Allianz insurance emergency.

[Koolau]

It's been 30+ years but an old class mate of mine was injured by a moped accident in Mexico. Her husband couldn't "prove" that he could cover her care so (IIRC) they stopped the immediate bleeding, but wouldn't do anything else (no X-rays, etc.) She died of a brain bleed a few days later. They wouldn't release her body to be returned to the USA until he paid the hospital bill. I mentally scratched Mexico off my "must-see" list.

So readily accepted travel medical insurance would be a must if I were ever to travel outside the USA. YMMV

 

[Drake3287]

"If you had no travel insurance could they collect the bill on someone who doesn't live in the country? Seems almost impossible. I read emergency or urgent NHS care should be free, even for visitors"

A BIG yes and I f you had no insurance or credit card to pay for it you'd probably get very minimal medical help plus they'd send you a bill and eventually a collection agency. I think most of us here just assumed the UK had better medical conditions. Some country's won't even allow you to leave the country until bill's been settled. Scary situation, I know of one story of someone having to put the entire medical bill on his credit cards but once he hit his credit limit he had to go online and have money transferred in order to pay off the cards. Once that went through he was able to charge the remaining balance. Scary stuff.

 

[jim584672]

Sounds like an unpaid debt could impact the ability to get a visa or enter the UK, if you are under immigration control this may be a problem. I would doubt they could get an enforceable judgement as two separate legal systems generally don't play nice together.

Paying an NHS debt

How to pay an NHS debt so it does not affect your visa application or entry to the UK.

www.gov.uk

"Primary healthcare is free for everyone. This includes:
visiting a GP

• accident and emergency services
• detection and treatment of certain infectious diseases
• other free services"

"If you have a debt to the NHS that’s been added to your immigration record, you can be:

• refused a visa
• stopped at the UK border"

 

[FFC1964]

I really hope my travel insurance with $50,000 Medical Coverage does cover the entire cost of my surgery. It has been two weeks and I have heard nothing from the hospital. I have no idea the cost as of yet.

 

[LizaBBBB]

I fell and tripped on my way to hotel in London Heathrow. An ambulance took
Me to closest ER. Surgery 20 hours later for ankle fractures. Screws and pins. Non weight bearing for 6 weeks. The hospital experience was a complete nightmare but that is for another time. We are now in our hotel waiting to hear from Allianz about flights they are to assist with. My husband spoke to a great case manager from Allianz yesterday. She is not available today. Allegedly they will call and speak to me. Has anyone gone through this? We have the best yearly travel policy Allianz has.

I have a fried in the US travel business And he has always spoken very highly of Allianz travel insurace.

 

[NXR7]

Although we have not needed it yet, we use an Allianz medical-only policy for our winter sunbirding. My wife is on the Unaffordable Care Act in Ohio and there are no PPO policies. She pays about $750 total for five months of primary coverage that covers about everything including dental and vision, except regularly scheduled appointments. Allianz apparently started that line of business when their travel insurance business got flushed down he toilet during the pandemic.

But she still has to pay the $1,200 per month premium while we're gone to maintain her UCA coverage for when we're back in Ohio. With a 50% co-pay and a $9,000 maximum out of pocket.

 

[JJpop]

Thank you all! We made it home on Business Class all arranged and paid for by Allianz. I can not tell you enough how easy they made it to get home safely and comfortably. This was a disaster, I assure you of that but it could have been much worse. I am still on pretty good pain killers but when I am clearer I will share all I have learned by this experience. WOW!!! The hospital experience in London was equally as bad as the break. I am now very interested how not to be transferred to the worst hospital in a foreign city if I need care. I just trusted the process and that was very naive.

Glad you made it home.
This is a great example of why we have MedJet insurance.
They will fly you home to your hospital of choice in a situation like you had.
Something for all of you to take a look at.

 

[savory]

My daughter had a medical emergency in Spain, involving an ER, X rays and some meds. She didn’t have a credit card so they took her info and sent me a bill. It arrived about 3 months later, and I paid it. I couldn’t believe how inexpensive it was.

On our bike trip in England, DW, dislocated her shoulder. The support we received from locals was amazing. The ambulance was going to take forever, so someone stoped a car going by and he took us to the emergency hospital. Fellow cyclists out for a ride collected our stuff. They gave it to the police, who were not allowed to take us to the hospital. The police took our bikes/bags to their station.

