Travel Insurance? Need it or not?

[blinkchick2134]

I'm leaving on my trip soon and I've been looking into different travel insurance agencies and websites. Most quote me $400 to $1000 for 6-months of coverage for myself and my boyfriend. However, I really don't think it will help us. None of them cover pre-existing conditions (the main reason we're considering insurance is because my boyfriend has asthma) and we already have a WWOOF basic insurance for 25 euros a year. However, the WWOOF insurance covers only when we are working on a WWOOF farm, not the travel time between farms or periods when we're traveling as backpackers.

Honestly, the way the WWOOF insurance is set up I think I could get around the restrictions if need be. We don't have anything in our baggage of value, besides a walkman and prescriptions that can be bought cheap overseas. Also we don't have to worry about trip cancellations or any of those extras, our main concern is health. Does anyone have an experience in overseas hospitals? Do they require insurance, upfront payment or anything like that? If their just going to bill us back home - then I'll pay it later and say screw it now.

Our budget for a year of travel is roughly $1,000 after flights, meds and gear. We're taking about 3000 but we're planning to catch a flight from South America to New Zealand, so we need about a grand a piece for that. Or if we need to get back home ASAP we have the money there for the flights. So the insurance would totally be a budget killer. Any suggestions?