Global Travel Observations

2006-07-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

American Kite Surfing Association Selects Exclusive Insurance Provider

(OPENPRESS) July 5, 2006 -- The American Kite Surfing Association (AKSA) is making international insurance coverage easy to secure with instant confirmations online and via email. For those that are participating in any hazardous sporting activity (so long as it is solely for leisure, recreational, entertainment or fitness purposes), a Sports Rider Coverage is absolutely essential. To register for this important coverage a special web page has been created exclusively for AKSA members: http://www.eglobalhealth.com/aksa.html

According to Logan Long, president of AKSA, “It is irresponsible for our members to travel abroad and participate in this exciting but risky sport without proper insurance coverage. It is for this precise reason that AKSA has aligned with eGlobalHealth Insurers Agency, LLC and MNUI to provide the best sports rider insurance coverage available today.”

Read more here...

2006-06-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

RETIREMENT LIVING
Enjoy la Buena Vida in Mexico
Kiplingers Retirement Report, April 2006

PATT BARRACK, a former medical secretary, and her husband, Robert, a former firefighter, were all set to retire to Florida a couple of years ago. Then the hurricanes came, delaying construction on their dream home. So the Barracks changed plans. They read a magazine article about retirees in Lake Chapala, Mexico, 30 miles south of Guadalajara. They found a real estate agent on the Internet and paid $236,000 for a three-bedroom home with a swimming pool. A few months later, after selling their home in Lake Anna, Va., for $325,000, they moved to their new community, where thousands of other American retirees live. “You can’t beat the weather,” Patt, 65, says. “And you don’t have the hustle and bustle you have in the States.”

Factor in Medical Care

Before moving, the Prawers bought a health-insurance policy from a global company that specializes in issuing policies to Americans who live abroad. If you’re between 60 and 65 years old, expect to pay premiums of about $3,000 for a plan with a $1,000 deductible, says Derek Patterson, a broker at eGlobalHealth Insurers Agency (www.eglobalhealth.com). But a man between 65 and 70 can expect to pay more than $8,000 a year, he says.

Read the entire article from Kiplingers Retirement Report here...

View global medical insurance plans for Expatriates worldwide here...

2006-02-20T04:55:00.000-08:00

Bird flu strain found in France
Reuters
Feb 19, 2006

Spreading diseaseAvian influenza has flared anew in recent weeks, spreading among birds in Europe and parts of Africa, and prompting authorities to impose bans on the poultry trade, introduce mass culling and vaccinate poultry flocks.

Europe on alert

Germany and Austria have reported more cases of bird flu, while authorities in Bulgaria put a man in an isolation chamber and were testing him for H5N1 after two of his ducks died.
The disease has also spread to Egypt, which reported its first cases of H5N1 on Friday, while in Nigeria authorities are culling poultry and urging people not to eat sick birds after outbreaks there.
Indonesia confirmed on Saturday that a 19th person had died of bird flu, which has been reported in chickens and other domesticated fowl in most provinces of the sprawling country of 220 million people.
The H5N1 virus is known to have infected 171 people worldwide since late 2003, killing 93 of them. Two hundred million birds across Asia, parts of the Middle East, Europe and Africa have died of the virus or been culled.

Read the complete article

Learn more about travel medical insurance for covering emergency medical accident and illness when traveling abroad.

2005-11-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Evangelical Faithful Band Together to Pay Each Others' Medical Expenses
By SANDRA G. BOODMAN
The Washington Post

When his wife spent a week in Georgetown University Hospital's intensive care unit last year recovering from life-saving brain surgery, Joe Huff never worried about who would pay her $120,000 hospital bill, even though his family has no health insurance.Huff, a 52-year-old Laytonsville, Md. real estate agent, said he trusted that a bill-sharing cooperative of evangelical Christians he joined 10 years ago -- and to which he faithfully mailed a $346 monthly check -- would come through, just as it had when the youngest of the couple's seven children was hospitalized with spinal meningitis two years ago...

...While Medi-Share has many of the characteristics of insurance -- including annual deductibles, a medical advisory board, the practice of negotiating discounts from hospitals and a requirement that non-emergency treatment be approved -- Reinhold insists it is not insurance and therefore is exempt from state regulation...

