Medical Insurance Abroad

I'm going to Australia again. Yes again! This time for just a week.

As I'm making travel arrangements I've decided it might be a good idea to get medical insurance for abroad. (Keeping in mind I said medical and not travel). The first time I went insurance was mandatory (though in retrospect I didn't even look into the details of the plan,; I just bought it because I had to). The second time around it didn't even cross my mind. But because recently (as in a year ago) I had to cancel travel plans due to a broken hip I thought it would be a good idea to invest in some insurance. Unfortunately I didn't proactively begin searching for it until way after I bought my airlines ticket. It was then I discovered most (as in all) travel insurance requires purchase of the insurance within a certain time frame IF you want pre-existing condition covered. This means, if you want the insurance to cover you at all pretty much (because I'm sure when you file a claim they will try to find a way why your illness abroad is related to your pre-existing condition), you have to buy the insurance before or quite quickly after you've purchased your most expensive travel expense (i.e. plane ticket or hotel). By the time I began looking into plans the window had passed. I called many places and looked at many travel insurance websites and they all said the same thing, "No." But I am a persistent kind of person. I don't take 'no' for an answer. I am a strong believer in "Where there is a will there is a way." And therefore I continue spending hours searching online for hope.

Eventually I began just looking at resources for those with disabilities who want to travel. I stumbled across this article from MIUSA: http://www.miusa.org/ncde/tipsheets/insurance. I followed that link to: https://www.insuremytrip.com/index.html

There I did a search of prices and plans. I found a plan with HM Life Insurance Company and the plan is called TravelGap Excursion. If you are anything like me, I was very skeptical. It sounded too good to be true given that all other plans said, "no." This insurance plan will cover you when you are abroad IF you already have insurance in the USA. It will cover you if you have pre-existing condition as long as it is not pregnancy or a mental illness (or elective medical assistance). It will ONLY cover medical. Therefore, if I do need to cancel my trip, for any reason, I will not receive refunds on airline tickets or hotel. As much as that sucks, I was much more concern about possible health issues abroad and not wanting to pay thousands of dollars in medical bills.

So my advice to you, buy travel insurance before airline and/or hotel or other travel expenses. Then you don't have to worry like I did. BUT if you have already purchased travel expenses and your concern is medical abroad, check out TravelGap Excursion plan. The other plans listed at insuremytrip.com were like the other plans I had saw about pre-existing conditions. You can call insuremytrip.com and speak to someone to get your questions answered. I began reading the policy and got confused. I was able to speak to a representative with insuremytrip.com and she answered all my questions. She was patient and not annoyed that I asked her the same question multiple times. It was the skeptic in me who couldn't believe it would only cost $15. The HM Life Insurance company and insuremytrip.com are both BBB certified. I read reviews from BBB on insuremytrip.com and there were two complaints filed with BBB on them but there was also one customer review which was very positive. It reflected my experience with insuremytrip.com thus far.

However, the skeptic in me is still hesitant. I plan on reading through the 17 pages on the plan. I'll report back if I see red flags. AND hopefully I don't have to test out how good the insurance is when I'm aboard!

I hope you find this information useful. As always, please feel free to contact me via email if you have questions amanda.parkman@gmail.com and I will try to answer your questions as best as I can.

Updated: I read through the 17 pages of the 'Certificate of Coverage' and everything seems to be on the up and up. I was a bit confused about the use of "0 months" under pre-existing clause but I called the Customer Service number for HTH Worldwide Insurance Services and spoke to a representative and he assured me, that there was no pre-existing conditions limitations what-so-ever on the plan.

One red flag though: Those with Medicare might run into some issues. I would recommend talking to a representative about their exception in the 'Certificate of Coverage' about those with Medicare.

Important points about the insurance:

1. Its medical not travel

2. You need to have insurance in the US

3. Will not cover mental or pregnancy medical treatment (unless the pregnancy medical treatment needed is unexpected/emergency).

And as already stated if traveling abroad and you have a pre-existing condition (and even those who don't!) I strongly recommend getting insurance and purchasing it before your travel expenses i.e. airline tickets, hotel, etc. 

