Choosing International Medical Insurance (Part 2)
As I mentioned in my last article, Finding International Medical Insurance, there are a lot of options when it comes to travel medical insurance. In fact, the search can be overwhelming.
You may find that you prefer to use a broker in such a case. It certainly can simplify things for you, and may even end up in lower premiums.
As you compare policies keep in mind that it would be far worse to save today, only to pay later when you’re sick or injured, than to pay more now, knowing that your coverage is all that you expect from it. That doesn’t mean we need the most expensive coverage. But it does mean that we want to find the best price from a reputable agency that includes all the coverage we think we could need.
Having cut my list from 35 to 21, I was now ready to start testing their quote platforms. Obviously this isn’t the best way to figure out what the best coverage is. But I also wanted convenience. And I have enough options that I wanted some sort of simple way to narrow down my choices.
Here’s a list of the quotes I received and what I perceived as important. These will vary according to an individual’s age, location, trip, etc., as well as with time as rates are adjusted. This information isn’t to be considered exhaustive either. Please make sure to check things thoroughly for your personal situation and to verify facts.
- Allianz (Three options available. Quotes are from the first one, which was the highest priced)
- $107 for trip
- $50,000 emergency medical and dental
- $1,000,000 medical transportation (not a huge concern in Chile)
- Baggage and trip coverage
- This interface is very simple and straight forward. There aren’t as many options, but its simplicity is appealing. The choices are very straight forward. It’s also very inexpensive, though there is some missing coverage such as AD&D.
- Bupa Worldwide Health Options
- $564.03 per month
- This turned out to be more of an annual insurance policy – not quite what I was looking for.
- CSA (Two options visible. Quotes are from the second one – Custom Luxe)
- 369.44 for trip
- $250,000 medical or dental
- $1,000,000 emergency medical transportation
- $50,000 AD&D
- Trip and baggage coverage
- $50,000 rental car coverage
- Another simple interface, this one works well and is kind of between Allianz and Frontier. Only one of the two plans offers full AD&D coverage.
- FrontierMEDEX (Three options visible. Quotes are from the second one with my options)
- $227.92 for trip
- $500,000 Medical Limit
- $100 deductible
- $25,000 AD&D (Additional $100,000 available on the third plan, TravMed Global)
- Sports coverage optional
- No trip cancellation, but the other two policies have it as an added option
- Baggage protection included
- I love this interface. It shows three policies side by side. As you scroll down, there are various options you can change. On the right side of the page all three prices are kept updated as you adjust options, and it scrolls with you as you go down.
- GeoBlue (Blue Cross Blue Shield)
- $176.86 for trip
- $1,000,000 Medical Limit
- No deductible
- $25,000 AD&D
- Bedside visit up to $1500
- Very simple and intuitive to use as well. There’s really no guesswork. You will need to “Expand to View Benefits below the quote area. If it’s not visible, just scroll down a little and you’ll see it.
- HCC (Atlas Travel – Several options listed, but coverage information has to be opened in a pdf, accessible by clicking on “Review Coverage” below the quotes)
- $160.58 for trip
- $500,000 coverage
- $100 deductible
- Trip and baggage coverage
- $25,000 AD&D
- The interface is fine, but having to review the pdf is more difficult. The nice aspect is that you can print if off immediately.
- IntegraGlobal
- This is an annual insurance. However, it looks like some good prices are available, between $3500 and $5300 per year.
- The rates can quickly rise depending upon what options you choose. Some of these include AD&D coverage, Dental, duration, etc.
- InterMedical Insurance
- $197.40 for trip (~75 days)
- $50,000 AD&D
- $100,000 Illness and injury
- $250 deductible
- Lost baggage and trip interruption coverage
- Interaction was nice and intuitive. But the form times out, so don’t expect to be able to keep the window open with your info and just walk away. You’ll come back to a blank form.
- SEVENcorners (Three options open up in the quote area. I chose liaison continent)
- This one had more options, but wasn’t as intuitive as others. The details for the coverage were not as easily accessed, though it did look like good coverage was available.
- After looking it over, I found the price to be good and the AD&D benefit agreeable. If it was the first site I went to, I probably would have spent more looking over the material.
- It does have a pdf that will provide more details. After opening it, I found that the coverage actually looked quite good. But the process was more complicated, so I chose to move on.
- Travelex (Four quotes were provided. I chose the last one.)
- $324 for trip
- $75,000 medical
- $2,000,000 medical evacuation
- $25,000 AD&D
- Trip and baggage coverage
- Another simple interface and very intuitive. The price on this site seems a bit high, but not terribly so.
