Travelling Abroad for Medical Proceedure

Gumbo

Hi,

a close family member is travelling to turkey for a medical procedure on her nose.
Rhynoplastery IIRC.

She has the normal annual travel insurance for herself and family but as she's travelling for the purpose of the procedure, she would not be covered.

Are there any policies in Ireland that she should be taking out for this event?

Thanks.

Marcusm

I doubt that there are any standard policies which provide cover in this situation plus a I suspect EHIC cover would not be available.

coylemj

I'd be amazed if any insurer would cover this situation. How are they supposed to vet the qualification and competence of some cut-price clinic in Bulgaria or Turkey? But they'd be expected to pay to repatriate someone, followed by remedial and expensive surgery back in Ireland.

dennyk

Travel medical insurance policies generally only cover necessary emergency medical care, not elective procedures; even if the procedure wasn't the reason for travel, you can't go on holiday to Turkey and spontaneously go "Hmm, think I'll get a rhinoplasty while I'm here!" and expect your travel insurance to cover it.

If she already has private health insurance in Ireland, it may provide coverage for medical tourism, but likely only within the EU, so not in Turkey. Mine, for instance, provides full coverage up to the ordinary cost of the procedure in Ireland for medical treatments in any other EU country. Usually you do need to get approval before traveling, though.

Her annual travel insurance plan might help her if something goes horribly wrong during the surgery and she requires emergency medical care and/or evacuation as a result, though you'd need to carefully read the terms of her policy to make sure it doesn't exclude a scenario where injury results from the insured voluntarily undergoing an elective medical procedure.

Often the primary reason a person would choose to have an elective procedure done in a non-EU country (aside from the US) would be the cost savings in any case, so insurance usually isn't a factor.

coylemj

dennyk wrote: »

Her annual travel insurance plan might help her if something goes horribly wrong during the surgery and she requires emergency medical care and/or evacuation as a result, though you'd need to carefully read the terms of her policy to make sure it doesn't exclude a scenario where injury results from the insured voluntarily undergoing an elective medical procedure.

You point about her medical insurance possibly covering the cost of the treatment is valid. VHI or Irish Life or Laya could save money by paying a Turkish clinic to do the procedure if it's cheaper than having it done here. But, as you said, you need prior approval for this.

But if anything goes wrong, her travel insurance will not help her. My AIG travel policy has a blanket ('no cover') ban if I travel 'specifically to obtain medical treatment'. So it wouldn't matter if it was approved by my medical insurance.