Friday, June 12, 2009

international health insurance

Remember a few months back when I wrote about Holli and helping her get home? She was in a nearly fatal motorcycle accident in India and suffered major brain trauma. The hospitals there, like in most developing countries, weren't sufficient to care for her injuries. So she needed to be med-evac'd back to the states. Do you have any idea how much that costs?? Evidently hundreds of thousands of dollars!

So it got me to thinking. What would my family do if I were in an accident like that? The hospitals here probably aren't much better than the ones in India. And I don't have US health insurance to cover something like that. And who just has $150,000 laying around?

So a couple of weekends ago we were visiting with friends here in Tegus. (The husband commutes from the US every couple of months, and his wife and family live here permanently.) They have health insurance that works in Honduras AND in the US. And it covers emergency evacuation for situations just like the one Holli was in.

So since then I've been researching international/travel insurance. One of the sites I found was www.hccmis.com. And according to the prices on their site, it's very affordable depending on the deductible, even on a Honduran salary. ;)

So if you are traveling abroad (studying abroad, backpacking, whatever!) or living abroad like me, then I suggest you consider what you and your family would do if you were in an accident like Holli's. If you want, you can click HERE to obtain a free quote for international health insurance. It's quick and painless, and this kind of insurance could turn out to be priceless if something ever happened to you abroad!

5 comments:

Live Simply Love Strongly said...

The site for the info says the link is broken. Very important info for people to have. I did something similiar when I was living in Colombia. It was really cheap since I could get on as a student, and you never know when something will happen.

Hannah said...

Thank you for bringing that to my attention! I think it's fixed now! :)

Unknown said...

I use Blue Cross which is great too.

Melissa said...

There is a really good private hospital in Siguatepeque called Hospital Evangelica.

Hannah said...

Melissa,

There is also an excellent private hospital here in Tegus, called the Honduras Medical Center. BUT it's very expensive. I def need insurance if I have to go there! :)