been in a few situations where friends I’ve known have had some pretty serious accidents or illnesses actually, and because so many countries have universal healthcare, treatment has frequently been free, or ridiculously cheap compared to what we’re used to paying in the US. This is of course not the case everywhere, and it’s important to be aware of your situation, so just make sure you do your research on your particular destination.

Anyway, I am planning of doing scuba-diving, motorbikes, free falls, bungee jumps, etc, so an insurance might be worth looking into.

Luggage insurance does not bother me at all. I never travel with luggage. I put all my stuff on my own clothes-pockets, and nothing there is really expensive, except the camera.

Why is WorldNomad.Com being recommended everywhere as a great and cheap travel insurance company? They charge around 3.5$ a day! (maybe because I'm from Israel), but we have travel insurance companies here that take 1.25$ a day.

alanR

None of which will prevent you from being hit by a bus, eating a dodgy cucumber, getting the bends, finding that the bungee company was TOO cheap...

They are if you need to travel several hundred miles to get to them or require several months of treatment.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

the big thing about asia is that if you get hit by a car, the person that hits you may or may not have insurance (unlikely I would have thought) to get you repatriated to your home country. And physiotherapy in a developing country for extended periods of time may not be that exciting... bear in mind too that many hospitals in Asia (China for example) do not provide meals while you are there... so they have to be ordered in... which is fine, but try finding vegan... or getting your travelling partner to find vegan for you... a lot easier to be evacced to your home country

Henwurst

My partner was hospitalized in Hong Kong many years ago because of an acute condition, without insurance. No surgery required, but several tests. The bill came out to 40000HKD. Granted Hong Kong is not the cheapest place in Asia, but that is one number you may be able to use as a reference to evaluate the financial risks.

I would also like to chime in that you make absolutely sure that you know what you are doing before you trust that the supposedly universal healthcare in a country also applies to foreigners. Rules change, and the hospital staff you interact with may not be aware (nor care) about who is paying, so don't be surprised if a bill shows up in your mailbox a couple of months later despite nobody ever telling you about the cost during your visit.

AnnaBeth

Last year I was in Bali with some girlfriends and one of them slipped on the 3 steps coming out of her room to breakfast at around 7:30am. She was completely sober and not at all hungover or ill (doesn't drink).

Unfortunately for her she landed badly when she fell and broke her wrist in two places. The cost of her medical treatment in Bali (one of the cheapest destinations in SE Asia) was $7000 which was needed upfront. Fortunately for her she had insurance and they agreed to pay the cost so that she could get the surgery she needed.

That's just one tiny example of how much completely risk-free behaviour in an incredibly inexpensive country can cost you. I think anyone that doesn't get insurance is mad.

Regielya

I've been looking through some of the insurance companies in the internet. Seems like an insurance is quite pricey for the Israeli, compared to what local companies offer here.

I have found an "all-in-one" insurance for 1$ a day. How cheap is that, and can I get something cheaper? (All I need actually is the "catastrophic" plan for major accidents and evacuations)

Yaatri

I think the title should include "countries with cheap medical" care, instead of "developing countries". Clearly, OP means that one might be able to manage without insurance ion countries where medical care is so cheap that one could pay out of one's pocket.

But not all care is cheap. If one needs medical evacuation, or lengthy hospital stay, care can be quite expensive. What of you need a family member to come and help you out during your recovery?

On a week long trip, I met two people who were involved in accidents in Vietnam. One was trying out a rental motorbike when the bike went out of control, resulting in a broken ankle. Another was hit by a motorbike walking. She was in the hospital for 3-4 weeks. She wasn't able to communicate with the doctors in Vietnam effectively. They kept on doing their own thing, completely ignoring her complaints. She got better care when she was able to travel to Bangkok. After 4 weeks, she was still on crutches and needed a wheel chair to negotiate the airports, BKK and NRT.

Ancien Maestro

+1..

Nowadays.. especially with cc deals procured here at FT, you can get medical insurance just by swiping your card and charging travel on to your cc..

Why not just top it off and make sure you're covered..