Travel medical insurance - stuff you should know!!

I saw two posts on two separate forums yesterday that made me want to write about this, because there is so much misinformation out there. And it amazes me how many people travel and don't know the rules.

The first post made me shake my head...

I understood that if you got sick in Mexico (hospitalized) and had all your receipts BC Medical would reimburse you. This was not how it worked in my case - got $630.00 back from $3,000.00. Can anyone explain this to me...? 

Yep. I can.

The term "BC Medical" in the post refers to the British Columbia provincial health insurance plan.

For Canadians, each provincial health plan is different. But they all cover you to some extent for out of country medical emergencies.

And every province has their coverage terms available on their websites. There is no reason you shouldn't know this stuff if you're traveling.

Here is the one for British Colombia...

http://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/practitioner-pro/medical-services-plan/ooc_funding_guidelines.pdf

In this person's case, they paid $3,000 for a private hospital stay. That was their big mistake, going to a private hospital. BC Medical will only pay $75 per day for inpatient care. And they will cover all physician expenses up to whatever it would have cost for the same service back home. In this case, most of that $3,000 was for the room in the private hospital. Had this person gone to a public facility the cost would have been far less.

The Canadian Snowbirds Association did  study on which provinces have the best services for travelers...

http://www.snowbirds.org/downloads/CSATravellersReportCard.pdf

I'll copy and paste the chart here...

A you can see under the "Health Care" headings, there is a wide varience on the services each province provides to it's travelers. So much for Canada's "universal" health care. 

In another forum, there was a post made about how many people travel without any supplementary insurance. As expected, most people do not travel without supplementary insurance. They fear that they will go bankrupt if something catastrophic happens. And, possiby they would. But, it's highly unlikely that something catastrophic will happen. 

I know that most people will be horrified, but we are "self insured". We aren't the type to run to the doctor for every little thing. And we feel that most people are over insured. Insurance is simply a form of gambling. You place a bet (your premium) that something bad will happen to you. If it does, you win. If it doesn't, you lose. Over the long run, the house (the insurance company) always wins, because they know the odds are well in their favor. Of course if you do not place a bet, there is always the possibility that something bad will happen to you anyhow...

In all of our travels over the last 32 years, we have been to a doctor four times. The first time, Ruth got a bladder infection and it was treated under insurance. This was when we were on our honeymoon and we went to a clinic in Ronoake, Virginia. Ruth says she remembers that we did have to pay a portion out of pocket and collect back. We don't remember the details.

Then there was the time Ruth cut her hand in South Africa. You can read about it here...

http://www.travelwithkevinandruth.com/2014/01/a-visit-to-south-african-hospital.html

The bill was $91.35.

And in 2013 a doctor visit to get a blocked ear cleaned out in Puerto Escondid, Mexico. Cost? $50.00.

In November of 2015, Kevin developed a bad rash in Colombia. We went to two different doctors, the second one being a specialist at a private hospital in Bogota. He fixed the problem. Total cost for both visits including medication was under $200.

For fun, I looked up the cost for travel medical insurance for the two weeks we will spend driving through the U.S. next month. For two weeks it would cost us $250.

Now, if we had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of assets, we'd probably pay the $250 and not think anything of it. Drop in the bucket, so to speak.

But for us, in our particular situation, to drop $250 for nothing just doesn't make sense to me. 

So far, we are winning the travel insurance gamble. In fact, over 32 years of travel, we are way ahead of the game. If you have bought travel insurance and have used it...then you're a winner too!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't forget to order your new tablet...shipping begins September 30th. Under $50 for a tablet computer!

The all new Fire Tablet

Any "I Dream of Jeannie" fans in Canada? I'm ordering this for our motorhome travels this winter!

20 DVD's for under a buck a piece...

I Dream of Jeannie: The Complete Series (20 Discs)