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Hypochondriacs? $8,343.44 for Healthcare

by Amy on September 25, 2009 · 13 comments

Syringes

Vaccines: $2,586
Medications: $690.89
International Travel Insurance Premium:  $1,034
Domestic Health Insurance Premium: $4,723.44
Peace of Mind:  Priceless

With all of the debate going on about reforming healthcare in the United States, it seems appropriate to add a post about the steps we have taken to stay as healthy as possible while traveling.  Obtaining a litany of vaccines and medications (almost none of which were covered by our employer-provided health insurance plans) and maintaining both domestic and international health insurance while traveling can be a complete budget buster.  However, in my opinion, the peace of mind is worth every penny.

Vaccines
Keith – 7: Yellow Fever, Meningitis, Polio, Flu, Japanese Encephalitis (2) and Hepatitis A and B combo
Amy – 10 (with 1 more to go): Yellow Fever, Tetanus, Meningitis, Polio, Hepatitis A and B combo (3 so far, 1 more upon return), Flu and Japanese Encephalitis (2)
Keith and Amy – Typhoid (4 pills each)

We didn’t skimp when it came to rolling up our sleeves and transforming our arms into human pincushions.  Taking health precautions for a year of world travel is not for the faint of heart or needle-phobic.   Luckily neither of us has an issue with needles and Keith had already gotten several of the vaccines so we were able to save our arms and wallets on a few of the shots.  We also had no reactions to any of the vaccines.

After researching which vaccines were required and which merely recommended, we decided to err on the side of caution.  For example, many travelers to Asia pass on the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, relying instead on mosquito bite prevention techniques like using DEET, mosquito nets and limiting exposure during certain times of the day.  Personally, it seems that no matter how much bug spray I use, I’m still a mosquito magnet, so while the JE vaccine was one of the most expensive, I’d rather not be freaking out every time I get a bite while waiting ten days to see if my brain is going to swell.  We also ended up with some vaccines that are for places that we have since dropped from our itinerary, but we like having the flexibility knowing that we can change our plans at the last minute and not face any restrictions.

Health Insurance
One of the most striking features of the vast majority of people who are able to take a year off from work and travel the world is that they come from countries with socialized medicine.  These travelers can simply pick up an inexpensive international policy that covers emergency care and medical evacuations while they are abroad.  For routine care while abroad, it is usually pretty cheap so many just pay out of pocket and don’t even bother submitting claims.

For Americans contemplating an around the world adventure, the cost of healthcare is a more weighty consideration.  Employer provided health insurance is the most affordable, if not the only affordable option available to most Americans.  Add a preexisting condition and your rates for independent health insurance skyrocket, if you can get coverage at all.  And if you have a 63-day gap in your health insurance coverage and can’t get insurance through your employer, you may just be completely out of luck and have to rely on the keeping-your-fingers-crossed that you don’t ever get sick again approach. Christine Gilbert has a great post on her blog almostfearless.com summarizing different health insurance options for Americans traveling abroad.

It took months of research and the assistance of an insurance broker to figure out the most affordable option that provided us with creditable coverage – the industry term for a health insurance policy certified as legitimate by the state in which it is provided and that is recognized by other insurance companies for the purpose of satisfying the continuous coverage requirements – and wouldn’t reject us based on preexisting conditions.  And to be honest, despite our various degrees and working with an expert, we still wouldn’t say that we completely understand all of the fine print.

It might seem excessive to get coverage that is only good in a country that we don’t intend to spend any time in during the next year.  But we needed a domestic policy for two reasons: first, in the event we unexpectedly return to the United States and need medical care, and second, in the event we return to the United States at the end of our trip and don’t immediately transition back into jobs with employer provided coverage.  While we are basically still young and healthy, we know of peers who have rolled the dice on maintaining health insurance coverage and ended up with a $30,000 case of appendicitis.  We ultimately decided on a fairly bare-bones policy compared to the policies we were used to from our employers (i.e. one with coverage limits and without a prescription plan) that we can upgrade if necessary when we return home at the end of our trip.  After figuring out this piece of the health insurance policy, choosing an international plan from World Nomads was an easy decision to make.