- Trip Insurance (Many options. I chose one of their “Best” plans, with US Fire, to evaluate.)
- $310 for trip
- $100,000 medical
- $500,000 medical evacuation
- AD&D $50,000
- Trip and baggage coverage
- This site is a broker. The interface is very intuitive and helpful.
One of the first things I wanted to make sure to include was some life insurance. This can be a touchy topic because none of us wants to profit from the death of a loved one. In my case, I just want to make sure there’s enough to take the pressure off and let my wife grieve and heal without the added pressures of figuring out how to take care of finances. Most of these policies don’t offer much in the way of life insurance anyway, but something is better than nothing.
I admit that ease of use was a factor. I didn’t really want it to be, but with so many choices, I found myself giving up if it took too long to find what I wanted. This is obviously a sign of the times, but in more ways than one. It points to the fact that I’m not as patient as I once was, since so much information is available to me so quickly. But it also points to the fact that there are so many choices that it’s overwhelming when trying to make the “right” one.
As I learned more about how the sites worked and what to expect, I found that I was less patient too. If I’d already seen what someone offered and the price wasn’t better, I started spending less time considering it.
Once I’d narrowed it down to just a handful of policies, I began searching various sites for ratings and reviews. It can be somewhat hard to find an unbiased review because of affiliate and referral programs, but I did gain some insights. Here are sources I used.
- Travel Insurance Ratings & Reviews (This site has some helpful advice as well)
- A.M. Best (Appears to have unbiased reviews. Your best bet is probably to search for the specific company. They may have a ratings review for a top 10, or something like that, but I was unable to locate it. It may be that such information requires subscribing as well.)
- Frommer’s (This list is almost five years old, so may not be reliable today. However, it does offer some helpful insights)
- UStiA (US Travel Insurance Association – Another subscription service. We’re finding that listings don’t overlap with membership here and our other reviews, so take it for what it’s worth.)
I still didn’t feel like I was getting what I really wanted. Unless I was willing to subscribe to a service, it seemed that getting good reviews and ratings information was more involved than I had anticipated.
Then I found InsureMyTrip. For those who read my previous article, you may have noticed this in my list of sites. I went to it briefly, but for some reason closed it before I had investigated it thoroughly. Then, as I was attempting to round off my research, I tried it again.
Honestly, if I had found this first, it would have saved me a lot of trouble. However, I might not have learned as much and most likely wouldn’t have appreciated it as much as I do now – so much grabbed my attention when I started using their very intuitive interface.
After narrowing it down to plans that offered AD&D, I chose 8 to compare. It’s all so very simple. Then it compares them side by side, with options available to edit right in the comparison.
You can see in this image that they have their own rating and review area. This is a great way to get customer feedback and help others to evaluate based on the experiences of their fellow travelers. And the BBB rating is right there alongside, adding even more insight.
As I saw the coverage of each one in a manner conducive to comparing, I was able to begin culling the list. One of the very helpful tools was found at the bottom. They list the A.M. Best ratings right there for you to see. So I don’t need to subscribe to A.M. Best after all! And the underwriter is listed there as well.
As you can see, they have a little work to do on how the quotes line up with the columns. But that’s a small price to pay for being able to compare policies so readily. And, truth be told, even if they have to add to the price to provide this service, I was so pleased that I’d gladly pay the extra few bucks for this service.
For me the decision came fairly quickly at this point. I chose Safe Travels International. Here are my personal reasons why.
- A+ BBB
- 100% recommendation with 97 reviews
- $7,500 trip interruption ($300 baggage loss)
- I chose the $100,000 medical limit, but there are five choices.
- $500 dental for injury or to relieve pain
- Unlimited medical evacuation
- $100,000 AD&D (24 hr and flight – five choices from $50,000 to $1,000,000)
- $100 deductible (Choices range from $0 to $5,000)
- A.M. Best rating – A
- See a list of more coverage to in the image
- $210.38 premium for this 74 day trip
Additional benefits that might be applicable to you included availability to residents of any country (though U.S. visits are excluded), complications of pregnancy, terrorism, preexisting condition, sports and hazardous activity options and a home country rider is available.
When it comes to insurance, there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all option. Our lives are too varied, our desires, goals and objectives differ, and the options are too numerous to stuff us all into one insurance box. After all, isn’t this part of what makes us EscapeArtists?
In the end, I was very grateful for InsureMyTrip. The coverage I had picked out up to that point would have served my needs well, and was fairly priced. But, by using this broker, I found a policy that I am convinced fits my goals better, and for less than what I was prepared to pay.
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