Travel Health Emergency: What I Learned When My Wife Went To The Hospital
Have you ever found yourself with a travel health emergency?
I remember when I was a teenager my parents took us to Virginia to visit my uncle’s family who lived there. We had done this trip many times over the years, but this time was special because I managed to break my ankle playing basketball in the driveway!
Being Canadian, we’re used to having hospital visits such as this covered from the taxes we pay, but that doesn’t help us when we’re travelling internationally. Luckily my dad had great benefits from his job and everything was covered!
Well, this past weekend I had my first experience with my own travel health package when I received a call from my wife saying she needed to go to the hospital while away at a conference…
How Does This Work?
My wife, Julia, was away in Las Vegas for the amazing Go Pro Recruiting Mastery Event. If you’ve never been, I highly recommend you check it out and plan to attend next year (either in person or streaming online).
She called me that Saturday morning saying that what we thought was a cold had become something much worse. Fever, congestion, extreme pain, and her voice and hearing were almost gone!
Clearly she needed to see a doctor.
We had heard horror stories about Americans without medical insurance who are ruined financially by hospital visits. We had no idea what to expect since we hadn’t really had travel health problems before.
I immediately consulted our medical insurance plan to see what travel health benefits were included. Turns out, we’re associated with a global healthcare alliance that takes care of whatever we need while away as though we were at home.
So with one phone-call we got Julia to a nearby hospital where she immediately saw the doctor on-call. She was given a prescription for a severe ear infection in both ears, and laryngitis before being released.
Total out-of-pocket cost to us …. $35! And we can submit that under our medical plan for reimbursement.
What If …
What if our travel health wasn’t covered under our plan?
For starters the hospital bill would have cost $1100 USD. I specify that it was US dollars because at the time of this writing that costs us 35% more after the exchange rate in Canada. I don’t know about you, but I don’t generally budget for that kind of extra expense when I’m planning a vacation.
Insurance is one of those things nobody wants to talk about until they need it, but please make sure you have at lease basic coverage when you travel. Most work plans have something for your travel health included, and many travel agents, credit cards and travel clubs offer some form of protection.
Make sure you understand what you get, and what you don’t. Not only will it give you peace of mind, but it also helps make quick decisions that affect you and your pocketbook. For example, if you aren’t covered for an ambulance, but the hospital is around the corner a minor health problem can be solved with a quick taxi or Uber ride instead of having to pay the ambulance fee.
Then there’s the big stuff …
Ever been somewhere when there was a natural disaster like a hurricane or earthquake? Maybe a loved one suffered a huge health concern and needed immediate transportation home?
Most of that is not covered under basic travel health plans. I had a friend who was an a lovely cruise that turned into a big storm almost causing the ship to sink. She got a travel voucher and “how was your trip” survey from them … but what if she had been badly hurt like some others were?
I have another friend who was on a great family trip with his mother who suffered a heart attack and needed emergency evacuation back to America. Luckily they were covered for that sort of liability and she’s now stronger than ever!
Do you have that sort of coverage?
If you’d like some info on what I managed to find out I’d be happy to share. Let’s Connect and discuss what makes sense for you and your family. Please know that I’m not affiliated with any insurance companies, and that any recommendations I might make are based purely on my research and opinion. I’d just like to give you a starting point to make your own decisions as I know what it’s like to look that mountain of data in the face and not know where to begin.
What Did I Learn?
So what did I learn about travel health when I received that phone-call from Julia?
I learned that having built-in piece of mind is amazing.
I learned that being able to take care of my wife, who is 3 time-zones and a 5 hour flight away is worth it’s weight in gold.
I learned that travel health questions don’t need to be scary.
I hope this story has helped you in some way.
A medical emergency doesn’t need to be scary, even in another country.
If you got some value from this, please share it with a friend and comment below. I’d love to hear that your next travel health experience is a positive one because of this message.
Was this helpful for you? If so, please share it with a friend who you think would get value!
Be sure to comment below and let me know if you’ve ever been caught in a travel emergency!
P.S. If you’d LOVE to start Your Own Blog with “Just 3 Clicks”, check THIS out!
Was this valuable for you? If so I’d really appreciate your comments below and shares on social media.
Resources
Here is a list of the resources mentioned in this post:
Go Pro Recruiting Mastery Event – A generic training event for home business owners, specifically in network marketing, where you have the opportunity to learn from industry trainers and top income-earners.
Wow…glad to hear Julia is okay!
