Health insurance - hikers from abroad

[HockeyGirl]

Hi

Hoping to get some ideas from past hikers from overseas.
I'm coming from the UK next year to thru hike and am wondering whether to simply get a travel insurance policy for the year to cover me, or whether I should try and actually get US health insurance?

I'm a little worried about how effective the travel policy might be for getting treatment - I just want something that will be reliable.

Anyone out there with experience of this?

Thanks

[Doc Mike]

As a Physician I don't take the travel policies but most emergency rooms will.

Worst case you can pay for the visit and file against the travel policy on your own for reimbursement.

Doc Mike

[Kaptain Kangaroo]

I used a travel insurance policy. Luckily I did not need to use it, but I did check the policy out very carefully before deciding on it. Travel insurance does exclude some types of activity, but I have never seen one that excludes hiking.
Travel insurance is very cost-effective & also covers you for travel related problems as well as medical treatment, so you should probably should have it anyway.

As always, read the details & know exactly what you ae getting & if it suits your needs.

Cheers,

Kaptain

[blitz1]

Do you have any chronic medical conditions that you expect to require therapy for during your hike? If not, and if you're generally in excellent health, then it's quite unlikely that you'll need any treatment while you're over here, and you may be surprised to see how expensive medical insurance in the US can be, even for a 6 mos thru. I suspect a lot of hikers just go without. This may not be the responsible thing to do, but the fact is that if you do have a medical emergency come up, the lack of insurance won't delay your getting the medical care you need (though you'll get a huge bill for it :( ). Bottom line - UK insurance (or none) would be fine for emergencies.
enjoy your hike!

[Northern Lights]

Get the travel insurance policy, I don't go anywhere without it. You can slip and break an arm or leg and medical costs in the US are very high when you are coming from a country that does not charge for medical care. I'd rather pay 70.00 up front than thousands if something happens while out of the country. And the nice thing about some travel insurance is you don't have to pay out of pocket. You just give them your insurance card and you are covered.

[HockeyGirl]

Thanks for the advice - I'd definitely be getting some form of insurance but just wasn't sure which would be best accepted.

I always have a travel insurance policy but as I've never had to claim on one before, I'm just worried as to how I'd do that and who would accept it.
Generally in good health so it would only be for emergencies and yes, I did loo at the cost of US policies and can't believe how much you all are expected to pay :eek:

Guess I will shopping carefully for travel insurance then.
Thanks again :)