Travel Insurance

Pookiebears · Post by **Pookiebears** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 7:08 pm

What do you think about Travel Medical Insurance? Would you suggest it? If so what websites are the best to get it from.

katnsocal · Post by **katnsocal** » Sun Apr 22, 2007 8:25 pm

I can't tell you how many trips I have made to PV without travel insurance, until I found out how much it costs to be air evacuated back to the US if it should become medically necessary. You are looking at a minimum of $25,000 US. just for an air ambulance. The policy I use is offered to club members only through my timeshare and is geared to vacation clubs, it costs me about $35.00 US, just to give you an idea of prices.

You want to find a policy that has the following:

Coverage for medical transportation up to $50,000 US, it should also include the cost of a family member flying down to PV to be with you (if necessary) and their transportation back home with you.

There are many other coverages that are covered on these types of policies, like patient monitoring, medical referrals, 24/7 U.S. Nurse Help Line, Coverage to return minor children back home. Return of deceased remains.

If you send an email to: pmt@prodigy.net.mx

She is the coordinator for the paramedics/air ambulance evacuations and she deals with all the different travel insurance companies making the arrangements for patients. She knows which companies are the best. She is a very sweet lady and freely shares her knowledge with the tourist population in PV.

Maybe when you hear back from her you could post here and let everyone know what company she recommended as being the best for service and we could put it in a sticky folder so people can find the info.

edited to say: If we can post the info here in a sticky, Pam will not have to answer a million emails from people all wanting the same information.

nevadabadgirl · Post by **nevadabadgirl** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 1:17 pm

I never used to buy travel insurance...unless I was traveling with my parents, and then only rarely.

THEN....about 3 months ago, one of my friends and his wife went on vacation to Hawaii...got into a head on accident and almost died...he needed a orthopedic surgeon for his 2 broken legs. For some reason, there was only one on Maui, and he was booked for months....and the Honolulu hospital was full....

Air vac back to Las Vegas from Honolulu was over $52,000....

Yep, I will gladly pay the $35 to $95.

Jennybean · Post by **Jennybean** » Mon Apr 23, 2007 2:36 pm

Travel Insurance should be as mandatory for those taking a holiday as packing a swimsuit, I say. Don't ever take the chance.

And don't forget to read the fine print...a very recent example was a twenty-something from the Edmonton area who decided he was going to play Spiderman from his hotel room balcony 7 stories up after a day/night of heavy imbibing - fell (of course) and almost died. His insurance was nullified because he had been drinking and his family and our government (hence, MY taxes) had to pay to medivac this MENSA candidate back home. Even he admits he was a dummy and didn't read the fine print and thought he was covered no matter how stupid and drunk he was.

Many plans also won't cover you if you get injured or suffer a fatality during what they term "extreme sport" activity, such as parasailing or the canopy tours...even the banana boats. As noted, read the fine print, know what you're buying and exactly what it covers.

If you have a benefits plan through your employer, read the booklet - you might have some coverage already but you need to determine how much, what is covered, and whether it covers you internationally. Whatever you don't have covered by them, invest in the travel insurance. Friends of mine have used TravelGuard in the past I believe, and been happy with it. And it's not expensive.

For the cost of one happy hour at a beachfront bar you get peace of mind.

Croft · Post by **Croft** » Thu Apr 26, 2007 9:41 pm

Just to give you an idea of what can happen - My wife fell and broke her hip in Tucson in February and they flew us back to Canada for repairs.

Ambulance $700
Emergency Room $300
Dr. Fee $500
Hospital (2 nights) $3,500
Air Ambulance $19,500
Return motorhome to Canada $2,000

Total Insurance Claim: $26,500

And this does not include the cost of the operation - that was done for free in Canada.

