Travel insurance - annual

Greetings! Our home TS resorts is not open yet, but that didn’t stop us from traveling. Do any of you purchase annual travel insurance? We are healthy seniors covered by Medicare, but accidental injury or sickness outside USA is what I am concerned about. Please share your experience with pro and cons of your travel insurance. Thanks in advance.

Medicare does not cover you outside of the US. Accidental injury or sickness can happen to anyone. I always purchase travel insurance in case major medical needs arise before trip departure or during the trip. Have never had to use it but it provides peace of mind.

We have medicare and also a supplement ins. So what medicare does not cover this takes care of... Husband broke two ribs while on Island, and the bill was hefty. We sent it to the supplement and they paid part of the bill. I thought most people with medicare carried the supplement... We just sent the copy of the bill and we got back part of it...

So far we have not taken insurance (but thinking about it). We are seniors with medicare and supplemental provided by employer. One year hubby had to visit the emergency room at the Medical Center on the Dutch side. Xray, emergency room fees totaled $50 us dollars which we paid in cash. Rx filled at medical center pharmacy was $3.00. Upon return home we submitted the emergency bill to our supplementary coverage (at the time ti was Blue Cross) and they paid us $50 back.

Admittedly, it wasn't a life or death situation that could not be handled at SXM Medical Center. So we've been feeling secure about not getting insurance but now I keep thinking what if we required air lift to home or another hospital since hubby is 84. And I'm close behind.

I think there's a sponsor on this site that offers insurance.

I've never had to use it (thank god!) but I always get the medical evacuation insurance. If you need any major medical work done, evacuation insurance will get you home or at least to the US for treatment. For the usual run-of-the-mill stuff, the clinic in Maho has been excellent and ridiculously inexpensive compared to the U.S. - and most medicare supplemental insurance polices will reimburse. AAA has some pretty good policies.

I think many of us are seniors that consider travel insurance when we make our travel plans.
We include it every time now and while healthy, as stated, it brings peace of mind.
We have used it for reimbursement for minor medical and dental bills without any problems.

I've more or less pieced together our own travel insurance. Medigap covers each of us with a $250 deductible and a $75k lifetime limit. I'm not too concerned about bumping up against that limit on foreign travel on a single trip. We have emergency evac coverage through DAN and our Costco Visa card offers trip cancellation for up to $3000/person/trip for charge made on that card (that offers a 3% rebate on travel). The only incremental cost is the DAN policy that costs $55 p.a. for the two of us.

We used to never take travel insurance, but we do it every time now. Depending on how often you travel, normally you can just get a policy that covers just the time you are out of the country, not a yearly policy. Some travel insurance is pretty darn cheap, if you book it with your air AT THE SAME TIME you book it. However, look at what it covers and what it doesn't! Many of the policies cover medical evac, but at something like $25,000, which isn't enough. As others have pointed out, most insurance does NOT have primary coverage outside the US, so it might well be out of network coverage, which means your co-pays and deductibles could be huge. But again, as someone else said, the elephant in the room is medical evac, which can easily cost $50,000, which if you don't have coverage for that, you'd have to come UP with $50,000 yourself, and HOPE that insurance will reimburse you, at least partially. We have two TTOL sponsors that offer travel insurance. Sky Med covers ONLY medical evac and you can get a yearly policy with them. With Sky Med, they take you HOME, to the closest appropriate hospital to where you live. This means if you live in LA, they will take you to a hospital in LA. However, with some or most of the other policies, they might well take you to Miami, and then you might have to pay for evac to get the rest of the way back home-- or perhaps your health insurance will cover it, but there will definitely be a delay getting you back home. For us, we live in Florida, so this is not a concern. Insure my Trip is a service for you to compare insurance policies side by side, based on the things that you need to insure against. For example, if you're using frequent flyer tickets and staying at your timeshare, if something happens to your trip, your out of pocket loss for those items is minimal. But you may well want to insure for medical expenses and definitely for medical evac. Insure my Trip is great tool for getting exactly the coverages you need. For both Insure my Trip and SkyMed, if you use the links here on TTOL on the sponsors page, we get a small commission and your cost is the same. If you go directly to their websites, we don't get anything out of it.

I use the Dan coverage too but now they won't include the medical if you're 70 or older like I am.

Everyone should contact whoever writes your home owners policy. We are in the process of switching to CHUBB. Very good coverage, liability auto coverage and for 375 a year travel accident insurance. Medical evacuations is 250,000 Coverage.

I've bought & used SkyMed for more than 15 years and would not settle for anything less.

I compared and this seems much better as it covers the entire family. Family coverage with skymed was 100+ more and less coverage.

Isn't that your company? If not it sure seems like it with all the promoting you do on your facebook and newsletters.

Medicare supplement part F covers (at least some) out of country expenses. Plus an annual medical evacuation policy (annual is cheaper than per week when you stay 8 weeks.) Piece of mind.

Always purchase annual insurance as it is less expensive than purchasing for each trip. Never leave home without trip and medical insurance. It is the best money spent to give you peace of mind to enjoy your trip! I have my government medical insurance, annual trip and medical insurance and Sky Med in case of needing medical evacuation to take me to my own city hospital. I have had to use my trip cancellation insurance once in the past and was totally reimbursed 100 % for flights and accommodation.

