I think anyone who travels overseas without insurance is a fool. You never know what might happen- you may have a serious accident or sudden health issue and then it will cost thousands just to get you home, never mind the medical costs.

I have heard plenty of horror stories about claims being denied too. That's why I'm asking.

I never bought travel insurance until my mother hit 90. Now I buy it for almost every trip. I use a travel insurance agency, aardy.com, to help me choose the best policy. I buy Cancel For Any Reason (CFAR) insurance. I think my upcoming trip is going to be the last time I do that. It is very expensive. It is running 20-25% of the cost of my trip. From now on, I’ll just carry insurance that covers the usual reasons. The Aardy website has a cost calculator where you can get an estimate of how much it will cost you.

My husband does a mission trip every year to Belize. I buy travel insurance not for the cost of travel related expenses, but for medical emergencies. If something were to happen to him, i would want him removed to an adequate medical facility. The coverage we buy through Travelguard is inexpensive and provides me peace of mind. If there is an emergency, I can get the ball rolling with one phone call. At least that's what they say, thankfully I haven't to test it.

colleenoz, unlike the case for most (all?) Aussies, many Americans have health insurance coverage (including for repatriation, if needed) that applies when abroad - for them, supplemental health insurance isn't required. Medicare for retirees does stop at the borders and travel medical insurance is highly recommended when outside the US. As others have said, it isn't that expensive.

Many brokerage sources are available. One I've used and recommend, as others have also mentioned here before, is insuremytrip.com, They're knowledgeable, carry policies from top rated companies and seem to be careful to give alternatives to avoid overselling beyond what the potential customer may need.

I would 1) Carefully read the policy (the fine print) prior to purchase to see what is actually covered and whether that meets your needs and circumstances and then 2) Check out the particular company's reputation. (See Elmer's description, above. Look for something like that.)

Yes, i always buy it. Its a comfort to know certain events are covered, especially medical. If I know I will be traveling several times in a year, I buy a year long policy from Allianz . Otherwise I use Insuremytrip.com or squaremouth.com to find a policy that suits my needs.

When I went to The Netherlands I bought health insurance for 4 weeks (I was only there 3 weeks) in case something happened. My parents paid for my flight so they took care of flight insurance. My parents don't have to buy health insurance when going to The Netherlands as they get their Dutch pension still so healthcare there is covered. But I would never EVER travel to another country without health insurance. I bought mine through my credit card company.

We buy travel insurance when we travel internationally. Our health insurance does not cover outside of the U.S. Covering the flights, hotels, tickets and such has been secondary, but still an important consideration when choosing the policy. We have never had to use the travel insurance.

The Points Guy has several good articles on travel insurance

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/best-travel-insurance/

Some credit cards provide some travel insurance: https://thepointsguy.com/credit-cards/travel-insurance/

what to look for when buying travel insurance: https://thepointsguy.com/guide/travel-insurance-tips-expert-advice/

I just got off the phone with my health insurance company, and they said that I was covered for urgent or emergency care overseas. Good to know. I will look into other coverages that I might need. Thanks to all for some great sources.

Since we don't require medical insurancea at home we always get travel insurance when we go abroad. And we have used it for both medical and other reasons. My father had a heart attack in France and my son had to have rabies shots in Thailand. I've fallen off a bike in Italy and my daughter had suspected malaria in Kenya. We've had bikes wrecked by airlines and we've lost luggage. There may be horror stories about non payment but there will be many more stories you don't hear concerning people who have had good treatement and been saved vast expense by being insured. Many travel companies require you to have insurance and won't take you if you don't have it.

I buy an annual medical Geo-trekker policy with GeoBlue. Very reasonable rates and covers pre-existing conditions.

The devil is in the details......What kind of "travel insurance"? Travel health insurance is a must: Don't leave home (country) without it. Cancellation and trip interruption insurance.....Personally I can't see myself ever buying it. There are lots of companies that offer travel medical insurance, and I change mine up every few years as prices change, companies offer new programs, and as I get older.

" Travel health insurance is a must "

As I mentioned above, many Americans have health invurance coverage that includes comprehensive benefits when abroad. For them, travel health insurance isn't needed.

" For them, travel health insurance isn't needed. "

For them, travel health insurance is something they have already.

Like Americans, Canadians often have employee health benefits which also covers travel. As such, we dont buy travel ins. However and unfortunately, that will change upon retirement.

Up until now, I have never bought travel insurance and have never had any losses that it would have covered.