Meanwhile, we entered the hospital and DW was immediately escorted to a room. I was briefly stopped at the front desk and provided my passport. In minutes I was in the room with her. Once the shoulder was numb, 3 people pulled it back in place. BTW, the care and concern of hospital staff was excellent.

There is more to the story considering the kindness of strangers. But as it relates to insurance, we received a $1,000 bill about 4 months later. We didn’t know we would be billed as we heard stories of medical care in Europe not being billed. Our regular insurance covered international travel and refunded our expense as promised by the policy.

We are planning our next trip and are considering insurance or the AMEX platinum card, or both. Our health insurance covers international travel. Right now, I am leaning to not buying the extra insurance and charging to our AMEX card and using their insurance.

 

[ERhoosier]

Far too many Americans incorrectly believe their US-based health insurance includes overseas coverage.
Having worked for a few years in the health insurance arena, I agree 100% that good travel insurance is well worth the cost. Not only for the financial coverage but the assistance in coordination of care (including transport to better facility & eventually home) can be priceless.

 

[tutan]

Far too many Americans incorrectly believe their US-based health insurance includes overseas coverage.
Having worked for a few years in the health insurance arena, I agree 100% that good travel insurance is well worth the cost. Not only for the financial coverage but the assistance in coordination of care (including transport to better facility & eventually home) can be priceless.

Back to home is expected from any travel insurance but transport to better facility seems unknowable.

 

[JoeWras]

Far too many Americans incorrectly believe their US-based health insurance includes overseas coverage.
Having worked for a few years in the health insurance arena, I agree 100% that good travel insurance is well worth the cost. Not only for the financial coverage but the assistance in coordination of care (including transport to better facility & eventually home) can be priceless.

Far too many Americans believe that healthcare overseas is "free" everywhere.

 

[BarbWire]

We have the best yearly travel policy Allianz has.

First, sorry to hear about your accident, and glad that it sounds like Allianz has stepped up.

I am researching annual policies now. Do you have the Allianz Premier annual policy? That's the one I am considering (max trip = 90 days, emergency medical = $50K).

Thanks, and heal quickly!

 

[friar1610]

My daughter had a medical emergency in Spain, involving an ER, X rays and some meds. She didn’t have a credit card so they took her info and sent me a bill. It arrived about 3 months later, and I paid it. I couldn’t believe how inexpensive it was.

I have a friend who has a house in Marbella, Spain. He and his wife spend a couple of multi-month periods there each year. I asked him what they do for health care there. He said there is a great hospital there (can’t recall if he was referring to Marbella or nearby Malaga.) He’s had occasion to need treatment on several occasions and can’t say enough good about the quality of care and the reasonableness of the prices.

 

[FFC1964]

First, sorry to hear about your accident, and glad that it sounds like Allianz has stepped up.

I am researching annual policies now. Do you have the Allianz Premier annual policy? That's the one I am considering (max trip = 90 days, emergency medical = $50K).

Thanks, and heal quickly!

Yes! The Allianz Premier Annual Policy. It would have also covered my need to fly home....my dad died last Friday. I was already home because of the ankle fracture but if I had been it would have covered to fly me home due to family death. We were scheduled to come home August 10. Wow. I will never travel without travel insurance.

 

[FedRetired50]

@FFC1964 very sorry to hear about your Dad. Every time I do something with my Dad I'm cognizant of the time left.

Even before this thread, I had several referrals to Allianz. We're heading to Greece in October and I've been looking at all the options, but I think your experience locks in my decision with any cost difference being immaterial. While it won't do any good for this upcoming trip, I'm also seriously looking at Chase Sapphire for the future. Thanks for your posts.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Far too many Americans incorrectly believe their US-based health insurance includes overseas coverage.
Having worked for a few years in the health insurance arena, I agree 100% that good travel insurance is well worth the cost. Not only for the financial coverage but the assistance in coordination of care (including transport to better facility & eventually home) can be priceless.

I'm not in a position to challenge your experience but I have researched our own insurance which seems to be typical. We ARE covered for emergency and urgent care anywhere in the world. This is through blue cross and kaiser. Of course everyone should check for themselves. That said, I pay for international coverage which is very cheap, likely because they know my regular coverage includes international so their exposure is low!