# Health Abroad



## Petedaniel (Sep 20, 2008)

Any one got a suggestion on health insurance while abroad 
Last year a fellow brit died on our site while in Germany and this year we had the same thing happen while on a site in France. I can't imagine what my wife would do if it had been me. she does not drive. as we got for an undetermined time If the weather stay so do we. it would be difficult to get flexible cover and as we are in our seventies expensive


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## Nethernut (Jun 4, 2008)

We use Staysure - they specialise in insurance for over 50's - also have a long long list of health problems covered. They do annual insurance and long stay.


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## Remus (Feb 10, 2011)

I take tablets for high blood pressure but I don't expect to die of it. I always declare this when getting travel insurance and it puts the premium up considerably. I then ask if they can remove high blood pressure cover from the quote. The premium is then back to normal. It's a gamble I know but my condition is only 'just' outside the normal range so I'm fairly happy to do this in order to save on the premium. Do you have any 'conditions' that you are prepared to gamble on? That's all I can suggest because shopping around different insurers (as I have done in the past) left me with the impression that they are all much of a muchness when it comes to price - hopefully though, someone will know of a good cheap insurer and post the info here.


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

Red Pennant paid out when my wife died as a consequence of a fall in Germany last year. Rest of cover seems excellent.


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## aultymer (Jun 20, 2006)

We do not take any extra health insurance when touring Europe. What is the worst that can happen?

Spouse will get on next plane home, undertakers will deal with 'remains' - no drama.


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

I refer the honorable gentleman to my post immediately above his. Admittedly my wife died a week after our return, but I'd hate to be in the situation of it happening over there.

As for 'no drama' ... you ain't been there mate...


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## aultymer (Jun 20, 2006)

True, I haven't been there but wife and I have discused possible scenarios since we both have uninsurable medical problems - First priority is for survivor to be safe at home - the rest really does not matter at all.


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## Nethernut (Jun 4, 2008)

Remus said:


> I take tablets for high blood pressure but I don't expect to die of it. I always declare this when getting travel insurance and it puts the premium up considerably. I then ask if they can remove high blood pressure cover from the quote. The premium is then back to normal. It's a gamble I know but my condition is only 'just' outside the normal range so I'm fairly happy to do this in order to save on the premium. Do you have any 'conditions' that you are prepared to gamble on? That's all I can suggest because shopping around different insurers (as I have done in the past) left me with the impression that they are all much of a muchness when it comes to price - hopefully though, someone will know of a good cheap insurer and post the info here.


Staysure do not put any cost penalty for hypertension as long as your medication hasn't been changed in the last 6 months!


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## Rosbotham (May 4, 2008)

What I would advise to look into is the "service wrap". 

Allison's injuries weren't immediately life threatening, indeed it was a total shock when what happened did. However, we did attend a German hospital. I'm not too bad, o-level German and get by in shops, restaurants and transport. The only person in the hospital who spoke any English was the consultant, whose time was obviously rationed.

I JUST ABOUT got by with my English-German dictionary.... had the situation been acute I'd really have wanted someone on the end of the phone acting as go-between/translator. I wouldn't have fancied explaining diabetes and HbA1C levels from a dictionary in life-preserving time-scales.

9999 times out of 10,000 you don't need it. Having been through that exception, I'd never take the risk personally,


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## aultymer (Jun 20, 2006)

Ros - see my comment in 'the other place'!!


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## Bob45 (Jan 22, 2007)

15 years ago I spent a week in a French hospital following some heart troubles. The insurance paid for everything so extremely useful. At one stage they were going to fly me back but I recovered enough to travel back by car.
After a heart attack last year my insurance has gone up and I struggled to find yearly insurance. Single trip was all I could get.

On balance I think insurance is worth getting but each to their own.

Bob


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

We use Go Travel Insurance.com.

We haven't had any big dramas but we did have a friend break an ankle in Spain earlier this year and there is no doubt that insurance would have made a huge difference. She only came to visit us for a couple of weeks and didn't think it was needed, Alan.


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

aultymer said:


> We do not take any extra health insurance when touring Europe. What is the worst that can happen?
> 
> Spouse will get on next plane home, undertakers will deal with 'remains' - no drama.


so who pays for the Undertaker? and who gets the Motorhome back home if the dead one is the only driver?

My sister in law's partner has been in intensive care in Alicante for the last 3 weeks, after he had all sorts of problems with underlying conditions while out there on holiday (not MH). His insurance excludes anything like that, and SIL has had to spend nearly 3 weeks off work sorting things over there (staying at her own apartment, but having to spend on a hire car to get there)- she spoke to the British Consulate and it would cost approx £11k for an air ambulance to bring him back, if he survives. If he doesn't it would mean shipping costs, or cremation over there. Both expensive as well. Not as cut & dried as you make out, Aultymer. 


My wife also have ongoing problems which means she is not covered on out bank travel policy for that condition. We take the view when away in the MH that as it isn't life threatening, if her problems became serious we could get back home reasonably quickly, but it's still a risk.

And on the question of insurers, we had Natwest private cover which was excellent, but have now switched to their Advantage gold account which still has good cover for up to 30 days at a time, total cost for running the account (inc the insurance) £12.95pm. There are loads of annual travel policies out there, though.