Returning to Australia

I apologize for not keeping this blog updated. I haven’t had a chance to do much traveling since my first experience to Australia. However, I did want to update about my last visit to Australia. This past summer I went back to the beautiful land down under to visit friends.

I also made my way down to Melbourne. I have to say it is now one of my favorite cities! I went by myself for a whole week and did perfectly fine.

The city is very tourist friendly and accessible! For instance, there is a shuttle service that will take you from the city into Southern Cross train station (which is in the city). From there the shuttle service will take you to your hotel/hostel. All the busses from the airport to Southern Cross are accessible and they have a smaller accessible bus that will take you to your hotel or hostel. Just an F.Y.I there are TWO airports that fly into Melbourne. One flies closer to the city than the other. Also, the shuttle service is only available from the one I flew into. If you fly Qantas you will have no worries because Qantas only flies into the one airport, the airport with the shuttle service. The shuttle service buses are red. For some reason the name is escaping me at this moment however it is very popular so I am sure all you have to do is ask around. Or you can always contact me via email and I can dig up my ticket. The shuttle service is not free. But it is inexpensive. You can pay for a returning trip too.

I stayed at Melbourne YHA. LOVED IT. It was new and accessible. They were very kind in asking my feedback, as I was the first person in a wheelchair since its remodeling to stay there. I felt it was quiet accessible.
As I said Melbourne is a tourist friendly and accessible city. They have this free tourist bus. All the free tourist buses are accessible. However, they only stop at certain places and only go in one direction. They do however go to all the major tourist spots in Melbourne. It was great for me because I was not sure what I wanted to see.

There are some hilly places around Melbourne but for the most part the sidewalks are nice. The city is easy to get around. Most things are in a central location.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I would love to help you with your upcoming travels.

My email address is amanda.parkman@gmail.com

I also went to NYC. Anyone planning a trip there and want some advice just contact me. I found the city much less accessible. It helped that I had a friend who went with me. Less accessible in that not all the sidewalks were nice and there were many places with a step up into it. However, I still had a fantastic time and it is definitely a place everyone should go to once.

Upcoming Travels...

Ok, so this coming Spring Break I am going to NEW YORK CITY with my best friend! To say I'm excited is an understatement. As with my trip to Australia I started planning in advance. I'll keep you posted with helpful hits etc that I found on my travels...one thing to keep in mind not many of the hostels in NYC are wheelchair accessible. At least not the ones at awesome locations.

ANNND...I plan on going back to Australia this summer. I'm pumped. I miss Australia everyday. This time though I plan on actually doing some traveling. I'm looking into wheelchair accessible tours. Again, I'll keep you posted.

Black Opal

So I was thinking that since this blog is posted on the Blue Chip website I should give some more information about being part of Black Opal. First, let me tell you that everyone in Black Opal is so nice and welcoming. Particpating in the Black Opal exchange was one of my favorite experiences as a Blue Chip member.

As a Black Opal member I particpated in their Phase II group which is equivalent to Blue Chip's Phase II and Phase III groups. Black Opal only has three phases, as Uni there is usually just three years. Like Blue Chip, Black Opal has different groups you can be part of in Phase II. I was in Global.

One of my first experiences with Black Opal was the Diversity Camp. It took place during UOWs Easter Break. Its a three day camp. Actually, Black Opal does a Phase camp each year for each phase. I don't want to give away to much about the camp because its one of thoes experiences you gain more as you experience it. But the camp was one of my favorite experiences studying abroad. I made so many friends during that time. Plus you get to see some of the beauty that is Australia.

Much like with Blue Chip, Black Opal teams have weekly meetings. For Phase II each week a different topic is discussed and debated that is related to your theme. For example being in Global we did discussions and learned about such topics like poverty. Which I know is discussed in America as well but you get to see it in a perspective of your peers who live in another country. Part of Phase II is to put on a campus and community project. Our team decided to target the problem of lack of clean water in many developing countries. For our campus project we fundraised and educated fellow UOW students on this important problem. We raised over $600. This sess my team is doing Walk4Water as their community project. They are getting community of Wollongong together for a walk (like AIDS Walk) to raise money to help bring clean water to East Timor.

