BootsnAll Travel Community

So, I have been shopping around and considering the breadth of health insurance that I will need for my upcoming trip. I’ll be on the move for about a year and traipsing through Oz, NZ, SE Asia and a few Pacific Islands, before returning for an unspecified length of stay in Europe. As a veteran of big-boy corporate America, I have a thorough understanding of the ins and outs of health care, but all the rules change once you leave the U.S. As many of you know, the American healthcare system is probably the largest, totally legal, pseudo-criminal empire of our time. Costs are seemingly unregulated, though this is to adequately cover their asses for the deluge of multi-million dollar lawsuits they get every month as much as it is to swing a wild profit (God bless America!). A quick trip to the doctor to treat an earache or a visit to the emergency room for three stitches can easily run into the hundreds of dollars. And medication? Holy fleecing Batman! True peace-of-mind in this respect requires us to purchase exceedingly comprehensive health insurance, which in and of itself is starting to grow insanely expensive, and those who don’t have it are screwed in so many ways that I don’t even want to think about it.

Outside of America, it’s, literally, another world. Reading other people’s travelogues from around the planet, I have run across a wealth of anecdotes where doctors appointments, emergency room visits and medication can be secured all for the price of a moderate meal. In many cases, these bills are not even enough to warrant the time it would take to file for reimbursement from your traveler’s insurance provider.

So, how much insurance is reasonably enough? The FAQs on the insurance companys’ web sites are no help because, particularly in America, they just play on the American paranoia of needing to be covered for every eventuality and ride the wave of the root assumption that, as an American, you have no choice but to surrender to the ridiculous price of the system. People (like me on my first extended trip) will usually pay the $1,200 for universal coverage for everything from a hangnail all the way to terminal cancer, saying to themselves [shrug] “Well, that’s just the way it is.”

I know that depending on where you go and what happens to you while you are there, sometimes you could indeed be facing a dauntingly large medical bill, though probably not by American standards, but nevertheless, I’m gonna spin the wheel and go minimalist this time. What should I get and what should I toss?
· Dental? No.
· Doctor/ER visits/tests? No.
· Prescription medicine reimbursement? Hell no.
· Optometrist/corrective lenses reimbursement? No.
· Emergency evacuation? I suppose, though only on the condition that I am not evacuated to America where my healthcare costs to treat this theoretical condition would mushroom and in an evil, profiteering, ironic twist, the only place in the world where my traveler’s insurance won’t cover me.
· Emergency reunion? Yes, because it is much more attractive than being sent home if I am truly ill or injured.
· Repatriation of remains? Definitely. Thinking of my parents here.
· Long-term hospitalization? Probably.
· Accidental death and dismemberment? If I had a wife, kids or a substantial estate that would have to be handled by next of kin, yes, but since I have none of these, no. Repatriation of remains should cover it.
· Common Carrier Accidental Death? No, see above.

What am I forgetting or not considering? Advice, first-person anecdotal experience and supporting rants are welcome.

Nice rant.

"As many of you know, the American healthcare system is probably the largest, totally legal, pseudo-criminal empire of our time. "

You could have left out the word "pseudo".

my personal take on what/how much to insure is that if you develop something catastrophic that will cost a ton of money, well, quite frankly the money would be the last thing on my mind. not to mention that for these catastrophic events there is still a cap on what insurance will cover and you can end up thousands to millions of dollars in debt still. how this is legal, i don't know. so my feeling is get just the basics, which it sounds like you're doing and keep in mind, that there are millions of americans who are surviving without any kind of health insurance.

sue