Travel insurance options for elderly mother travelling to US
October 3, 2024 8:24 PM
My elderly mother (turning 85 in January) is planning to visit my brother in the US next April, for approximately one month. However, a travel insurance estimate from her country of residence, New Zealand, is approximately NZD$2500. I am in Canada and can find a Canadian based insurance options for her for around CAD$800, although this is only for travel to Alberta. Are there any good options for travel to the US that are less than $1000, perhaps from US or international based companies?
I also have as a rider to my home insurance for very little.
posted by Iteki at 11:19 PM on October 3
posted by Iteki at 11:19 PM on October 3
Please be very careful what you are looking at here. What does the NZ quote cover/not cover?
At age 85 she simply is a high insurance risk. What are you trying to cover? Cancellation, medical emergency while she is travelling/medical flight home? If the cost of the ticket is less than the insurance, you might want to skip cancellation for example if they'll let you.
I know nothing about the NZ insurance market but I would expect there to be insurers who won't even quote for her to cover US travel at her age. Because at that age the chances of needing medical care that disrupts plans or while travelling are simply quite high. And she is travelling to the single most expensive place to get medical care.
Travel insurance for the most part requires you to be a resident of the country you're trying to buy it in. The product is tailored to what other cover exists in that market. So be vary of just buying something elsewhere.
Are you working with a travel agent or doing this on the internet? It seems to me this would be a case where talking to a human being/ a travel agent who might have visibility over the market might be very helpful.
posted by koahiatamadl at 11:29 PM on October 3
At age 85 she simply is a high insurance risk. What are you trying to cover? Cancellation, medical emergency while she is travelling/medical flight home? If the cost of the ticket is less than the insurance, you might want to skip cancellation for example if they'll let you.
I know nothing about the NZ insurance market but I would expect there to be insurers who won't even quote for her to cover US travel at her age. Because at that age the chances of needing medical care that disrupts plans or while travelling are simply quite high. And she is travelling to the single most expensive place to get medical care.
Travel insurance for the most part requires you to be a resident of the country you're trying to buy it in. The product is tailored to what other cover exists in that market. So be vary of just buying something elsewhere.
Are you working with a travel agent or doing this on the internet? It seems to me this would be a case where talking to a human being/ a travel agent who might have visibility over the market might be very helpful.
posted by koahiatamadl at 11:29 PM on October 3
I just put those details into Southern Cross Travel Insurance (the insurance company I use as a Kiwi) and the quotes were between NZ$1300-$3500 depending on your nominated excess and what you want covered. Unfortunately, due to how the US Healthcare System works, travel insurance is wildly expensive to purchase when holidaying there.
posted by BeeJiddy at 11:33 PM on October 3
posted by BeeJiddy at 11:33 PM on October 3
Have a look at travel organisations specialising in older people. I don’t know if there’s an NZ equivalent but in the UK, Saga offers services including holidays and insurance for older people. Also ask a lot of questions about how to reduce it - weirdly my in-laws at a similar age were quoted by Saga £500 each for single trip to Europe but £450 for both for full year multi trip provided they didn’t include Spain (??) So it may be worth looking at specialist providers and different structures. Having said that I would not expect to get this for less than 1000 nz :( it just IS expensive
posted by tardigrade at 11:48 PM on October 3
posted by tardigrade at 11:48 PM on October 3
I know nothing about the NZ insurance market but I would expect there to be insurers who won't even quote for her to cover US travel at her age.
While it's entirely likely that there are insurers that have age caps, my grandad was able to get travel insurance to the US (from the UK) into his 80s. At some age (75?), the number of weeks he could get coverage for dropped--I think from 8 to 6. Having gone to the ER in the US a few times over the years (dating back to the 1990s--there's a mysterious not-an-allergy thing) did not make him uninsurable.
posted by hoyland at 6:49 AM on October 4
While it's entirely likely that there are insurers that have age caps, my grandad was able to get travel insurance to the US (from the UK) into his 80s. At some age (75?), the number of weeks he could get coverage for dropped--I think from 8 to 6. Having gone to the ER in the US a few times over the years (dating back to the 1990s--there's a mysterious not-an-allergy thing) did not make him uninsurable.
posted by hoyland at 6:49 AM on October 4
I used to work in travel and expat insurance. You are confronting two issues here.
1. Most travel insurance has an age cap of between 65 and 75. The rare plans that cover someone who is 85 are much more expensive; there are usually big price jumps at 75 and 85.
2. Paired with this, travel insurance going into the US is extremely expensive because the US medical system is so pricey, much more so than Canada. This is why Americans go to Canada for healthcare; it can be cheaper to pay out of pocket for healthcare in Canada than to get health care in the US with insurance.
I ran some numbers for plans that I know cover people over 85 visiting the USA.
Atlas America is USD$21.26 per day for someone over 80 traveling to the USA; that is USD$659 (NZD$1069). However, it has a USD$10K limit, which in many areas is the cost of 1-2 days in hospital. For a trip to the USA I would not recommend anything below a USD$50,000 limit.
Trawick Safe Travels USA Comprehensive has a $50K limit and will cover her for a month for USD$1331.14. That's NZD$2160 at today's exchange rate. So it's not far off from the initial estimate.
posted by rednikki at 7:55 AM on October 4
1. Most travel insurance has an age cap of between 65 and 75. The rare plans that cover someone who is 85 are much more expensive; there are usually big price jumps at 75 and 85.
2. Paired with this, travel insurance going into the US is extremely expensive because the US medical system is so pricey, much more so than Canada. This is why Americans go to Canada for healthcare; it can be cheaper to pay out of pocket for healthcare in Canada than to get health care in the US with insurance.
I ran some numbers for plans that I know cover people over 85 visiting the USA.
Atlas America is USD$21.26 per day for someone over 80 traveling to the USA; that is USD$659 (NZD$1069). However, it has a USD$10K limit, which in many areas is the cost of 1-2 days in hospital. For a trip to the USA I would not recommend anything below a USD$50,000 limit.
Trawick Safe Travels USA Comprehensive has a $50K limit and will cover her for a month for USD$1331.14. That's NZD$2160 at today's exchange rate. So it's not far off from the initial estimate.
posted by rednikki at 7:55 AM on October 4
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