Is traveler's health insurance really necessary?

ddranetz

Is traveler's health insurance really necessary?

I'm a young, healthy American going to India for the first time this September, for about a year or so.

I'll be touring around all over and will probably do a little trekking but no adventure sports.

A friend who went without insurance suggested that I skip the insurance since Indian doctors and drugs are so relatively inexpensive.

Any thoughts?

grikoo

You won't need it unless you hurt yourself badly, in which case it could be handy. Nothing like a $20,000 helivac fee to ruin your day.

I tend to be in favor of getting it. There are several policies out there for around $500-800 a year.

Larsuld

Well, not having a travel insurance is almost like not using a condom. It's better without a condom as long as you are a very lucky person, but... when your luck turns and you do catch something, such as a nasty little monkey that sits on your head and makes funny noises and refuses to go away.. then you really regret having saved a few bucks initially...

You should definitely get it. If say, God forbid, you need to be hospitalized at some point then it can become very, very expensive for your folks back home, because if it is anything serious you probably don't want to stay in a public hospital. Most embassies will not assist you financially. I don't know about the U.S., but I wouldn't count on it. Just start eating rice, lentils and chapatis only, and when September comes you will have saved more than the cost of the health insurance.

Best wishes
Lars

ranjan154

While travelling in India, you vitually do not need an insurance. Your friend's advise is worth following.

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ddranetz

Thanks for the responses so far.

I should have expected that they would be mixed.

To sum up my current thinking:

I'm a poker player and that game has taught me that it's wise to take risks when the odds are greatly in your favor. If the odds of my needing to spend more than $800 in medical expenses while in India for a year or so are very, very small, then I think I'll skip it. The problem is I'm just not sure how small that chance really is.

More opinions needed, please.

kmalik

I concur with the last post by Ranjan154.

Since your need for health insurance is uncertain, it is always possible to find the decision to not purchase it regrettable post fact. However, the case for a young, healthy person to avoid buying is the strongest in context of India precisely for the reasons your friend has suggested.

I do not know where the $20,000 figure was quoted since extreme sports were not on your agenda, but you are unlikely to require it any more than you'd require a heart transplant. Health care in India is relatively cheap. Unfortunately, the emergency care in India can be poor if you do not time and loacte it properly so that you are at the hospital But, no amount of insurance isn't going to produce the helicopter if someone needed it after a road accident.

If you do buy it, look at what it covers. Often emergency medical expenses are the main one's covered, along with the fun stuff like medical evacuations, repatriation of body, etc. So, traveler's health insurance is not a substitute for a regular health insurance anyway.

grikoo

Another thing to consider is how much money you actually have. If you're rich, then the possibility of incurring some relatively large expense in India isn't much of an issue. But if you're not rich, better not to chance it in my opinion, as it could adversely affect your and your family's finances for years. The stakes are a bit higher than your average poker game (at least the ones I play).

Larsuld

I completely agree with Grikoo's point - that it may not be your own money you are gambling with after all... if something serious should happen.

The cost of insurance in Denmark, for travel anywhere in the world for one year, for a 30 year old, is 500 US$. And apart from medical insurance this includes loss from theft/robbery, loss of luggage when flying, and responsibility insurance - e.g. if you accidentally damage other persons or their property, this is also covered by the insurance. If you are a student you would probably be able to get discounts. I never heard about anything being cheaper in Denmark than in the US, so I am positively sure you can get it at less than 500 US$. Just check the internet. If you don't even know the price, how can you even decide?

Also, look at how you are doing the mental accounting. If instead of looking at the huge figure of 500 US$ and thinking about all the nice things you could have got for those 500 US$, you look at costs per day, then 500/365 doesn't seem too bad. There are many other expenses in your budget that you never add up on a yearly basis - and if you did you might change your idea drastically about them.

Last input from me, and I'm not an insurance agent by the way

zoltan

Your friend is quite right - doctors & medications are inexpensive but what if you wind up in an ex-pat hospital or need an emergency evacuation ?

These are not free nor cheap.

I had an incident in Kathmandu (OK, not India but it's almost on a par), where I was taken by the Australian embassy ambulance to a local hospital.

I had x-rays; an IV drip and some medication given to me and it cost me US$200 for the few hours I was there.

The other consideration is that travel insurance will also cover you for lost luggage; stolen personal posessions and more - it's not just about health.

And I love the explanation at #3.

Cheers
Zoltan

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camelgirl

If you are young & healthy & can afford some type of insurance, you should consider getting it. No one can really tell you if you absolutely should get it since everyone has a different idea of how much risk they feel comfortable with and how much $ they have planned for a long trip like yours. The odds aren't any greater that you would need emergency care in India than you would need in the USA, unless you are prone to taking risks (like walking barefoot through the Himalyas --I met a woman doing that or as Larsuld mentions, not wearing a condom

I never had travel (medical) insurance on my India trips when I was young & healthy & luckily never needed it. I now always buy a policy for India trips but fortunately have still not needed it. Medical care is good in cities and still quite inexpensive compared to the US.

Here are a selection of websites that makes it very easy to find a policy specifically for long term travel.

http://www.insuremytrip.com/products...02-592865.html Click on "Quotes" to see prices.