Read the full story

Learn more about Mission Medical Insurance Here

2005-11-07T19:03:00.000-08:00

Prepare, don’t panic about bird flu
Some questions and answers to help clear up confusion

Q: How is a pandemic different from regular winter flu?

A: A pandemic occurs when a strain of the influenza virus emerges that is very different from the usual flu strains that circulate every winter. Even healthy people won’t have any residual immunity. There were three pandemics in the last century.

Q: Will a pandemic strike this winter?

A: Most experts say it’s not likely, but there’s no way to tell.

Q: Will the bird flu cause the next pandemic?

A: Possibly, but only if it evolves so that it can start spreading easily from person to person. This H5N1 strain has killed at least 62 people in Asia; most were infected by close contact with sick birds or their droppings. This bird flu has not been found in people or birds in the USA.

Learn more about the Bird Flu and learn more about how to protect your health while traveling internationally.

2005-10-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

Bird Flu and a Global Pandemic
What you need to know.

Click here to learn more.

2005-10-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

With International Terrorism in the Spotlight, Travel Insurance Can Help Ease Some of Our Fears

With international terrorism rearing its ugly head yet again, travelers are unnerved at the prospect of going away. Another set of terrorist attacks in the island of Bali have put a damper on many travel plans. Sadly, terrorism has become a worldwide concern, but there are options available to help travelers protect themselves and their families. Travel insurance offers a refund of your trip cost in case of a terrorist actin the city that is part of your itinerary.

When it comes to terrorism insurance, there are three main coverages that insure a safe trip: Trip Cancellation, Trip Interruption, and Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance.

-- Insurance companies offer protection up to 100% of your trip cost under coverage of Trip Cancellation, if you need to cancel your trip in case of terrorism. Coverage starts at midnight from your purchase date and covers you up to your date of departure. Travelers should keep in mind that there are many other valid reasons that exist for canceling a trip.

-- Trip Interruption covers you in the event your trip gets interrupted and you are forced to head back home prematurely. Up to 150% of your total trip cost is protected since unscheduled flights are more expensive than scheduled ones.

-- Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance, often known as AD&D, offers coverage in case of an accidental death. Coverage begins at $10,000 and can go up to $1 million.

Since 9/11, we have been feeling a little safer domestically. Traveling internationally has been another story. Areas that are frequently visited by Americans such asEurope, Israel and parts of Asia had a string of terrorism attacks. Althoughtravel insurance is not a perfect solution, several options are available. Insurance will reimburse your trip investment in case your travels are disrupted or provide medical treatment and evacuation in case you get injured. There is even a company that will insure your life while traveling to the world's hot spots, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Israel.

Find out more at eGlobalHealth Insurers Agency, LLC

2005-09-21T16:24:00.000-07:00

Typical day in Kansas !

2005-09-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

Rita strengthens to Category 5 hurricane
Storm on a course to Texas with wind speeds up to 165 mph

AP Associated Press, Sept 21, 2005

GALVESTON, Texas - Hospital and nursing home patients were evacuated and as many as 1 million other people were ordered to clear out along the Gulf Coast on Wednesday as Hurricane Rita grew to a Category 5, 165-mph monster that could pummel Texas and bring more misery to New Orleans by week’s end.

Read entire article

2005-09-21T16:13:00.000-07:00

Paige Patterson (left) and Haly Donaldson compare passport photos. Students make their own passports as they get ready to learn about the Continents. Read the entire article.

2005-09-14T06:55:00.000-07:00

How Hurricane Katrina's costs are adding up.
Insurance industry costs plus federal outlays could equal '$200 billion event'

By Martin Wolk
Chief economics correspondent
MSNBC
Updated: 7:30 p.m. ET Sept. 13, 2

It will be months -- or even years -- before the cost of Hurricane Katrina is fully known, but insurance industry experts are refining their estimates and agree losses will far exceed $100 billion, making it the nation's costliest natural disaster.

Read full article here.

2005-09-13T15:04:00.000-07:00

Sept. 13, 2005 -- Local Nurses from Springfield, MO volunteer their time at the local RedCross Hurricane Katrina Disaster Relief Center in Springfield.