Still, I think we’ll keep our fingers crossed just in case and hope that we don’t need to use either policy during our travels…and that there is a resolution to the health care reform debate by the time we return to the States.

Are we being health care hypochondriacs?  Is it worth the $8,343.44 we have spent before even purchasing our first plane ticket? What do you think?

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The question that started it all

by admin on June 28, 2009 · 4 comments

“Do you want to take a year off to travel the world?”

It is a simple question.  And I would guess that since you are reading this there is a good chance that you may have even considered that same question.  The good news is that by reading further my wife and I will help you determine if world travel is something you not only can do but is something you need to do.  But back to the question,  when my wife asked me “the” question I was not sure she was serious, but my answer of “Sure, why not.” was very deliberate. Because “why not” is exactly the way I felt.

So after the question was asked be began to discuss the implications of this, what about our careers, our condo, our car, what would our parents/family/friends say? When do we tell people?  So we came up with a list of question and figured we needed to be able to have at least cursory answers to all of them before we said anything to anyone.  I would suggest that if you are considering a similar trip sitting down and writing down your answers to these questions is a great exercise.

Take a gander at our list:

  • Why? Because this is the last opportunity we will both have to freely travel and experience the world for 30+ years (pre-kids), not to mention that the US economy stinks and instead of sitting here fearful for our jobs we are looking to expand our experiences to start something new.  Follow our amazing adventures at Green Around the Globe
  • Health insurance/access? (A timely question in the U.S. right now.) We will be purchasing health insurance while we are traveling from HTH Travel Medical Insurance for less than $600/month.  When we return a comparable PPO to what we have today today will be  about $500/month.  Hopefully in a year there is a national health care plan we can opt into, go Obama.
  • Isn’t this career suicide? No, we feel that is a great opportunity to grow our experience base and further our careers in a newly developing Green and Sustainable economy
  • How much will it cost? Fixed costs, assuming we rent our place, will be less than $20K, variable travel costs will be approximately $50-70K, for a total of $70-90K.  This estimate is highly dependent on where you decide to go. Europe is expensive, southeast Asia is not.
  • What about (un)employment when you return? With our highly marketable skills we feel confidant that at least one of us will be able to quickly find a job upon our return.  We will also be using the trip to stay connected with business contacts through extensive blogging and documentation of the professional and research aspects of our trip.
  • What about your condo/car/stuff? We have begun to simplify our lives and will continue to shed unnecessary and easily replaceable stuff.  Depending on how we rent our condo, furnished or not, we will put the rest of our stuff in storage.  We plan on selling our car before we leave, and will use Philly Car Share on our return until we find a basic car option, that is if we need a car to use daily.
  • Can we call you? What happens with emergencies at home? Yes, we will set up Skype online number to enable you to be able to call us on our current numbers (which we will forward to the Skype online number) and we will be able to get back to you in less than 24 hours.
  • Would you want us to call you in an emergency such as a death in the family? Yes please call, we love our families and would want to know as soon as is possible.
  • If something terrible happens globally, another 9/11 for example, how do we connect with you? Again if there is an emergency, please reach out to us, and if there is an emergency we hear about we will reach out to you immediately to let you know our status. If we can only connect with one set of parents we will inform them of that and they should call the others.
  • What about handling state side issues? We will leave a limited power of attorney for someone locally that will have the ability to transfer funds and sign documents in our name.
  • Can I/we come too? Sure, we hope to use this trip to connect with family and friends around the world.  Feel free to meet us anytime for short visits.

That should be a good start in your planning and evaluation of taking a trip like this.  We hope that this is helpful and if it is not please let us know below.

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