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Lemonkid said:Be nice guys, many Americans simply can't afford insurance, it's not something they naturally "have" like other fortunate countries in Europe & Canada, so traveling without it probably doesn't seem to strange.
gittiharre said:Rota Virus
gittiharre said:Shit happens eh!
Anniesantiago said:A trip to Europe is MUCH less expensive than a year's worth of medical insurance here!
oursonpolaire said:Giles Tremlett's Ghosts of Spain
Anniesantiago said:In our country, it's so unaffordable to a person who does not have it via their work, that a huge section of the population who are unemployed or self-employed also find themselves without medical insurance, me included.
Anniesantiago said:I don't really care to be called a fool for not having something I cannot afford.
ERLEE1905 said:My British friends don't like the cost and say nothing good about their system.
benandsam said:Can a north american go online and buy insurance? One must have insurance whether they have a european health card or not, in ireland i can buy a years travel insurance for 50 euro
jpflavin1 said:... have medical insurance for your journey if you can afford it.
DesertRain said:I want to emphasize the importance of travel medical insurance, especially for those from the U.S. and other non-E.U. countries. Let me share my cautionary tail....
Are you from the US? If so, what insurance did you have and how did you get purchase it?
Thx!
Dee Anne
"Bozzie"
Lemonkid said:Be nice guys, many Americans simply can't afford insurance, it's not something they naturally "have" like other fortunate countries in Europe & Canada, so traveling without it probably doesn't seem to strange. I wouldn't recommend it, but I'm not here to judge people on their choices.
I'm interested in travel insurance for Canadians, esp. insurance that covers multi-country visits.
DesertRain said:I want to emphasize the importance of travel medical insurance, especially for those from the U.S. and other non-E.U. countries. Let me share my cautionary tail....
Last March, I was starting my 4th day of the camino via mountain bike – on the trail rather than the paved road. Less than five minutes after leaving the albergue in Logroño, my rear tire lost traction on the rain-slicked cobble stones in the center of the city. My foot hit the pavement, and as I fell to the ground, I saw that my knee was completely dislocated. To make a long (and painful!) story short, I had torn every ligament in my knee – ACL, LCL, PCL and MCL!
Within 12 hours, I would learn how very fortunate I was in two ways....
First, absolutely EVERYONE with whom I came into contact during the accident and subsequent hospitalization was amazingly kind, caring and generous. From the municipal police and ambulance drivers to the nurses and social worker at the hospital to the airport staff in Madrid, I was so very impressed and moved by the care they showed. The police even took my bike back to the police station where they disassembled it, and packed it up for my plane flight home to the U.S. In terms of the medical care, I do not think I could not have received better care anywhere in the world.
Second, purchasing travel medical insurance turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life. Although my normal health insurance at home would have eventually reimbursed me for most of the hospitalization, I would have had to pay out of pocket. More importantly, no home insurance would have paid for the many non-medical costs or helped me with the logistics of getting home in a hip-to-toe cast. My $80 investment in the travel insurance saved me more than $10,000 in expenses. Upon giving the nurse my insurance information in the emergency room, I had absolutely no further paperwork or out of pocket costs. My medical travel insurance both paid for and helped me arrange the following:
• 100% of the cost of hospitalization for 3 days.
• 100% of the cost of the ambulance ride to the hospital.
• 100% of the cost of a four-hour ambulance ride from Logroño to the airport in Madrid.
• 100% of the cost of a Business Class flight from Madrid to my home in Arizona purchased the day before the flight. (With my cast, I couldn't even fit into a coach seat and this plane ticket alone would have cost me $4000!)
More than just paying for these things, the insurance company worked directly with the hospital social worker to make all of the arrangements for my return journey. Imagine trying to arrange for a 4-hour ambulance ride without this help: not only would the logistics be a nightmare (even if you speak spanish fluently), but you would have to arrange for payment.... all from your hospital bed while drugged out on pain meds! Instead, all I had to do was concentrate on getting better.
Please, please, please.... spend the small amount of money needed to obtain travel medical insurance. If nothing else, it will give you peace of mind. That alone, is worth $3 per day!
HAPPY ENDING.... After two surgeries, two months lying in bed, and four months of physical therapy, I am planning on returning to Logroño where I will continue my Camino exactly one year after my accident. This time, I will be walking....
Will I have insurance? You can count on it!
This seems to be a common restriction for 70+ travellers. I have asked those who have faced this if they had been told why, but most have reluctantly accepted the limitation without asking. Given that most insurers operate on fact-based risk calculations, I would be interested to know what the actuaries know about the over-70s that raises the risk at 30 days of travel.peregrina2000 said:Only problem for many camino travelers is that the maximum length of any one trip cannot exceed 30 days.
DesertRain said:Indeed, it is as simple and affordable as that! Or it was for me at least. I had good luck with Medex, but http://www.squaremouth.com/ provides comparisons of several different companies all based on a few basic questions.
Many of us do give such information on various threads. However sometimes it isn't much use as we don't know where the person lives. Not specific, but EU, USA etc helps with giving an answer. Thanks for doing so Bob, it helps a lot.csm mac said:Good morning to all: As a newbe about to venture forth with my grandson to do the Camino de Santiago Frances 2014 or 2015 I'm in the research mode. Of course one of the many questions that I have will be about travel/health insurance. I've read many of the posts relating to the topic and garnered much information, however, when pilgrims post about plans, if they would be so kind as to add such things as the name of the company, cost, the good/bad/different, web sites etc, it would be a great help. I would also appreciate when making other posts about other topics such as equipment, food, etc. that the experienced pilgrims would give the brand names and other pertinent information also.
