My employer put in an application for National Health Insurance for me nearly a month ago, but, the Taiwan government being as it is, it still has not been approved or finalized. I will be taking an eight-day trip to Thailand for Chinese New Year, and I would feel a bit more at peace if I had some kind of insurance.
Does anyone know how and from whom I can get short-term travel/accident insurance? I have an inkling that the travel arm of the American Express company offers some kind of insurance, but I don’t have an AE account. Anything comparable?
You can buy a travel insurance at the airport of from your travel agent, the price depends on the level of coverage.
The NHI does not cover all (overseas) expenses, I managed to claim only about 25% after seing a dentist in Germany. I think they reimburse based on the comparable local cost, so I highly recommend to take up an additional insurance. In particular hospitalization is extremely expensive in most parts of Europe. Not sure about Thailand, guess it’s cheaper - but better safe than sorry.
I’m headed to the states next month with a baby. We are leaving out of Taipei. Where in the airport can we get accident/health insurance or what company could I buy it from.
I think most of those counters include the biggies, Prudential etc.
The last insurance I took via the travel agent, no idea what company
since my company arranged for it.
Is it okay to purchase a policy the first day of the trip? Do the airport-counter agents have any advance-purchase requirement?
On second thought…
If I try to get it the day of, that’d be at around 7 a.m. Are the airport insurance counters open that early? I don’t think I can bring myself to make the trip all the way to Taoyuan before my trip just to get insurance.
Anyone know of any travel agents in Taipei I can purchase insurance from?
These travel insurance policies have so many exclusions that they may not be worthwhile. Take a good look at the exclusions before you buy. My mother when she came to Taiwan considered buying one, only to realize that the only thing it covered was lost luggage and travel problems for her. Anybody over 65 wasn’t covered even if they bought it.
So be careful, go through the exclusions and make sure none of them apply because if one of them does, chances are the insurance company won’t pay.
Anyone else think westerners are overloaded with insurance policies for everything anyway?
The main thing I want is “health/accident” insurance. I was caught sick in the states two years ago and had to pay $70 just for a visit. The doctor took pity on me and gave me samples…
I didn’t even apply for re-imbursement because…heck that same visit would be only $3.00 here. (Probably only $5 or $10 if you don’t have insurance.) As I understand it, NHS does re-reimburse you for foreign medical costs but those costs are based on what you would pay here.
So, has anyone purchased a decent policy? What percentage of your healthcare expenses would it cover? And finally, has anyone used it?