Others should check on the specifics of their policies

If your regular health insurance doesn't cover you while abroad, you need some when you travel. Medicare participants and citizens of countries covered by national health services generally fall into this category. Others should check on the specifics of their policies. I have coverage through the Freelancers Insurance Company, which uses the Blue Cross Blue Shield program; my policy states that I'm "assured of receiving care from licensed health care professionals no matter where" I am through the Blue Card Worldwide network.I went to the Blue Card Worldwide Web site and was relieved to find many affiliated hospitals listed in the Asian cities I was planning to visit.
But I was still suspicious. I offered a hypothetical to the customer service phone line: what if, in an emergency, I ended up at an out-of-network hospital because I couldn't communicate with paramedics or there was no affiliated hospital nearby?The representative was stumped, put me on hold, and came back. "I checked with a supervisor," she said. "The claim would come through, we would deny it, then you would have to appeal it," she said. Appeals, she added, were made on a "case by case" basis.In other words: good luck. On the other hand, many travel insurance policies will reimburse medical expenses no matter what hospital you end up at.
Freelancers wouldn't speak on the record to clarify further. But since I wouldn't be engaging in any high-risk activities and I had a fighting chance of being covered should the very unlikely worst-case scenario occur, I decided the medical coverage added minimal benefit. I did, though, arm myself with a printout of all the affiliated facilities in the areas I was visiting.This one is simple: without coverage, if I have to be medically evacuated home from a distant land, I'm out something like $30,000. So it comes down to how likely the scenario is.Headed to a particularly isolated region? Climbing mountains or fording rivers? Then having evacuation coverage as part of a package or separately (the cheapest I found for my trip on insuremytrip.com was $40) is a good idea.This kind of insurance offers reimbursement (sometimes partial) for prepaid reservations if your trip is canceled, interrupted or delayed. I rarely spend much on a trip before I leave beyond the plane ticket (always coach) and maybe the first night in a hotel (always cheap). But for others, with expensive seats and long prepaid reservations, it might make sense.Also worth noting: some credit cards will provide similar coverage. My United Mileage Plus Explorer card from Chase does. And although it is probably harder to get a claim processed with Chase than with World Nomads, I didn't see much justification for duplicate coverage.