Thank you
csm mac
Bob MacKissock, Stafford Va, USA,.....
travelguard insurance where is this from? many thanks.We have used Travelguard.com for many years and have no problems. Of course, we have "had no problems" so have no real test. They are very easy to work with and are inexpensive.
Suggest you check out several to see if you are comfortable with one.
travelguard insurance where is this from? many thanks.
Some insurance policies will reimburse some/all of trip costs if a medical emergency occurs. They ask that info to estimate total cost of coverage.This may seem like a silly question, but when getting quotes do you enter the cost of the trip as the cost of the plane ticket?
I was just wondering, because aside from the flight I can't really think of anything that would need to be reimbursed that wouldn't be covered in the medical portion of the insurance.Some insurance policies will reimburse some/all of trip costs if a medical emergency occurs. They ask that info to estimate total cost of coverage.
A request to American pilgrims; past, present and future. I just learned that my health insurance does not cover me while in Europe. In looking on this forum the advice is don't go without it. I did some looking at American insurance companies that offer travel medical insurance and found (1) expensive (2) consumer complaints about them is astronomical. So I would like to know if any American pilgrims can recommend a good insurer. Thank you ERL
Well last year I spent 8 days in hospital at Santiago, without insurance I would have lost flights as well as a big hospital bill to travel without insurance is placing a burden on our host. Not very sensible or fare.I didn't bother with medical insurance. My experience is that in most places, pilgrims are treated either free or at very little cost.
Not sure about other countries, but here in New Zealand you get free travel insurance which covers medical costs if you purchase your ticket with Visa. I usually do that and then I don't have to bother with separate insurance. I once was very glad for it travelling from NZ to Europe via Japan and my daughter then 10 months old got very sick on the plane with Rota Virus and we spent 7 days in hospital in Japan which cost thousands of dollars. Shit happens eh! Regards, Gitti
I'm an agent for TravelGuard. Good to hear your experience was positive. They do it all quietly behind the scenes.I went with a new Camino friend to a hospital in Leon in September 2013. She is a nurse practitioner and spoke Spanish. She was seen by a nurse for check-in, an ER doctor and then a pulmonary specialist. They drew blood and did an x-ray of her chest. She was diagnosed with bronchitis. Both doctors prescribed meds and individually explained to her the treatment protocol. We then were taken to a cashier who entered info and results into computer. We had heard from a fellow pilgrim that he tried to pay at the ER of a hospital and was told it was free. That was not the case for my friend as we did not know this was considered a private hospital. From walking through the doors until we left was a total of 1 hour and the cost was 167 Euros! Had we been at home in the USA it would have been a multi-thousand dollar ER visit and taken at least 5 hours. My friend did not have medical/travel insurance. She did have a credit card which they accepted. She recovered within a few days.
I caught a cold the last 3 days from Santiago. I went to a pharmacy and took what they recommended without relief. My friends had already left Santiago after arriving there so I went to the university hospital ER alone when my coughing became worse. They asked for my insurance (thank goodness there was another Spanish patient who translated for me) which I gave them my paperwork from Travel Guard. I never heard anything from Travel Guard after I returned home and did not see a cashier after seeing the doctor. He and I used a system of pointing as neither of us spoke each other's language. He gave me a prescription and pointed me to the exit. Not sure if the hospital was ever paid or not. I have always had medical travel insurance but this was the first time I ever needed it in 30 years!
Hi Tia who did you take that policy with? kind regards AnnieAnnie, we have travel insurance, which covers us just for travel abroad. It is a reasonable price we think (about £70 for the two of us) and we can travel together or seperately. It covers our luggage up, to a given limit, medical costs not covered by our EU cards and repatriation if needed. Again here in England we are so lucky to have a choice of providers and checked out costs on the internet. This is different from 'medical insurance' which is very expensive.
We would not want to travel without it, but others obviously do. I think I would balance any decision re afordability by thinking how much it would cost to be brought home if there was an accident/disater of some sort - as happened to a friend of ours.
Buen Camino, and whatever you decide, walk well and safely
Tia Valeria
Hola Annie. We will have to look out the papers and will then reply properly. This year our insurance comes with our bank account so we have not renewed the old one.Hi Tia who did you take that policy with? kind regards Annie
thank you Tia and I am really sorry to ask you again but when we met at the cathedral you mentioned about by a loaded card from travel agent to use on the camino - could you give it me again pleaseHola Annie. We will have to look out the papers and will then reply properly. This year our insurance comes with our bank account so we have not renewed the old one.
The old insurance has a web site at www.insurefor.com - you can get a quote online. I'll send you a PM too with some more private info
Hola Annie. Ours came from Thomsons on the High St, between Bedford St and the church. It is almost next door to the EE shop. We paid cash and you need ID (passport/driving licence plus a bank statement/utility bill) to load it whether using cash or a card.thank you Tia and I am really sorry to ask you again but when we met at the cathedral you mentioned about by a loaded card from travel agent to use on the camino - could you give it me again please
check out Jp Hayman travel adventures cover most pre-existing injuries based in South of England - very reasonableA request to American pilgrims; past, present and future. I just learned that my health insurance does not cover me while in Europe. In looking on this forum the advice is don't go without it. I did some looking at American insurance companies that offer travel medical insurance and found (1) expensive (2) consumer complaints about them is astronomical. So I would like to know if any American pilgrims can recommend a good insurer. Thank you ERL
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