Going forward, I would buy travel health insurance, if Medicare would not pay for expenses incurred abroad.

The only foreign country where I have seen doctors is Mexico, and only twice. Once I went to see a dentist in Mexico City in order to have a filling replaced, and that cost me $25. I imagine that insurance would have cost more than that. The other time was when a friend that I met in Cozumel took me to the clinic there because I had turista, and I was given an injection there, possibly morphine, which (according to my friend) made my face turn purple and gave me hallucinations, but they were pleasant. There was no charge for this, as this was a free clinic.

The only time I considered buying travel insurance was when we went to Fiji because we were going during cyclone season for my birthday, and two years earlier, Fiji had been hit by Tropical Cyclone Winston exactly on my birthday. The insurance would have been rather expensive, and so I decided to take my chances instead.

I also very much loathe making insurance claims and having to deal with insurance companies, and I had also heard of a lot of claims being denied and the cases having to go to court. I just felt that it was not worth it, and I ended up having no use for it on my trip.

However, about two days after we left Fiji, Tropical Cyclone Hola did hit Fiji, and so we just got lucky. The people filming the TV show Survivor on the island where we stayed were not so lucky. They had taken over the island on the day that we left.

Here's one of the crew from Survivor that I met on our last day in Fiji:

The blackboard lists some of their activity schedule. Everyone that we met from the Survivor crew was from Australia.

Pre-existing denial was outlawed in 1997. No longer such a thing.

Carry on

If you have medical insurance in the U.S. you need to check your plan, do not assume your travel medical care will be covered, as some posting above have implied. Many plans do not cover any out of the country care, others will cover emergent issues. I work in the employee benefits/healthcare sector so I do have some familiarity with this issue.

Also, many travel insurance plans will not cover pre-existing conditions unless the policy was purchased within x days of your first reservation.

This information may be covered in the Points Guy's information, I have not had a chance to review it yet.

Pre-Existing Conditions

Health insurance companies cannot refuse coverage or charge you more just because you have a “pre-existing condition” — that is, a health problem you had before the date that new health coverage starts.

Health insurers can no longer charge more or deny coverage to you or your child because of a pre-existing health condition like asthma, diabetes, or cancer, as well as pregnancy. They cannot limit benefits for that condition either. Once you have insurance, they can't refuse to cover treatment for your pre-existing condition.

Rob333, does that apply to travel insurance policies which are more in the nature of a ”one shot deal” than continuing coverage?

I always buy travel insurance specifically for the health insurance piece. The trip insurance is just a bonus. In addition, this year for the first time, I bought MedJet insurance for DH and I as well. We had a friend who got stuck in a foreign hospital which was the eye opener for us to get MedJet.

I have never had to file a claim but we have had friends who have. Like anything else, you need to read the policy, document everything and tenaciously follow up for a successful claim.

Normally we purchased per trip insurance but we have been travelling more this year so bought an annual plan. It is less expensive but limits the total claims amounts for the year.

I don't see how it can apply to travel insurance, but ask your provider? HIPAA was passed in July 1, 1997 overhauling the entire healthcare system. Maybe others know something I don't, it's possible. But I do know it changed the face of insurance so much, I changed occupations after 18 years in insurance, to healthcare. It was tumultuous. Now healthcare is. Maybe I should retire ;)

If you have life insurance it may come with travel. I would just use that and save the money.

I thought travel insurance could exclude pre-existing conditions but I could be wrong. Refer to https://www.forbes.com/advisor/travel-insurance/pre-existing-conditions/ However, I would check the fine print on any policy you are considering as some may include it for an additional premium. If we are travelling internationally, we purchase medical travel insurance primarily for the medical evacuation benefits through insuremytrip.com. Typically we use a GeoBlue policy.

Fortunately we haven’t had to use it yet. A couple of years ago I fell while hiking and broke my hand. We were in a semi-remote area with limited to no medical services. Since it was a closed fracture on my non-dominant hand I decided to live with it until we returned home 8 days later. If thats the worse I experience while traveling, I’ll be grateful.

Here travel insurance does exclude pre-existing conditions but with a lot of exceptions for common conditions such as allergies, asthma etc. I would think that even in the US they could as well since it’s travel insurance, not health insurance.

colleenoz, you may or may not be correct with your guess but your assumption is not necessarily a reasonable one. Too many factors and differences are involved.

I always purchase it when traveling and it has more than paid for itself more than once.