2005-09-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hurricane 2005 Relief

Victims of Hurricane Katrina are attempting to recover from the massive storm that is still making its way across the Mid-Atlantic States. American Red Cross volunteers have been deployed to the hardest hit areas of Katrina’s destruction, supplying hundreds of thousands victims left homeless with critical necessities.
By making a financial gift to Hurricane 2005 Relief, the Red Cross can provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need.

Click here to donate to the Relief Effort

2005-09-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

Facts on US health insurance & COBRA Laws:

Who are the uninsured?

Approximately 45 million Americans, or 15.6 percent of the population, were without health insurance coverage in 2003. The number of uninsured rose 1.4 million between 2002 and 2003.(1)
Nearly 82 million -- about one-third of the population below the age of 65 spent a portion of either 2002 or 2003 without health coverage.(1)
The percentage of people with employment-based health insurance dropped from 70 percent in 1987 to 61 percent in 2004. This is the lowest level of employment-based insurance coverage in more than a decade.(2,3)
In 2003, 27 million workers were uninsured because not all businesses offer health benefits, not all workers qualify for coverage and many employees cannot afford their share of the health insurance premium.(4)
The number of uninsured children in 2003 was 8.4 million - or 11.4 percent of all children. (1)
Young adults (18-to-24 years old) remained the least likely of any age group to have health insurance in 2003 - 30.2 percent of this group did not have health insurance. (1) Based on three year average (2001-2003), people of Hispanic origin were the least likely to have health insurance. An average of 32.8 percent of Hispanics were without health insurance during that time. (1)

Why is the number of uninsured people increasing?

Millions of workers don't have the opportunity to get coverage. A third of firms in the U.S. did not offer coverage in 2003. Two-thirds of uninsured workers in 2001 worked for employers who did not offer health benefits. (2)
Nearly two-fifths (38 percent) of all workers are employed in smaller businesses, where less than two-thirds of firms now offer health benefits to their employees. (4)
Rapidly rising health insurance premiums is the main reason cited by all small firms for not offering coverage. Health insurance premiums are rising at extraordinary rates. Over the past five years the average annual increase in inflation has been 2.5 percent while health insurance premiums have escalated an average of 11.4 percent annually. (2)
Even if employees are offered coverage on the job, they can't always afford their portion of the premium. Employee spending for health insurance coverage (employee's share of family coverage and deductibles) has increased 126 percent between 2000 and 2004. (5)
Losing a job, or quitting voluntarily, can mean losing affordable coverage - not only for the worker but also for their entire family. Only seven (7) percent of the unemployed can afford to pay for COBRA health insurance, the continuation of group coverage offered by their former employees. Premiums for this coverage average almost $700 a month for family coverage and $250 for individual coverage, a very high price given the average $1,100 monthly unemployment check. (6)
Coverage is unstable during life's transitions. A person's link to employer-sponsored coverage can also be cut by a change from full-time to part-time work, or self-employment, retirement or divorce. (7)
About 58 percent of uninsured adults report having changed or lost jobs in 2003. "Job lock" keeps others in positions they might have left if not fear for losing coverage. Job mobility of husbands is 25 percent to 32 percent lower when their wives do not have employment-based health insurance. (7)

By several measures, health care spending continues to rise at the fastest rate in our history.
Total national health expenditures increased by 7.7 percent in 2003 (the latest year that data is available) over 2002 - four times the rate of inflation in 2003.(1)
In 2004, employer health insurance premiums increased by 11.2 percent - nearly four times the rate of inflation. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $10,000. The annual premium for single coverage averaged $3,695.(2)
Between 2001 and 2003, increases for national spending for prescription medications averaged 14 percent.(1)
Experts agree that our health care system is riddled with inefficiencies, excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, poor management, inappropriate care, waste and fraud. These problems significantly increase the cost of medical care and health insurance for employers and workers.