If you are a student, here's another site to check: http://www.internationalstudentinsura nce.com/

and

http://www.statravel.com/cps/rde/xch...linsurance.htm

And last but certainly not least: http://www.sunzine.net/budget-travel-insurance.html

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hfot2

I absolutely agree with camelgirl and if she hadn't given you those sites, I would have.

Anything can happen in a year - and the cost of evac alone can be daunting, even if you are really well healed.

There are all kinds of medical insurance and insuremytrip will give you an idea of what can be covered. I have heard good things about STA as well. If you are interested I can PM you the name of our travel insurance agent who quotes the same prices as insuremytrip and is someone you can talk to who can explain the options and choices more fully and answer all your questions. Let me know if you want the name.

distaff half of hfot2

kmalik

The decision concerning insurance remains a matter of the buyer's attitude towards risk, the ability to absorb the consequences of a negative outcome if the insurance were not purchased. If the buyer has insufficient ability to absorb the consequences of a negative outcome but has enough money to afford the insurance, the only choice is to buy insurance.

However, the negative outcomes here are not catastrophic, so it is a matter of the attitude to risk, size of risk and the cost of transferring it to the insurance company, i.e. price of the insurance.

As for attitude, a good number of posters on this thread would rather transfer it, but that's neither here nor there. Some of them are an insurance agent's dream prospects It is OP's attitude that matters.

We do know the size of the risk is smaller than it would be if, for instance, someone from India were going to the US. This is because the cost of dealing with medical emergencies in India can be lower, and sometimes dramatically lower than in the US.

There have been assertions/insinuations that the insurance is cheap. That can only be determined on the basis of a lot more data about the avarage payouts, payout probabilities, etc. than we have. The insurance is indeed affordable.

People often make this decision to avoid the risk - and that's a valid reason. Otherwise, the economic rationale for the majority view on this thread is well short of sound or obvious.

Nick-H

The size of the financial risk is smaller, yes, but the risk of getting sick might be considered higher. Balances!

The less money you have, the more useful (in general) insurance is. I recall reading an article in an insurance trade magazine to the effect that the people most likely to benefit from insurance are the people least likely to have it. Of course, for the industry, this may not be such a bad thing, as those people may be the most likely to make claims that richer people might not be bothered with.

The cost of hospitalisation in a posh private hospital will be on a par with a stay in a five-star hotel, and the doctors' fees, tests, surgery, treatment will be on top of that. If you travel on that sort of a budget, you may be happy to take the risk of that expense. If you consider it vital to find Rs200 places to lay your head at night, especially if that is all you can afford, you are probably better-off having the insurance.

Here's some of the costs I've experienced...

Visit to General Practioner Rs50 to Rs200.

Visit to specialist in posh private hospital: Rs400 - Rs500

Visit to specialist in their own clinic: Rs200 - Rs300

CAT scan of part of body: Rs4,000

General blood tests: Rs700

Treatment for suspected malaria, including three visits to doctor and one afternoon on an IV glucose drip, I think cost us about Rs3,000. This was not a posh hospital, but was private.

As a resident I would most certanly have insurance, except that I can't get it. Over 55, one is not a welcome customer of the Indian insurers, and if you admit to having had a cold when you were 18.... Oh dear me, no. I had a major chest operation about 15 years ago that completely fixed the problem, and has no bearing whatsoever on my current and future health (not having had it would have) but I got refused. This is not relevant to the tourist/traveller. of course.

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ploink

Personal decision, but at least in Finland, travel insurance isn't very expensive. I was healthy when I left to India for the first time but my doctor/hospital/medicine/transport/etc. bills after an injury and an illness ran to near 100 000 rupees in total. The bill from the Apollo hospital in Delhi alone was 40 000 rupees - this bill the insurance's local representative paid for us in Delhi (they sent us there, and I'm glad they did) but otherwise we needed to pay everything ourselves first, then fill in the forms in Finland, to get compensation. Kinda busted our travel budget... Who was it that wrote above: "If the buyer has insufficient ability to absorb the consequences of a negative outcome but has enough money to afford the insurance, the only choice is to buy insurance."



EDIT: But also, the insurance company's advice was indispensable - we were in a mess, and didn't know what to do when we at last picked up the phone and called them (should have picked up the phone way earlier). Cannot tell what a relief it was to speak to someone in Finnish about our situation, and to be guided and be taken care of in Finnish.

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hfot2

I've been thinking more about your question. Here are a few other suggestions if you really don't want to get the medical travel insurance which I still think is the best idea -

Join IAMAT, International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers, www.iamat.org/ which for a very small contribution - just $10 will do it - will send you a booklet with names of English speaking doctors worldwide [most of whom] are pledged to the IAMAT schedule of charges. Also, you get a list of hospitals with IAMAT doctors. There are many in India. And you get malaria charts and information. For a small donation you can't lose.

Join DAN, Divers Alert Network, even though/even if you are not a diver.
http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/membership/index.asp
For just $29 annual membership you are entitled to their worldwide evacuation in case of emergency. For more money you can add Travel medical insurance.