Echo Of Reason

Well, with a bit less than 3 days remaining before my yearlong adventure I think I just have one final question. What is the opinion on travelers insurance such as world nomad. Currently right now I have US health insurance (until the end of the year) that is supposed to cover everything that would happen to me if I got in trouble over seas, but I would have to front the money and they would pay me back. I also have the ISIC card which is supposed to covers things like this just for having the card.

$300,000 Emergency Evacuation
$25,000 Repatriation of Remains
$25,000 Accident Medical Expense (Includes $500 Emergency Dental Coverage)
$5,000 Accidental Death & Dismemberment - Air
$1,000 Accidental Death & Dismemberment - All Other
$500 Lost Document Replacement (includes your ISIC card)
$165 per day Sickness/Hospital Benefit (up to 61 days)
$100 Baggage Delay
$100 Travel Delay

The thing is, I'm going with a couple of friends who all purchased world nomad insurance but I’m pretty sure they don’t have health insurance. So the question is, should I get this world nomad for about $230 for six months or just save the cash and spend it on beer? I'm leaning towards the latter, let me know what you think.

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"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. If what you are doing is not working, do something else."

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expatben

Insurence can be a good thing to have. I would rather have and not need than need and not have.

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I have been to: Canada, USA, Iceland, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Poland, Germany, Sardinia, Switzerland, China, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Morocco.

Do to list: [color=blue][color=black] Australia, New Zealand, Austria India and Bolivia.

[color=blue][i][font=Verdana][color=black]"I'm just another stranger lookin' for the promised land"

tumblezweedz

Do I understand that your ISIC card includes insurance coverage as you listed? If so, then it would appear that you already have travel insurance and are okay. READ THE POLICY CAREFULLY! And before you go, just to make sure there isn't any fine print (like you can only be repatriated home from your original destination, or Timbuktoo, or something...) Also, double check your US policy, just to be sure it'll cover you abroad. Finally, if you have a gold or platinum credit card, they sometimes also include travel insurance with their benefits, so double check to see if that's a player.

I would definitely advise travel insurance of some kind, especially for such a venture as a year long trip - there's plenty of opportunity to get sick in that long a journey - but it sounds like you're already in good shape. Also, regarding the hospital benefits, that $165/day isn't a whole heck of a lot, but in most places it's probably enough to cover an emergency room visit or short stay, as long as there isn't anything horribly wrong with you. Most countries with nationalized health programmes are a lot cheaper than the US.

Finally, is there any way you can extend your US health care plan to cover the remaining portion of your journey? That might be a cheaper alternative than the world nomad.

Sometimes when you have overlapping coverage (two policies covering the same risk, in this case, you!) there can be some argument (read, delay) over which company has the prime responsibility to pay, and which covers any shortfall, so it's not a bad idea to discuss the possibility of needing emergency cash with someone back home (a parent, usually), explaining that you DO have coverage and whatnot, but may need to pay up front and be reimbursed. It's just good to know this in advance, and makes the "I NEED MONEY NOW!" phone call a little less stressful, if they understand that it will be repaid!

Today's lesson in insurance and reinsurance has been brought to you by the letter K.

Sorry, my brief stint at a brokerage firm just reared it's ugly head...

Echo Of Reason

Awesome guys, thanks for the info. I think i'm going to stick with what I have for now because my health insurance seems to be pretty good stuff. After the first of the year I'll most likely have to figure out what I'm going to do all over again because it'll cost a lot more to keep the health insurance (no longer under parents plan). I'll probably just get world nomad insurance at that time, but I'll have to figure out my options then.

__________________
"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got. If what you are doing is not working, do something else."

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