Cost of Insurance for five Months (2 people): $750

This is what they call a no brainer!

zaksam321 · Post by **zaksam321** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:11 pm

I usually do get the insurance. I dont know why everyone always flies back to get medical treatment though. I had reconstructive surgery to repair a shattered heelbone at MedAssist in 2002. 8 hours and 2 large surgical screws later and I was good as new. The orthopedic surgeon back home said he couldnt have done a better job and he would have charged me $28K. Doctor Gorge Garza at MedAssist only charged me $6K. I can do everything I could do before the accident. No limp or anything. The medical care in PV is better than you think.

ellen · Post by **ellen** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 3:57 pm

zaksam321 wrote:I usually do get the insurance. I dont know why everyone always flies back to get medical treatment though. I had reconstructive surgery to repair a shattered heelbone at MedAssist in 2002. 8 hours and 2 large surgical screws later and I was good as new. The orthopedic surgeon back home said he couldnt have done a better job and he would have charged me $28K. Doctor Gorge Garza at MedAssist only charged me $6K. I can do everything I could do before the accident. No limp or anything. The medical care in PV is better than you think.

Amen. I too would have no second thoughts about going for medical treatment in the Guadalajara/PV area. There are several "state of the art" or close to it facilities around with well-trained doctors and nurses.

Jennybean · Post by **Jennybean** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 4:58 pm

I agree the medical care in Vallarta is very good, however they cannot always treat you and that is what the air ambulance/medivac insurance is for - for those cases where you have no choice BUT to fly out to another medical facility.

Regular insurers do not cover this and Pam Thompson at Cornerstone Hospital in Vallarta has stated many times air ambulance out of PV to anywhere costs a minimum of $20,000US.

Why take the chance. As noted, give up a round of cocktails at happy hour, because that's about the approximate cost of peace of mind, knowing you won't be maxing out a credit card or taking out a line of credit on your home just to get back home if you need to.

Pookiebears · Post by **Pookiebears** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:09 pm

Has any one used the company MEDEX for travel insurance?

Croft · Post by **Croft** » Fri Apr 27, 2007 5:39 pm

In our case we had no choice. Our insurance company reserves the right to return us home for treatment and after their doctor talked to the Emergency Room doctor they imposed that decision on us even though all three docs - the emergency room doc, the insurance company doc and the surgeon who finally did the operation - agreed on exactly what had to be done. It is all a matter of money. We were in Tucson on our way down to Mexico at the time of the fall so they were comparing costs in the USA to Canada. The air ambulance crew had, however, been in P.V. the previous day to pick up another person with a broken hip and return him to Canada.

LFS517 · Post by **LFS517** » Mon May 21, 2007 8:20 pm

We usually buy all the trip insurance (medical, cancellation, trip interruption, etc.) just in case. It paid off last December. First, the cost of our trip went down in price almost $400 from the time we booked to when we traveled - the trip insurance guaranteed the lowest price, so we saved more than the cost of the insurance right there. Then, when we tried to return from PV to Denver just before Christmas, a blizzard had shut down Denver, so we couldn't get home. The airline said they could get us to Las Vegas, so we took a chance and went there. We ended up spending 4 nights in Las Vegas, and our trip insurance paid for everything - hotel, meals, taxi, laundry. Everything except our gambling money (LOL)! Had we known that the insurance would cover all the expenses of the trip delay, we would have stayed in PV for another 4 days. Oh well, live and learn! But I definitely recommend the insurance.

sjl330 · Post by **sjl330** » Mon May 21, 2007 11:02 pm

Wow that's great, LSF. Could I ask which company you use for your insurance? I always buy it too but I don't think mine covers the price of the trip if it gets cheaper. That would be nice. And did you win anything in Vegas?

LFS517 · Post by **LFS517** » Tue May 22, 2007 4:27 pm

We just buy the insurance that comes with the hotel/airfare package. Last year we used Funjet because they had the best prices at that time, but we have also used Apple and Worry Free - just depends on who can give us the best deal.

Does anybody win in Las Vegas? Let's just say we had money left when we got home, so we didn't lose everything!

nevadabadgirl · Post by **nevadabadgirl** » Wed May 23, 2007 4:30 am

Does anybody win in Las Vegas?

Sure, some do....I personally came to town in 1988 with $100, and when I get it back, I'm leaving!!

Travel Insurance

Insurance

Medivac

Air Ambulance