When I was doing stunts in movies and traveling to distant locations around the world such as Hong Kong, South Africa and the Mid-East, I didn\u2019t have to worry about having medical coverage \u2013 fortunately, the film studio handled that for me. And believe me, I used it more times than I care to remember. If I was injured, I had two options \u2013 get treatment and go back to work or hop on the next flight home.<\/p>\n
But if you\u2019re on vacation, headed to far-off lands, or even just across the border, not being prepared for a medical emergency could ruin your plans and send you<\/i> packing sooner than you expected. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a good idea to plan ahead for medical contingencies before you leave for your trip.<\/p>\n Before going abroad, learn what medical services your health insurance will cover overseas. It\u2019s a shock to discover that your health insurance may not protect you when traveling abroad. Also, be aware that Medicare and Medicaid programs do not provide coverage for hospital or medical costs outside the United States<\/i>; should an emergency occur, you could be on the hook for medical bills that you need to pay for out of your own pocket. Obtaining medical treatment and hospital care outside the U.S. can be costly, and medical evacuation to the U.S. can exceed $10,000, depending on your location and medical condition.<\/p>\n If your insurance policy does not cover you abroad, you might want to consider purchasing a short-term policy that does. Many travel agents and private companies offer insurance plans that will cover health care expenses racked up overseas, including emergency services such as medical evacuations. A list of several companies offering short-term health and emergency assistance policies can be found on the Bureau of Consular Affairs website. http:\/\/travel.state.gov\/content\/travel\/en.html<\/a><\/p>\n Locating Medical Services<\/strong><\/p>\n U.S. embassies and consulates abroad maintain lists of physicians and hospitals. If an American citizen becomes seriously ill or injured abroad, a U.S. consular officer can help in finding medical services and informing family or friends. In addition, a consular officer can also assist in transferring funds from the United States. (Be aware, however, that payment of hospital and all related expenses is the traveler\u2019s obligation). You can visit U.S. Embassy and Consulate web sites around the world at: http:\/\/usembassy.state.gov\/.<\/p>\n Some Final Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n With proper attention to obtaining medical insurance before you travel abroad, you\u2019ll be prepared to enjoy your trip, secure in knowing you\u2019re protected if you need it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I was doing stunts in movies and traveling to distant locations around the world such as Hong Kong, South Africa and the Mid-East, I didn\u2019t have to worry about having medical coverage \u2013 fortunately, the film studio handled that for me. And believe me, I used it more times than I care to remember. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6776,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[53,54,55,56,57],"importance":[],"type-content":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6632"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25416,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6632\/revisions\/25416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6776"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6632"},{"taxonomy":"importance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/importance?post=6632"},{"taxonomy":"type-content","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.freeway.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type-content?post=6632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n