I buy EA PLUS 1/3 the price of Sky Med never used it Thank God but have it if need be, it’s a yearly subscription

We purchased insurance through AAA for the dates we were in SXM. Make sure your coverage for evacuation is enough $$. Ours was $100,000 through AAA better than the insurance you get when you buy your plane tkt. I used my insurance this year for a fractured tooth which I needed to have temporarily repaired while in SXM due to sensitivity and difficulty eating. Within 10 hours of breaking my tooth, I was in the dental chair...took 1/2 to cover the tooth with temporary filling which lasted for two months until I returned home. I submitted the bill from my iPhone in SXM and received the check prior to arriving home.

Do you mind letting us know the price for this? Was it more because of the length of your stay and did it simply cover evacuation by plane etc or inclusive of total trip coverage?

We have had EA +, but have discovered that it will get you only to the nearest appropriate hospital for treatment, but that does NOT mean it will get you back to a hospital near your home, which could prove to be quite expensive, or cover your travel home after a discharge from a lengthy hospitalization abroad. We have checked into the Chubb policy, which is annual coverage only, but will cover getting you back home, natch at a higher premium cost.

We are renewing with CHUBB for all our home/auto/umbrella policies. Much better coverage than we had, and it will include “content insurance” for our condo in SXM, which we had a separate policy for with NAGICO. The “passport 360” travel coverage was an additional endorsement for 374 a year and is worldwide not just Caribbean. Also the auto policy actually does cover “auto liability” worldwide. One of the few companies that does offer it.

and in person.
Wife and her sister got SkyMed presentation from Jeff @ Belair in March.

cacapasa--that is the case with MOST evac insurance. It does NOT cover you to your home. Sky Med is one of the few that does. We may look into Chubb, but I doubt they write in Florida, as most insurance companies don't anymore. Some of the policies sold on Insure My Trip offer auto liability policies, but the cost seems to be about the same as the cost through the car rental company.

Kim, did CHUBB require you to get appraisals again for jewelry, art, furs (stuff like that?)? It's one of the reasons I am loathe to change my homeowner policy.

They did not request new appraisals. Made life easy!!! We made the move mostly because of the car rental liability, travel insurance for evacuation, and they will cover the contents of the condo in SXM, so wont have to deal with NAGICO!!!!! when all is said and done, yes it was more than our current policy, but only by about 900 when you add in the extras we shall see. maybe they suck you in then next year on renewal I will get hammered, will see.

"and in person."
Meaning what?

check your last response. You said Facebook and newsletters. I added in person to that.

OK

Ask for a SkyMed MSA (Member Service Agreement) versus anyone else's. SkyMed TAKES YOU HOME when you become critically ill or injured in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the bahamas, and ALL the nations of the Caribbean. The others take to to the "nearest appropriate facility" most likely Florida or San Juan if you're in SXM. Huge difference. I bought my SkyMed membership in around 2002 and have never looked back. IMHO it is the best there is.

Agreed that SkyMed is a fine product. But it is useless if your travel plans include Europe, Asia or South America, etc.. While an affiliate now offer a "global" product, it is very expensive. I just recently checked it out. I also checked out MedJet, a gold-standard service, not confined to a particular area. It, too, is very expensive and is NOT AVAILABLE for travelers 75 years old or older.

Please do not take offense but your opinion, like any endorsement may be affected by compensation provided to you by the product or service you recommend. (IMHO)

Well said Tom....

We had SKY MED for the past 8 years but decided to switch to EA Plus $189 for family plan through Jet Blue after our close friends wife passed away here in February and he had recently bought an EA plus through AA. They were fantastic in arranging and helping him through the whole process including getting her body back to USA. He was so thankful for their caring and help as well as saving him over $10,000 he would have had to pay for all they did for him.

Just received renewal of our AARP membership and one of the listed benefits is a discount on MedjetAssist which is an alternative to SkyMed.
Both appear to offer similar quality services so we plan on doing a comparison before making our final decision.

In regard to the EA+ coverage, have you confirmed whether or not they will provide medical ambulance/transport back to the USA? I am currently looking into plan(s) after reading this thread however the information is ambiguous to me. On their website they state that "Air Ambulance or Emergency Medical Evacuation if deemed medically necessary to get you to a more appropriate medical facility quickly if your current facility can’t properly treat your medical condition." That seems to me that if you are in SXM and the facilities there cannot handle the problem, they will evacuate to a more suitable facility, not necessarily to a hospital near your home or even into the USA.

That is my sticking point. If I am on a cruise and suffer a severe injury or illness in say Honduras, I want a medevac back here. Suppose the insurer has decided that a more suitable facility is in Nicaragua, would that mean I'd be bound to go there even though I don't speak the language and/or have little faith in their medical abilities?

That's the deal. With most med-evac policies, they will take you to the nearest facility that they consider medically appropriate. If you want to guarantee that you will be sent HOME, book Sky Med.

Always ask for a sample of the actual policy, not just a description! That is exactly what I did. Then read the relevant section; the key language to look for, as Carol hinted at, is whether it covers "repatriation." If it covers repatriation they will get you home. They may direct you to the nearest facility, first, for immediate attention, but if the coverage does not include repatriation then that is all they will cover if you require continuing care. If you are discharged or have recuperated, of course, you just have to continue on with your trip, unless you also bought trip interruption insurance.

Tom, I realize it may not apply to such a young fellow as you, but as noted earlier, MedJet will not cover folks older than 74, so anyone older than that must look elsewhere for coverage, which is why we had to do exactly that. Too bad AARP did not mention it.

I think you need to check the MedJet website again. While you are right about my youthful age of only 72, they offer an option (Diamond?) that covers those members 75-84. I am not pitching any medical plan, but want people to consider all options.