Travel Insurance

Well the part of the family that went to Europe is coming back earlier than expected (not sure why, just saw it on Facebook) and a few of hubby's sisters will be heading to Asia week after next (when asked if he wanted to go, hubby said definitively "no way").  I think hubby is worried about traveling because if we would have not decided to do a no-travel year, he would have been in a remote part of the Philippines when he had his heart attack earlier this year.  I think the possibility of what would have happened to him in that case has kind of curbed his interest in travel :(

I am a bit worried about the hubby's sisters traveling because all of them have a hard time walking and they are all getting older and you never know when a sudden medical crisis will happen.  I told them all to check out travel insurance "just in case".  These are the kinds of insurance to consider if you will be traveling:

• Medical insurance.  See if your current medical insurance will cover you, whereever you go.  Sometimes it will, sometimes it won't, and sometimes if you end up in a hospital in a foreign country they will hold you hostage until you pay them cash before letting you leave.  You can get a specific travel medical insurance plan if your regular medical insurance doesn't cover you abroad.
• Trip cancellation insurance.  There is an added fee when you book a cruise (as well as other types of travel) that will pay for trip cancellation insurance in case you can't make your travel due to illness/death/etc.  Note that some policies have very specific rules while others let you cancel for any reason.
• Medical evacuation insurance.  If you become seriously injured or ill in a foreign country, you can't just hop on a plane and come back home which is where medical evacuation insurance comes into play (if you were to pay cash to be medically evacuated and returned home it could cost $100k+!!).
• Kidnap and ransom insurance.  There is actually an entire industry built around people being kidnapped and ransomed while traveling abroad (eeekkk!).  
• Other types of travel-related insurance.  There are several other types of insurance coverages for travelers, either through specific policies or sometimes through your credit card, including lost luggage, rental car coverage, term life insurance, medical tourism coverage, etc.