A question about insurance and hospitals

davidp80

Hi everyone,

I'm sure many of you will tell me that I'm making a big mistake (and perhaps I am), but I don't intend on having travelers insurance while traveling through India.
If I do get sick, can I rest assured knowing that most all hospitals will treat me even though I am uninsured. I assume the answer is yes, but for my own peace of mind, I thought I better ask....

Thanks so much,

-Dave

moo

David, can I be one of the first to tell you that you are making a big and perhaps DUMB mistake? Why not just get the insurance?

davidp80

Hi Moo,

Well, from what I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong), the cost of receiving healthcare is often very reasonable in India, and even if I came down with something (malaria for instance) requiring a fairly lengthy stay, I could afford just to pay outside of my pocket. Chances are this wouldn't happen (although I do understand that it IS a very real possibility). Obviously this logic wouldn't work in the event of something like major surgery, but then again....my health insurance at home doesn't cover major surgery. On top of that, I am considering signing on with a company that would fly me home in the event of a real emergency - often a single payment that is very reasonable and covers a lenghty period of travel. I hope this helps to clarify my thought processes. I am open to suggestion.

Thanks so much,

-Dave

kmalik

The case for buying travel insurance when traveling to India is weak, unless you have special health / age related circumstances. The local health care is relatively cheap for small stuff. For more complex stuff, you'd want to be in specialized hospitals, but the charges are reasonable and would fit within your regular health insurance policies. The main value of travel health insurance is to cover the possibility where you need to evacuated back to the US. I personally do not worry about that situation, but different people have different attitude towards risk. I, for one, do not think it is a dumb decision at all to do without it.

kmalik

David -

Just saw your second message. I'd have the exact same thought process.

All the best!

blissjunkie

and your reason for not getting health insurance is?
I see from the fact you have posted this you know it's a mistake / big risk in the first place, your just looking for someone just justify, what i think comes down to, 'saving money'.

I was in a serious car accident here in Taiwan, totally unexpected as I rarely go in cars in the first place, between ARC's my health insurance was invalid, couldn't afford the hospital fees so just had to patch myself up with steri strips and pain killers.

It was a horrible thing to have to go through, and i totally kicked myself for not getting extra insurance for that time.
A very depressed two weeks of pain, bandage changing and worry of infection...my friend however, who came off similarly smashed up, had a week in hospital, worry free.

hope this changes your mind...

kmalik

bliss -

I presume your question is for David. My response covered travel medical insurance - and not health insurance. The former is not a substitute for the latter.

All insurance amounts to transferring a risk for a fixed cost up front. So, there are always going to be instances (post-fact) where it would have been preferable to have bought the insurance. And the regret for not having done so if the risk becomes reality is something everyone should consider. They should also consider the insurance cost versus the uninsured loss and its probability. The argument for skipping the travel insurance is that the uninsured loss is likely small - and the low probability event of serious cost ought to be covered by your regular health insurance.

If someone ought to give David an argument - it should be on the uninsured catastrophic medical scenario (in his regular health insurance) and not on skipping traveler's health insurance...

davidp80

Blissjunkie,

Although I anticipated this thread turning into a debate, my original post was meant for no other purpose than to determine whether or not hospitals would 'accept' me without any form of insurance. Being a fairly young and healthy guy, I'm new to the whole insurance policy thing, even here in the United States. What I do know is that some hospitals won't care for you unless you're insured, and that some won't care for you if you are! This is why I created this thread - to determine the likelihood of receiving care while traveling in India.

Kmalik did an excellent job of elucidating my reasoning. Although, because I'll be traveling for an extended period of time, I will not be covered under any kind of health insurance - it is currently provided for by my employer.

And I am still debating whether or not to purchase the 'emergency fly home' plan. It's something I am going to have to think about.

Thanks so much everyone - and although my initial question was not answered directly, I assume Kmalik's response indicated that I will indeed be treated while uninsured in India.

-Dave

kmalik

David - Cash always works better than insurance card. If anything, do not expect health care providers to accept your insurance card. Only card that might work is credit card

Good luck - and stay healthy

Nick-H

I'll add my vote... not in the least dumb, as long as you have a few thousand in the bank, and you are happy to be treated for whatever might happen in India.

Trivial medical problems here have trivial cost.

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ploink

My bills (covered by travel insurance) ran to about 100 000 rupees so you can guess that I'm for travel insurance.
I only just missed being flown home. It may not be much in euros considering what it covered, but it was a massive dent in our travel budget. (We did end up borrowing from our hosts, maxing out credit cards, etc. nonetheless...) But such unfortune that I had must be relatively rare. As Nick said, trivial problems, trivial costs.

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Nick-H

Insurance os of greatest benefit to the poor. Unfortunately, it is more often taken advantage of by the rich!

Many, many people (including me for much of my life) just do not have Rs100,000 (over £1000, well over $2,000) spare in the bank, or if they do it is their savings for a holiday in India.

Indojingai

OP: Your 2nd post makes sense with a sort of Indian PoV. (oddly funny or funnily odd ).
But seriously, I think you can run that risk only if you think you have enough immunity to live in India. I.e. if you have travelled to the not-so-well-off parts of the world before and did not require medical aid.

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ploink

Yar, exactly Nick. I'm a member of an organization of employees and the travel insurance is part of the membership - I never thought it would cover so much! We were in trouble even with the travel insurance because we needed to pay most of the doctors/hospitals ourselves, and the insurance company paid us later. But all is well that end's well.

Nick-H

Treatment for disease is probably affordable.

Surgery is affordable if you have the aforementioned sums in the bank.

India is unlikely to bankrupt you like USA would, but, as someone has already said, it could make a big hole in your travel budget.

I still don't think it is dumb....