| More and more elderly people travel abroad each year. International travel without health insurance or inadequate insurance is foolhardy and potentially life threatening. Many policies are rendered useless or inadequate due to failure to read the small print in the policy or the policy is void due to previous undisclosed conditions.
Travel insurance policy details should be scrutinised especially including:-
- Emergency aid
- Evacuation to hospital
- Treatment
- Repatriation
- Read the small print of the policy to check for exclusion criteria
- Ensure pre-existing illness disclosed.
The European Health Insurance Card is useful covering any medical treatment that becomes necessary during a trip, because of illness or an accident, or any treatment needed for a chronic disease or pre-existing illness. It only gives access to the care that the state provide as medical cover, so it may not cover all aspects of care that one would expect the NHS to provide.
Finding an insurance company
Finding an insurance company that is willing to accept any pre-existing conditions may not be straightforward. Recently some insurance companies have withdrawn from insuring the elderly and many annual policies are not available for those over 65 years of age.
It cannot be stressed enough that all pre-existing conditions are disclosed. Some illnesses such as heart disease or cancer, are likely to be excluded from standard policies. If a pre-existing condition is not declared and a claim is linked to that condition then the insurance company is unlikely to reimburse this claim. Even if the claim is not linked to the condition, some insurers may still refuse it on the grounds of not having a full opportunity to assess the risk, declaring that they might have produced a contract with different terms if they had known about the condition.
If all this is not enough the insured must also advise the insurer if health changes occur prior to departure as this could impact on the cover provided as described above.
If all this sounds alarmist some likely costs that may be encountered:-
- Heart attack in Greece £6000 to £7000
- Repatriation by air ambulance from Spain £10,000
- In the USA a broken arm could cost £4000
- Repatriation from Florida to Britain could costs about £30,000.
It is recommended that travellers:-
- Carry insurance documents at all times which includes proof of insurance cover
- Carry emergency contact numbers and medical assistance numbers for insurance companies.
See Also
About This Page
Author / Source: |
Dr Stephen J Clayton |
Date Last Reviewed: |
29 September 2007 |
Next Review Date: |
28 September 2008 |
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