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## aultymer (Jun 20, 2006)

Mike, your line 'His insurance excludes anything like that' is my point re self insurance. The things most likely to cause us problems would be excluded from cover but the insurance companies are happy to take your money. 
Scaremongering about the cost of cremation or motorhome repatriation plays into the hands of the insurers. The van insurance covers van recovery in the absence of a driver and have you seen the price of cremations over here?
In answer to your question:- 'who pays'? the survivor pays. If we couldn't afford that, we wouldn't go abroad.


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## bognormike (May 10, 2005)

thanks - the point is that everybody must be aware of the risks involved, whether going with insurance or without - and be able to cover for all eventualities.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

aultymer said:


> Mike, your line 'His insurance excludes anything like that' is my point re self insurance. The things most likely to cause us problems would be excluded from cover but the insurance companies are happy to take your money.


No, there are companies who will cover some pre-existing conditions. It's worth finding out.



aultymer said:


> Scaremongering about the cost of cremation or motorhome repatriation plays into the hands of the insurers. The van insurance covers van recovery in the absence of a driver ...............


Scaremongering? Hardly, surely it's wise to be sure. I admit I am not familiar with all the details of all van insurance policies but I would be surprised if you were correct about that in every case. My guess is some may and some may not, but removing that very uncertainty is part of what makes travel insurance worthwhile. That part of it is only an extra benefit anyway, it's ensuring that good, immediate health care and medical evacuation is available should it be needed that's most important. Of course your EHIC goes a long way towards that but it won't cover the additional costs or getting the patient home. Under some circumstances airlines will not allow people to travel as scheduled passengers, for several weeks after an operation for example.



aultymer said:


> In answer to your question:- 'who pays'? the survivor pays. If we couldn't afford that, we wouldn't go abroad.


Not everybody on MHF is as wealthy as you clearly are. We often see posts asking questions about how to travel on a small budget, Alan.


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## aultymer (Jun 20, 2006)

> Not everybody on MHF is as wealthy as you clearly are. We often see posts asking questions about how to travel on a small budget, Alan.


Alan, 
I don't have a job and reach pension age in a few months my wife has been on a pension for 4 years now, so hardly rich. Which is why we don't waste money on insurances which probably won't pay out when needed. 
We do however have a little put aside which would be used if the worst happened. Thats what it's for. 
As Mike says, everyone must be aware and make their own decisions.


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

An observation from our experience and as Bognormike and Aultymer said;



Bognormike & Aultymer said:


> everyone must be aware and make their own decisions.


my observation relates to medical expenses here (France) and the reliance that many people put on the EHIC card.

AFAIK the EHIC card covers you for reciprocal health care i.e. you get the same benefits as residents of that country i.e. reduced cost or in some countries free.

In France the EHIC card does not cover some items like staying in hospital where there is an €18 per day charge plus you would be expected to pay 20% of your treatment costs. Items such as blood tests are charged by the nurse for taking the blood (about €6.50 as it has just gone up) and the lab costs which depend on what you have done but may be €80 - 120 for a single analysis of the various things in blood - I can give details if anyone wants).

So a prolonged stay in hospital could well end up with a 20% bill + the daily charge of several hundred to thousands of Euro.

Some of those costs MAY be reclaimable when you get back to the UK but the page below quotes the MAY - it is not definite;

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/countryguide/Pages/healthcareinFrance.aspx

just something to be aware of when you are thinking about the "worst case scenario".

IMO health insurance rarely covers things when you need them (as has already been said); there are so many exclusion clauses that it is very questionable if it is of value UNLESS you have no underlying medical conditions and are certified fit before travel. If you have underlying conditions, even if you have found insurance to cover (in itself not an easy or cheap task) medical risks they often exclude problems linked to those conditions and only provide cover for other things going wrong.

As I said just an observation not a criticism of anyone elses viewpoint;



Bognormike & Aultymer said:


> everyone must be aware and make their own decisions.


many people may not be aware of the shortfalls of the EHIC system - the details I have given are for France only, I do not have the comparative costs for other EEA countries or Switzerland, but do your research properly before crossing the channel.

*As a footnote*; if anyone was in the very unfortunate position of the driver not being able to drive home for whatever reason, if you have RAC European cover they will provide a driver I believe, and I am sure if someone on MHF needed such assistance a plea on the forums would rapidly be met by offers of help I am confident.

I would certainly be willing to help drive a vehicle back to the UK if needed for such an eventuality.

Dave


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## johnthompson (Jul 29, 2010)

I have just had a quote from insureandgo.com Unlimited repatriation and £15,000 medical cover. The rate was OK and they would cover existing medical conditions. However they will only cover a trip of 90 days or 100 with permission of the underwriters that is the maximum they will do. You have to have been a UK resident for 6 months before any trip, you also have to be in the UK for 6 months between any trip, so no nipping over to France for a week or so a few times a year. They describe there policy as Multitrip!

We fulltime and spend up to 6 months in Spain then tour UK and Europe for the other 6 months so they declined to cover us.

John


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