By Catherine Clark

If you have ever traveled abroad, you know that a good travel agent will ask whether or not you want travel insurance. Some people think it is an unnecessary expense and others won’t go anywhere without it.

While I am not a salesperson for the insurance industry, I think travel insurance is a good idea. Also, as the story below shows, you may want to consider the purchase of insurance that is offered by the government of the country you are visiting.

Why would you want such coverage when you have medical insurance in the United States? Generally speaking, the typical health insurance policy will cover medical expenses incurred abroad. However, when injured abroad, you must pay the health care provider where you are injured and then present the bill to your insurer for reimbursement.

I learned the value (and convenience) of travel insurance two years ago while skiing in Val d’Isere/Tignes, France. Such a trip can be fraught with dangers, such as wayward British school children on skis.

While in Val d’Isere, one of our friends was clipped from behind by a 12-year-old British child. Our friend was thrown into the air and suffered a severely injured knee. After three weeks in a French hospital (I’m told the cuisine offered was not what made France famous), she returned to the United States.

The cost was nearly $50,000 in medical expenses and travel expenses for the return flight in first class on British Air with her mother and an EMT accompanying her. All of these expenses were covered by her travel insurance and paid directly to the provider.

Also available in France is something called Carre Neige or “assurance,” which for a meager sum of about 2.50 Euro a day, one purchases the right to have a ride down the mountain with the French Ski Patrol (this coverage is provided by the French Government). Without the purchase of Carre Neige, the Ski Patrol will ask you to present a credit card or some other form of payment to reimburse them for the cost of taking you down the mountain. With my friend in Val d’Isere, the first question out of the ski patroller’s mouth was: “Est-ce que vous avez carre neige?” Thankfully, we could answer, “Oui.”

If you are really seriously injured, the French will provide a helicopter for you, and they will decide whether or not you need that on the mountain. With Carre Neige, that helicopter ride is part of the coverage (and your travel insurance may cover it too as a part of emergency travel coverage). A trip to Geneva from the French Alps is not cheap.

Why take vacations that have such risks and thus make insurance a necessary purchase? Actually, it helps me with my practice. If I can ski some of the runs that I have skied and survive it, then an appearance before any judge on any case should be a piece of cake. n