Which health insurance should I choose for a trip to the USA?

Hi everyone. After years of traveling to the USA without any medical insurance subscriptions—and luckily never having any major health issues (though I did get a scorpion sting buried in the sand at CBSouth, 😇)—life has caught up with us, and we’re now being forced into "wisdom" and leaving our carefree days behind.

So, I’m looking for the best compromise for a 2-month health insurance plan. I’ve read the discussions on this topic, but the most recent one is from last year, and I’d love your take on the current situation. I’m familiar with the usual options like Europ Assistance and AXA, but I’ve just discovered Chapka and Heymondo (the latter seems interesting in terms of both price and coverage).

What do you think of these last two? How do they compare in terms of value for money against the bigger companies?

Thanks in advance, everyone.

Hi,

No detailed answer here, but I think the only solution is to read the terms and conditions very carefully. One sentence in particular caught my eye:

life caught up with us and imposed a new "wisdom" and a lost carefreeness.

Insurance—or assistance, for that matter—won’t cover changes in a pre-existing condition, especially if there was a hospitalization less than six months or a year ago. Here too, pay close attention to the details.

Michel

Hi there.

Personally, I traveled to the US with insurance: FP-AVASSIST.pdf

Understand the difference between coverage without prior approval from your health insurance and an advance on expenses. If you have a credit card, you can combine the insurance. And also get health insurance from a French insurer. AVA 500,000 € + credit card 155,000 € + Macif 80,000 € = 735,000 €.

AVA sends you the forms in English to be filled out by the hospital or doctor. Whenever possible, always notify the insurance right away. I keep an envelope with the forms labeled RESCUE on the dashboard of the rental car, and the small cards provided by AVA in my backpack.

Good prep. Jacques.

While cruising through the Valley of Dreams, I came within 1.5 meters of this guy. Imagine... A selfie with a rattlesnake costs him $150,000 in medical bills

Hello,

For any trip to the USA, I take out a temporary contract with Chapka (1,000,000 € in medical coverage) despite the benefits of credit cards combined with vehicle/housing insurance, because I can’t reach that amount.

Repatriation insurance | Chapka Assurances

My last trip was with Heymondo. Cheap, and the app is super easy to use if there’s an issue. They also cover extreme sports (Watch out—trekking, parasailing, surfing, mountain biking, etc.—all the fun vacation stuff is considered "extreme sports" by them... so in my opinion, a lot of insurers won’t cover you at all if something happens while hiking, for example, or as soon as you’re off-road).

Before that, I always took out extra sports insurance from Le Vieux Campeur, which guaranteed evacuation in case of an accident in extreme conditions—like what you might encounter while hiking.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences and tips. My priority will be medical coverage ($1,000,000). I’m still skeptical about the usefulness of such high civil liability coverage—up to $4,500,000... Europe Assistance seems to offer a good coverage-to-price ratio. I’m still weighing Heymondo, Chapka, or even Axa without really knowing how reliable each one is.

Hi, For my part, aside from the credit card insurance, I went with MAIF through IMA.

Hi everyone

I always go through CHAPKA and also take out cancellation insurance. We’ve had to cancel twice already, and we’ve never had any issues.

Avoid EUROPE ASSISTANCE—they take forever to process claims... and check if they have reps in the country you're visiting. In India, it took them ages to react and cover a "pacemaker"!! That meant a long hospital stay, and they weren’t exactly friendly. Never again, especially since I’d taken one of their most expensive plans! !

Good evening,

EUROPE ASSISTANCE should be avoided because they take a long time to process claims... and check if they have representatives in the country you're visiting. In India, it took them ages to react and pay for a "pacemaker"!! So a long hospital stay and they weren't friendly either!! Never again, especially since I had taken one of their most expensive contracts!

After reading this discussion, I just received an offer for the Ultim Metal card from Boursobank, which shows a 1,000,000 € limit for assistance and health coverage. I'm not convinced it's free with the card, though; something to look into. About the pacemaker, I don't understand—I thought repatriation and health assistance weren't there to cover that kind of thing. I'm surprised they did. For a pacemaker, you'd normally go back home and sort it out.

Michel