Is travel insurance needed?

[cdnrose]

I'm leaving all this snow and cold behind me in a few weeks and was thinking about travel insurance. I normally purchase regular medical insurance for while I'm away but I didn't know if I should be trying to get special insurance due to my Crohns this year (diagnosed in May 2015)

Here are some points about me/my crohns:
- GI says I'm in remission
- I will receive a Remicade infusion one week before I leave
- Have never been hospitalized for my condition
- more constipation than diarrhea issues
- when I do get diarrhea it is short lived and due to certain foods
- Dr gave me a prescription for an antibiotic to take with me just in case
- Dr said to use Pepto bismal on a daily basis to help

If the insurance that includes pre-existing conditions isn't much difference in price I'll just get that but if it is a whole lot more I'm not sure.

 

[nitty]

If you're going abroad I would ALWAYS get travel insurance, even before I got Crohn's. I don't know how it works in the States, but when I recently got cover to go to Gran Canaria from the UK, and while I actively had CMV to complicate things, I paid about a £30 supplement on top of our main family policy. You've obviously considered the things they will be asking you and your condition seems stable so it shouldn't be a problem.

It's a small price to pay for peace of mind, and then you're covered for any other illness/injury as well. Always be up front with insurers as they will find any way they possibly can to wriggle out of paying up.

I believe the law is changing soon, at least over here, to stop insurers making unreasonable claim rejections by trying to argue against people for not disclosing a condition that is completely irrelevant to the claim (if that makes sense) - i.e. claiming for a broken arm caused in an accident but not having mentioned that you had a rash when you were six years old (OK, slight exaggeration, but you get what I mean)!

 

[Bamba]

I was only diagnosed with CD recently & it was one of the first things that the doctor said was about travel insurance & declaring it.......which i found bizzare at the time as i had 100's of questions & that wasn't one of them!

 

[shamrock15]

Definitely get it if you can. Some places I don't believe will cover you because of it. Case in point though, I injured my knee on my first trip down south. Ended up with aluminum crutches, a cast, and an $1100 bill. Insurance paid it all back to me. It gets much more expensive when it is a serious issue.

 

[cdnrose]

I'm planning on getting insurance, I just didn't know if I should be getting the specialized insurance for people with "pre-existing" conditions.

The regular insurance covers me for everything unless I have a crohns related issue, which as I said I haven't had any real issues since I've been diagnosed.

I am also covered through my workplace insurance as well the travel insurance on my credit card. We generally get secondary insurance for ease of use.

 

[cdnrose]

I decided to get the "special" insurance for people with pre-existing conditions. The price difference for 1 week vacation is less than $30. I don't expect any issues arising while I am away but it is good to know that I will be covered if I happen to have a flare or something that isn't manageable.

On a side note, my pharmacy called and said I can't take the antibiotics that the Dr prescribed as they will interact in a negative way with my methotrexate.