My First Foreign Travel Benefit Paid...

[DS4]

I've had numerous Foreign Travel claims. Usually Mexico or Europe.
Most carriers want an English/dollar translation. If this isn't available, you can generally resolve the issue working with the claims dept. I've even submitted foreign receipts. I use an online currency conversion calculator and that most carriers will accept

 

[insurance0707]

I had a med supp client collapse as soon as he got off the plane in Chile. he had a heart attack. The bill was something like $45,000. They wouldn't let him leave the country until he paid the bill. He filed the claim when he got back and the Med supp paid 80% of it.

 

[insuranceexec]

I had a med supp client collapse as soon as he got off the plane in Chile. he had a heart attack. The bill was something like $45,000. They wouldn't let him leave the country until he paid the bill. He filed the claim when he got back and the Med supp paid 80% of it.

So he paid cash for the bill and then filed the claim when he returned?

 

[GreenSky]

All of this to avoid a $50 travel plan. The expensive part is to cover luggage. It's dirt cheap for the medical plan.

I suggest to all my clients who ask that they buy a travel insurance policy. These plans usually have overseas offices and will pay the claim themselves.

Spending $40,000 so you can get reimbursed when you return is not the best way to go.

Rick

 

[Frank Stastny]

All of this to avoid a $50 travel plan. The expensive part is to cover luggage. It's dirt cheap for the medical plan.

I suggest to all my clients who ask that they buy a travel insurance policy. These plans usually have overseas offices and will pay the claim themselves.

Spending $40,000 so you can get reimbursed when you return is not the best way to go.

Rick

I also make that recommendation to my clients who are planning on traveling outside the US. Not only for the reason you stated about paying claims but, the last time I checked the coverage provided by the Med Supp will not pay to repatriate them. A travel policy will.

 

[somarco]

Rick does make a good point. International medical isn't high on my list of things to sell but I still stumble on $500+ each year in commissions somehow.

Translation of medical records, med evac & repatriation, return of mortal remains . . . all covered and not inexpensive.

I had a client (not Medicare) collapse in the Amazon rain forest a few years ago. International medical paid out $250k for emergency transport & treatment in Brazil and air ambulance back to the state. His group plan paid another $100k once he got back stateside.

 

[motorcyclegogo]

Exactly. If I drink myself to death I don't want the family getting charged $25k to fly a dead body home. It's silly how much it cost in time and money to get a dead person home. My sister was coming back from China, the flight attendant came on requesting the assistance from a doctor/nurse... anything, then they announced that a passenger was having health issues and the would divert to Japan, about an hour later the pilot came back on: Ladies and gentlemen we've had a passenger die on board, he is a US citizen, if we land in Japan his family will have great difficulty and expense getting him back to the US, we are going ahead with our original flight destination of Los Angelas. We hope this decision does not cause too much distress to anyone on board.

 

[somarco]

Geez. Sounds like that Chevy Chase Vacation movie where grandma (Imogen Coca) died and they carted her around on top of the wagon. Pity the poor soul who had to fly next to the stiff across the Pacific.

 

[retread]

Exactly. If I drink myself to death I don't want the family getting charged $25k to fly a dead body home. It's silly how much it cost in time and money to get a dead person home. My sister was coming back from China, the flight attendant came on requesting the assistance from a doctor/nurse... anything, then they announced that a passenger was having health issues and the would divert to Japan, about an hour later the pilot came back on: Ladies and gentlemen we've had a passenger die on board, he is a US citizen, if we land in Japan his family will have great difficulty and expense getting him back to the US, we are going ahead with our original flight destination of Los Angelas. We hope this decision does not cause too much distress to anyone on board.

That Captain used his brain... good job!

I was flying a 747 non-stop (supposedly) from St Louis to Honolulu. Just over Kansas City, a flight attendant came up to the cockpit and told me a passenger was in distress. It just so happened that a pediatrician was the only doctor on board, but an OR nurse was, too. The pediatrician had trouble with a diagnosis, but the nurse explained that the scar on his chest indicated previous chest surgery, and as such his vagal nerve was compromised and would not give the patient classic symptoms of a heart attack. When I heard this, I headed straight for Denver. In the mean time communications was established with a medical team by radio, and about 30 minutes later they said "get him to a hospital ASAP". I said "Gear Down!" and landed within just a few minutes. If I had waited until the doctors decided what to do, we would have been past Denver and over the Rockies.

 

[insurance0707]

who are some good companies that offer international travel?