# A public service announcement to people traveling abroad **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 25, 2009, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187 "2009-07-25T01:36:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Carol\_Stream](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@Carol\_Stream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_Stream)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/21 "2009-07-25T21:31:39Z")
> [@Gfactor](#): > > That’s not the test. But I may have screwed this one up. I’ll move it back. > > **Gfactor** > Pit Moderator Actually, no. You screwed up by moving it back. What about the “I pit shitty drivers” thread? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/22 "2009-07-25T21:37:26Z")
> [@Carol\_Stream](#): > > Actually, no. You screwed up by moving it back. What about the “I pit shitty drivers” thread? 1. Thanks for the advice. 2. I just moved it. 3. Any additional discussion of this thread’s location should go in a PM or email or a thread in ATMB. Thanks! **Gfactor** Pit Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/23 "2009-07-26T01:33:03Z")
> [@Dr.Woo](#): > > Cripes, I wish _I_ (as a US citizen) could get $20M in medical insurance. [/whine] It’s been a while, but I think the last time I bought health insurance for a trip to the US, I bought US$1M. Not sure of the exact figure, but that sounds about right. Are there really policies for sale in Europe that only offer US$700 in benefits? I cannot imagine going to the US with less than $1M of umbrella coverage–my Canadian plan will pick up the first (small) bit, but I’d have to make good on the rest, and the plans for sale here for vacationers will do that. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/24 "2009-07-26T02:31:12Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Are there really policies for sale in Europe that only offer US$700 in benefits? It sounded ridiculous to me too, like the kind of policy you’d find in a box of Kellogg. But from what I heard there is such thing. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/25 "2009-07-26T02:59:15Z")
She can afford an overseas holiday but goes full Basil Fawlty over 120 Euro? Jeebus. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/26 "2009-07-26T03:37:54Z")
> [@Rayne\_Man](#): > > That’s why we are told that it’s wise to have medical insurance cover of at least £10million before travelling to the USA. _At least £10million_? (over US$16 mil) I mean, U.S. health care costs are exorbitant, but that seems slightly excessive. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/27 "2009-07-26T05:22:58Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > _At least £10million_? (over US$16 mil) I mean, U.S. health care costs are exorbitant, but that seems slightly excessive. Yes, that sounds a bit excessive. It’s not likely you’ll need cancer treatment, or a kidney transplant while on vacation. The most likely scenario of doom is heart failure, accident or appendectomy, things that can’t wait. 20 M will cover all three of those and then some extreme makeover. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/28 "2009-07-26T07:24:37Z")
For a £30 premium you get all this cover for a 14 day trip to the USA:- [https://www.direct-travel.co.uk/Quote/SelectCover.aspx](https://www.direct-travel.co.uk/Quote/SelectCover.aspx) If you click onto “view full benefits” of the Gold Standard you will see that it includes £10 million medical cover. ---
**Author:** ![Scruff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Scruff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruff)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/29 "2009-07-26T09:02:25Z")
I think that the large insurance coverage is for a worst case; some catastrophic accident which would have you in hospital for a while until you could be medi-vacced home. Also if you are older (me Mum turned 80 just before her last trip), she had to take out more insurance. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2009, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/30 "2009-07-26T09:34:06Z")
> [@Scruff](#): > > Also if you are older (me Mum turned 80 just before her last trip), she had to take out more insurance. Yes there’s the rub. The £30 premium I quoted above is for some one under 65. Anyone over that age wanting the same cover would have to pay £145. It’s all a matter of risk. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/31 "2009-07-27T03:35:14Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > Yes, that sounds a bit excessive. It’s not likely you’ll need cancer treatment, or a kidney transplant while on vacation. The most likely scenario of doom is heart failure, accident or appendectomy, things that can’t wait. 20 M will cover all three of those and then some extreme makeover. I have no idea what the premium was, but the fellowship I had from my local govermnent while I was in graduate school in the US included medical insurance. The insurer was basically a middle man; my government would pay for any medical procedure that’s covered by Spanish SS, hospital stays, etc; in case of a serious condition which required hospitalization but allowed for travel I was to be sent home (expenses paid by the policy/my government). The school refused to consider it “sufficient coverage” and made me pay for their own, much less comprehensive policy, because a policy explained in four pages and saying things like “non-elective treatments of any kind and hospital stays are fully covered” wasn’t clear enough… And yes, that covered cancer treatments and kidney transplants, although I probably would have been shipped back in order to get them. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/32 "2009-07-27T03:50:41Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > And yes, that covered cancer treatments and kidney transplants, although I probably would have been shipped back in order to get them. My point exactly. Even if you have coverage for a catastrophic condition, if it still allows for travel, evacuation is almost always what you get. ETA: I am still curious as to where the heck you get less-than-a-1000 dollars coverage. It sounds like some kind of freebie. And does the Spanish gov. cover your medical expenses when you are on vacation (I doubt it, but still curious)? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/33 "2009-07-27T13:40:51Z")
I imagine that 700$ coverage must have been SOV, Seguro Obligatorio de Viajeros (Compulsory Travellers’ Insurance), which basically covers the cost of a BandAid. SS doesn’t cover health costs for people travelling abroad (except through the European SS Card, which entitles you to “the same benefits as locals would get” if you’re carrying it and get sick in one of the countries where it works). My insurance was part of a fellowship; if the central government had covered all that stuff, my local government wouldn’t have needed to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/34 "2009-07-27T13:53:17Z")
That’s a mistake may Brits make when travelling to other European countries and only taking the the European Health Insurance Card. They assume that they can use it instead of taking out stand-alone travel insurance. Although it will pay for basic health care it won’t pay for such things as repatriation back to your own country. Plus, of course, you are not covered for such things as lost luggage or flight delays. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/36 "2009-07-28T08:09:03Z")
> [@xx-emoKid-xx](#): > > hey… 😕😕😕 ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2009, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187/40 "2009-07-28T08:54:31Z")
> [@xx-emoKid-xx](#): > > hello? rain man? I have reported you to the moderators of this board [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-public-service-announcement-to-people-traveling-abroad/504187.md?page=1)