You may be tempted to go traveling without insurance if you haven’t been to a doctor for ages and are reasonably healthy. My advice is: don’t do it. If you did have some kind of major accident, you could be in big trouble without insurance.
Chances are you will never need the insurance. Chances are you’ll travel around and be just fine. But what if? what if something happens and you end up needing major surgery or an air ambulance? If you don’t have insurance, you could still be paying for that medical care when you are 80 years old.
There are many insurance companies who provide travel insurance. Be sure to read the fine print to see what is and is not covered on your policy. There are typically a variety of plans to meet your needs – some will cover care in certain countries but not others, they come with varying amounts of deductible, etc.
We looked around quite a bit for an insurance plan and finally ended up with a high-deductible plan from IMG. We were unable to get the policy until the date we planned to leave the USA and have to be out of the country for at least six months every year. We have a high deductible, but will be covered when we go back home for a visit.
Our insurance plan is only a back-up. We don’t use it on a regular basis – in fact we’ve never yet filed a claim. We pay our medical costs out of pocket and will only request coverage for a major illness or accident. Given the fact that medical costs are very reasonable in more parts of the world, it would take quite a while to rack up enough bills to surpass our $5000 deductible!
Should you require an air ambulance for an emergency evacuation out of a third world country, your bill could easily come in at $100,000 or more – and that is just for the airplane! All medical costs would be in addition to that. Traveler’s insurance, while still setting you back a few hundred dollars, is a bargain compared to that!
Long term travel is Nancy Sathre-Vogel’s passion. She has traveled extensively and has experienced her share of travel medical concerns.
