Why the huge disparity in insurance costs?

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pooger
pooger

Hi guys, I'm trying to do some research on travel insurance and I'm a little puzzled.

With World Nomads, their insurance for a full year comes out to be $500 a year, which insures up to $50k in emergency medical fees.

I checked with Access America, and theirs comes out to be $1000 a year, but this only provides $25k in emergency medical fees. To get the AA plan that has $50k they want me to pay $1250 for the year.

STA insurance quotes $650 for the entire year which includes $100k in emergency medical fees.

Is the insurance from Access America just more comprehensive?

Also if you go to ASA insurance site (http://www.asaincor.com/travel.php?fpg=toplink), there's like 10 insurance plans there and they all sound like they might work. Anyone know the different between them?

What I'm looking for: I want a travel insurance that isn't too expensive but does cover things. I'm not short on money. I was planning to spend about $30k to travel for a year around the world. I will probably be doing some outdoors physical stuff but not a ton of it, because I'm not crazy. I think the craziest thing I'd ever do is bungee jump or skydive. I am in good health, 30 years old, male, work out regularly.

Thanks for the help!

Edited by: pooger

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nancysv
nancysv

I haven't looked at those particular policies, but I wonder if it has to do with what they cover? I was looking at one company that just provided travel insurance - it only covered accidents and stuff like that while traveling. Another policy I looked at was more like a regulat insurance policy - it covered doctor's visits and sickneses in general, not only "travel related" stuff. I want to be able to come back home to the USA (for a break from traveling or for family emergency) and still be covered. If you already have a policy that covers general stuff, then you probably only need additional travel coverage.

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wayworn1
wayworn1

Understanding and comparing insurance is not an easy thing to do. But no one can do it for you. There are too many variables. You just have to wade through it all and make your choice. I can tell you that World Nomads are the standard by which travel insurance is usually judged.

As an American you also need to know that you should maintain your coverage in the US while you are away. If you do not and something major occurs while you are travelling, you may find on your return that you cannot get insurance or at best can only get insurance that excludes 'pre-existing conditions', those being whatever happened while you were away. So for example you could discover you have become diabetic while travelling and would never manage to get coverage for that condition in the US.

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pooger
pooger

Thanks guys. I guess I'm going to try calling these companies and asking them if they know what their differences are. Maybe they can help me a bit too.

Also, I did call my company (from which I'm taking LOA from) and they told me they would recover me when I came back with no pre-existing condition clause. Apparently they don't have any exclusions like that for our company. Thanks for that tip!

Edited by: pooger

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