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Evanston couple Mark Gould and Marla Green were on a two-week trip in Argentina with Road Scholar, a not-for-profit that offers travel programs usually for older adults. Several days into the trip, Gould started to feel sick and was unable to walk. He went to a hospital and was diagnosed with severe pneumonia. Gould had to be medically evacuated by airplane to a hospital in the Chicago area for continued treatment. While the couple had travel insurance, they were billed $23,311. What should you know when getting travel insurance so you don’t end up in the same situation?
See what policy fits your needs
Gould and Green had two different types of insurance for their trip. One was a trip protection policy, for which they each paid $684. The other was travel medical insurance, which was included at no extra charge by the tour operator.
Trip protection insurance covers your costs if you need to cancel or interrupt your trip. These policies typically cost about 4% to 10% of the trip cost.
It’s important to read the fine print because trip protection policies may exclude certain events. For example, if you’re traveling during hurricane season and wait to buy the policy until after a hurricane is predicted and named, the policy may exclude coverage.
Sometimes credit cards automatically offer trip protection coverage for things like lost luggage or rental car damage, but there could be limits.
Another kind of trip protection insurance is called “cancel for any reason.” These policies are about 40% more expensive than a standard policy, but they have fewer exclusions. One potential down-side: Some of these policies pay out only 50% to 75% of your losses.
Travel medical insurance
Experts recommend having travel medical coverage because Medicare typically won’t cover overseas care and private insurance considers the care to be out-of-network.
Travel medical insurance typically costs about $100 per person, though in Gould and Green’s case, their trip provider included it at no extra charge.
Consumer Reports recommends comparison-shopping on websites like InsureMyTrip and SquareMouth.
But again, it’s important to read the fine print. Some policies will not cover preexisting medical conditions.
Travelers should aim for at least $50,000 in emergency medical coverage and $100,000 in medical evacuation coverage. If you’re going on a cruise or to a remote destination, consider increasing that to $100,000 for emergency medical coverage and $250,000 for medical evacuation coverage.
What happened with the $23,000 bill?
Gould and Green had travel medical insurance that offered 24-hour medical assistance and evacuation. It also didn’t exclude preexisting conditions.
The air ambulance company in Argentina billed $148,311 for the trip to Chicago — more than their policy’s $125,000 coverage limit. The couple argued that the price was unfairly high. They said they wished the tour company had vendors lined up within the coverage limits.
When a Sun-Times reporter contacted Road Scholar about the huge bill, the company promised to look into it. Soon, Gould and Green had good news. Out of “a sense of fairness and compassion,” Road Scholar reimbursed the $23,311, as well as $859 for fees related to the return of the couple’s luggage.
Road Scholar said that its mission is “to enrich the lives of older adults, and we take the responsibility for our participants’ well-being very seriously.”
The company said the $125,000 coverage limit for medical evacuation “has historically been sufficient in nearly all cases” but said they’re reviewing their policies and limits to make sure they have the most comprehensive and appropriate coverage in the future.
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