Yes, but is the excess on that? How many days a year can you spend in the US? I think you'd be amazed at how quickly medical bills in the US can mount up, and I suspect the insurance wouldn't kick in until you have already paid a lot out of pocket.

I'm in my 20s, and pay almost $100 a month for medical insurance. This is a cheap rate by the standards of the US, and while it's far from useless, it doesn't prevent me from winding up with hefty bills for very minor medical needs.

Travel medical insurance is very different to residential medical insurance, in part because it is based on the odds on you using it. I can't speak for the other poster, but my UK travel medical policies didn't have any excess on them - e.g. you go and see a doctor in the US, they cover everything, and a limit of around 5 million GBP. I don't believe my Canadian travel medical has any excess on it either (but think there is some coordination with other health insurance benefits). Both covered for up to 21 days at a time, but an unlimited amount of trips (so could fly back to the UK on day 22, and back to the US on day 23 for another 21 days etc etc). It does cover only medically necessary during your trip things (like I couldn't get my Pap smear done in the US on that insurance just because I felt like it!)

My wife was in a car accident in Colorado, shaken up but no real injuries. She walked to the ambulance, rode in a seat in the back (not the stretcher), the hospital was 3 miles away and the ambulance bill alone was over $850. Then 4-5 hours in the ER, which included IV pain meds, cleaning and stitching a cut finger, and a CT scan. The ER bill was over $14,000, and there were still Dr. charges on top of that!

I heard that about India...great care. What a pile of horse.... People may be nice but they do things in India that would result in revocation of one's medical license and a huge malpractice award if done in the U.S. They reuse surgical instruments between patients, only rinsing them, in order to save time. Patients are wheeled one after another, according to a doctor friend who witnessed it.

Good luck at the emergency room in Kinshasa.

Funny, what people may think is quality care in one country, is completely unacceptable in another..:eek:

Did Travel insurance cover this?

I imagine with use, your medical insurance premiums will adjust..

In Canada, travel insurance is necessary when travelling outside of the country.. and perhaps helpful when travelling inside the country..

In the states, it would seem like you need both types of insurance to cover the basis..

It was covered by a combination of my car and health insurance, but for someone with no insurance and low income, that one 5 hour ER visit could have been a financial catastrophe.

"I heard that about India" = I've never actually been there, nor have I any direct personal experience, but I have a "friend" who tells me that "they" do all these bad things that would never happen in America. And in relating that one anecdote that clearly means that the entire medical industry in India works as you've described. :rolleyes: Do you work for Fox News by any chance?

Absolute possible financial devastation..

Goes to show insurance is necessary to cover the medical emergencies..

So far, we've doled out more in premiums then we've ever gotten back.. but medical insurance on trips is highly advisable..

If the person had no health insurance and low income they would be qualified for givernment assistance. Hospitals also routinely write off uninsured/underinsured people.

Cash paying patients can get the cost dropped down to a more realistic amount to be paid.

I had a friend (immigrant) who went to the ER for appendicitis. He couldn't pay the bill because he had no job at the time. He just ignored the bills. He's finally got a job and insurance. As far as I know, though, he still ignores those bills. It's been two years. No catastrophe yet.

Do you have a source for these claims?

I wonder if these bills will start affecting credit..

Its one thing to not pay if you can't afford it.. its another when you can pay, but you choose to ignore the outstanding bills..

They certainly will, assuming the hospital knows who this person is.