You Need Health Insurance when you Travel

TRAVEL TROTTERS - your travel information source

SEARCH

WELCOME TO OUR TRAVEL INFORMATION WEBSITE

Home > Search Articles

You Need Health Insurance when you Travel

By: Michael Newton

Many countries have what is called “single payer” cheap health insurance. Affordable health insurance for everyone comes out of taxes. If you get sick, you are automatically covered. It doesn't work that way in America because we value individual freedom, tax rates less than 70%, and less government control. Without health insurance, a serious but treatable illness could be a financial death sentence. This is why it is important to always be insured.

I knew someone who was travelling overseas. She was young and in good health, and figured she didn't need health insurance – she had scarcely been sick a day in her life. She was in South America, when she started to feel nausea, and had dizzy spells. At first she ignored them, but they soon grew worse. She returned to the United States and went to a doctor, and discovered that she had cancer. A doctor's visit, combined with a battery of tests can cost hundreds of dollars. Treatment for cancer can run into the thousands, or even the tens or hundreds of thousands. She was unable to afford this kind of expense, and grew sick and eventually passed away. It was a tragic and avoidable death – if she had been insured, things might have turned out much differently. She chose to spend her money on travel and not health insurance. Few things are as important as health insurance.

There are several different kinds of health insurance. The most traditional kind is called a Fee-For-Service plan. It has the advantage of giving you a greater range of choices than any other health care plan – you can go to any doctor you want to. You pay a monthly premium, and also have a deductible, perhaps $250 or $500. This is the amount of medical expenses which you have to pay in any given year before your insurance takes effect. After that, it pays a majority of further medical expense while you pay a small portion, often around 20%.

Mexico Vacation Packages
Have you ever driven by the airport and thought you should just turn in and escape? Fortunately there are great vacation
Another type is called the HMO or Health Management Organization. An HMO has a staff of doctors, often in one or several central locations, which it requires all of its patients to go to. Although you don't have nearly the number of choices you do with a fee-for-service plan, your health insurance costs will be much lower. There is a small fee charged for each visit to a doctor, but most other costs are covered by your health insurance.

Most professionals are insured through their jobs. Their employers are able to buy health insurance at group rates, which saves money, and so they can offer their employees cheap health insurance than they could purchase on their own. Unfortunately, the way group health insurance is set up it causes serious problems for an employee who develops a serious or chronic condition. If they wish to leave the company, they will not be able to find new health insurance, because of their pre-existing condition. Other insurers will not want to cover them, because their condition means their healthcare costs are likely to be higher than the amount of money they pay for coverage. Because of their illness, they may be unable to leave their current employeer, even if their job is unsatisfying. Fortunately many health insurance companies are now offerring transferable insurance.

Michael Newton is a freelance writer for TravelTrotters.com. He writes on many financial subjects and reviewed many health insurance issues.

Recent news on health insurance
Health Insurance Industry Wins Concessions on Covering Children
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:10:52 -0700
The health insurance industry has won a concession from the Obama administration on insurance coverage for children.

Health insurance assistance program expands in Sussex County
Thu, 29 Jul 2010 23:53:52 -0700
Newton The State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) is expanding in Sussex County.

Health Insurance Scams On Rise After Health Reform
Fri, 30 Jul 2010 07:37:41 -0700
U.S. News & World Report: Regulators are accusing the Tennessee-based American Trade Association of bilking consumers out of $14 million by selling fake health insurance to 26,000 households in all 50 states. The scams happened "over a span of 16 months, according to court documents. More than a few of those dollars appear to have been spent on personal items such as cars, real estate, and loan ...

Articles related to health insurance
[ Search Articles | Home ]