In 2003, health care spending in the United States reached $1.7 trillion, and was projected to reach $1.8 trillion in 2004. (3)
Health care spending is 4.3 times the amount spent on national defense. (4)
In 2003, the United States spent 15.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health care. It is projected that the percentage will reach 18.7 percent in 10 years. (3)
Although nearly 45 million Americans are uninsured, the United States spends more on health care than other industrialized nations, and those countries provide health insurance to all their citizens. (4)
Health care spending accounted for 10.9 percent of the GDP in Switzerland, 10.7 percent in Germany, 9.7 percent in Canada and 9.5 percent in France, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. (5)
Total out-of-pocket spending on health care rose $13.7 billion, to $230 billion in 2003. (1)

COBRA Law:The federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, also known as COBRA, is a guarantee that working Americans who lose their jobs do not lose their health insurance. Under COBRA, the federal government allows those employees, retirees, their spouses and their dependent children the right to extend job-related coverage for up to 18 months at their own expense.

Click here to learn more about

Domestic Short Term Medical Insurance

2005-09-01T05:46:00.000-07:00

God bless the Gulf Coast
by Kim Komando Read full article here

What can I say about this tragedy? The terrible fate that has fallen upon New Orleans and the Gulf Coast is beyond words.

Thousands and thousands of people have lost their homes and their livelihoods. People like you and me—with middle-class lives, children in school, some money in the bank— are refugees. Many have lost family members, or have become separated from their families. I associate disasters like this with the Third World, not the United States of America...

Click here for links to Charitable Organizations, Missing People websites and Governmental Agencies

2005-08-31T13:53:00.000-07:00

Covering against calamities
By Tom Ramstack
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Insurance companies say more international travelers have been inquiring about health insurance coverage since the catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami. "We have seen inquiries and volumes increase," said Jonathan Ansell, chief executive officer of World Access, one of the nation's largest travel insurance companies. " Southeast Asia has certainly raised the awareness of people of the calamities that can happen when they need health care." International relief agencies report that as many as 10,000 foreign tourists were killed or still are missing from the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami. Many are from Scandinavian countries. At least 37 of the confirmed or presumed dead are American...

However, no more than 25 percent of Americans who travel abroad buy international health insurance, said Derek Patterson, president of EGlobalHealth Insurers Agency, a travel health insurance broker. Costs for a medical evacuation by airplane "can very easily approach six figures," Mr. Patterson said. The average short-term medical insurance for U.S. citizens between 30 and 39 years old costs about $42 per month for a maximum benefit of $50,000. A 60- to 64-year-old American would pay $122 per month for the same policy. The rates vary depending on the amount of coverage, the deductibles that apply and purchasers' pre-existing health conditions.

Often the purchasers are missionaries and relief workers, such as people traveling to Asia to help victims of the tsunami, Mr. Patterson said. Inquiries and visits to the EGlobalHealth Web site by people seeking travel insurance are up sharply since Dec. 26 to an estimated 20,000 per day. "It's doubled," Mr. Patterson said. "There's definitely been a spike." Most employer-provided health insurance will cover emergency treatment in foreign countries, according to the insurers. However, small HMOs sometimes do not provide the coverage. Long-term treatment in foreign countries is excluded from most insurance policies. Those seeking medical treatment in foreign countries should be aware of options before leaving the United States, said Susan Millerick, spokeswoman for Aetna insurance company, which insures nearly 14 million people in the United States...

Read the complete article or visit eGlobaHealth.com

2005-08-31T13:15:00.000-07:00

Travel Insurance 101

Know what your policy covers in the event of a disaster and just what claims you're eligible to make

August 31, 2005: 11:23 AM EDT By Shaheen Pasha, CNN/Money staff writer
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Hurricane Katrina's swathe of destruction has left travelers nationwide in a lurch as airports in the Gulf Coast remain closed and flights throughout the country have been cancelled or delayed.

Stranded travelers -- many of whom are facing unknown financial concerns back home as a result of Katrina -- could find some financial reprieve, at least when it comes to their trip, if they purchased travel insurance beforehand.
Travel insurance usually costs between 5 percent and 7 percent of the cost of the trip and can be purchased through travel agents, online insurance comparison sites or directly through insurance carriers...

Click here to read the complete article

Learn more about Trip Cancellation Insurance

from eGlobalHealth Insurers Agency, LLC