Always good to review your medical health plans to make sure you’re covered even internationally.
Thanks for sharing Bruce!
Dr. Lisa
Thanks for stopping by Dr Lisa. She’s definitely better now thanks to our coverage!
Oh wow! You always think “it won’t happen to me” overtime you go on holiday, but ensuring you have all those back up plans in place really does make the world of difference when you’re in the position! Glad Julia is okay!
Me too! Yes, it’s easy to overlook, but vital when required
Travel and bad health…not a desirable combination. So much better to be prepared for exigencies. Travel health insurance is a great idea.
Always better to have it and not need it!
Oh that’s bad. I can only agree with you on the importance of having an insurance. I always get my travel insurance while traveling but never had to use it. Can’t say when things will go bad.
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So true … I hope you never have to use the insurance 🙂
I hope your wife is ok! This is very important information for travellers, as many don’t think that they need such services on their trip. Even more critical situation would be if you would need an emergency flight back to your own country. Those can cost a fortune. You absolutely want to have an insurance when travelling to United States, although they will treat you without an insurance also. The cost on those bills show what it costs for the insurance company, if you would be without insurance, they would reduce it. But it would still be a lot. So insurance is a must!
Absolutely agree Pauls. We saw what the cost would have been had we not had the insurance, and definitely didn’t have anything close to that in our travel budget at the time
That was kinda scary. I would definitely panic if I were in her situation. I have experienced being sick overseas but I did not go to a hospital. It was really good that your medical insurance is very reliable. I would not be able to shoulder a thousand dollars for an emergency abroad. I would consult my insurance company about the coverage.
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So glad you’ve never had to go to the hospital while travelling! The small price for insurance is definitely better than the shock of a bill afterwards. Even better is having the insurance thrown in as part of your travel club (which is what we do now)!
One of the worst nightmares of any traveler is a health issue while traveling. This is something we generally don’t realize till we encounter the experience. It is always prudent to be prepared for such eventualities through whatever means possible, including travel insurance.
You’re so right! We’ve travelled often without giving it a second thought, but were very happy to have been covered when we needed it this time.
I have experienced being sick and also an peration while travelling… definetely a horrible combination! I guess the best solution is to be prepared, health insurance and also know the rights places to go to if something should happen.
Great point! You definitely need to take a moment to ensure you’re in the right place for you and your needs
VERY important post! I’ve never had to use Travel Insurance myself but I always make sur eI am covered for every trip! It’s really not worth the risk!
Absolutely, Chiera! Better to have it and never use it than be stranded in a foreign place
This is truly terrifying and the reason why I always purchase a good level of travel insurance. I hope your wife is feeling better – thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Samantha, she is definitely all better now 🙂
Whoah! Glad to hear that she’s doing better now. You’re right though, there’s a lot to be said for health insurance. While it might feel expensive it’s wonderful to have that security blanket.
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So true! We never really thought about it before, but were really glad we had it when we needed it
Better safe than sorry. I’m glad it ended well for you guys.
Thanks so much Chris, so were we!
A lot of good travel lessons learned, it seems. I am always a supporter of travel insurances, which can help you a lot, especially when you travel outside your comfort health zone. In Europe, fortunatelly, the health insurance is available in all EU countries and if something happens within Germany I am well covered by my German insurance which means I don’t have to pay for medical services. Which is as amazing as it sounds!
That really is amazing! We have the same here in Canada, and most benefits plans will include some form of travel coverage.
That is one scary situation to be in! We always think it won’t be us, until it is us. Always better to be prepared.
So true! Always better to be prepared and not need it and to get stuck without it
My husband travels frequently for work, and he recently had to visit a Frontline ER in Richmond, TX, for chest pains. Health insurance can be a tricky thing, but this place was great! Quick diagnosis (nothing to worry about), and no hassles.
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So glad your husband was able to get the help he needed so quickly! Yes, health concerns when travelling aren’t fun, but it’s nice to know you’ve got it covered when it’s needed.
My dream is to travel the whole world and visit the places I never been to. However, I realized why the places I have been into asked to purchase travel insurance before I travel. Yeah, now I learned from some blogs like yours the importance of getting one.
So glad that I could play a part to help get you the information you need to travel more safely!
Travel and bad health…not a desirable combination. So much better to be prepared for exigencies. Travel health insurance is a great idea.
Such great piece of mind knowing she was being taken care of and that we wouldn’t end up with a giant medical bill at the end of it!