I met so many passionate, commited, and bright leaders by being part of Black Opal. It gave me the opportunity to learn about issues that I didn't even consider before. I gained understanding of different perspectives on many diverse issues and topics. All the while I gained first hand experiences of leadership through the campus project.

If you have any more questions about Black Opal Exchange please do not hesitate to contact me. My email is aparkman@email.arizona.edu

The Last Blog

So this is it. My last blog in Australia. Reflection time.

I write this, the morning of my departure. I didn't get much sleep last night. A mixture of reasons.

For the past couple of days now it feels like everything has been coming in full circle. Songs that haven't been sang since the start were sang again. Things we used to do but hadn't in awhile were being done again. People quickly in masses leaving. Leaving the campus in the same atmosphere as I had arrived. Even as I type this I hear the familiar sounds of birds. The sounds I heard the first morning here.

I cannot find the words to express just how I feel. It isn't even torn anymore...more like bittersweet if anything. Its just I'm not ready to leave. I love it here way to much. I've grown to attach. So much so that every time I've tried to go to sleep here for over a week now; all I could think about is how soon I could come back and for how long. As if I needed to assure myself before I could go to sleep that I would be back.

At this moment, there are two important life lessons, that come to mind that I've learned while in Australia...

Quality is better than quantity.
That it all really is to short to dwell on the negative. Forgive and focus on the positive.

Saying my Goodbyes

And so it begins, the process of letting go.

By far this has been and will be the hardest goodbye I have ever made in my life. The process started to day as people slowly trickle out of my life.

As I've been saying to everyone here...I'm not leaving them, they are leaving me. Most people are done with exams and are now heading home for the break. I don't leave till this coming Tuesday. By then very few people will be around. By then I will have said goodbye to people that I never imaged meeting in my life but that my life is now all that much better because of them.

I haven't cried yet and I don't know if I will. I'm not much of a crier when it comes to goodbyes. I tend to just get a heavy heart.

These past few days have been even more amazing by the fact that I've been able to enjoy everyone's company one last time. I did movie day with Stefan. Afternoon hang outs with Katherine, Lewis, and Tom. And of course nights out. Yesterday was my last Glassy's...well not last last (at least I hope not), but last for at least another year.

I've decided with much determination that I will return here this time next year. It may seem silly to spend money on a airplane ticket, to see a place I've already seen instead of going some place new. But Australia has officially become my other home. Not returning here seems much more silly than not.

I've been in the process of packing for the last couple of days as well. However, I still have yet set in stone how I'm getting to the airport. haha. See much Australia has already changed me? I'm usually a planner. These kind of very important details I normally have worked out months in advance.

End of Uni and My 21st!

I don't even know where to start...

Uni is finally over for me. I took my last exam this past Friday. It still has yet to hit me that Exams are over, I just turned 21, and I have to leave soon.

My Planet Earth exam was difficult...I wanted to say...a b*$#%.... Considering how much I studied for it I feel uneasy on how well I actually did and should have done. Whatever. It is over. My Cold War/Vietnam exam was a piece of cake. Although I will cry if I find out I actually did horrid on it.

My birthday celebration began Wednesday night with a night at Glassy's with Emma. It was amazing night. ;)

Then Friday I went to Sydney to get meet with Lindsey. Emma came with and we went to Patty's market to go shopping. I'm in love with Patty's market. It is the best place ever for souvenir shopping but also any thing else your heart could ever want. No joke. I got so much stuff for such a great deal.

I've also ready decided I'll pack of the things I collected here in a suitcase and just send some clothes home via the post office. Should some of my clothes get lost I can just use it as a reason to buy some more. haha.

So back to Friday...after Patty's market (which if you ever come to Australia...DO NOT buy any souvenirs any where BUT Patty's market. You'll regret it because you'll go to the market and see everything you already bought at prices that will make you think you're dreaming and then want to cry for spending so much money already).

After Patty's market we headed around St. George Street looking for food. We ended up at Mamma's kitchen. Can I say...good food. We were surprised. Oh and I swear every time I got to Sydney I always find an excuse for needing hot guys to lift me. There were two steps to get into Mamma's kitchen so I had to of the waiters help me in. :)

After dinner it was to Cheers for a drink. Then to Baskin Robins for my favorite...mint chocolate chip. By that point we were ready to go home.

We had an interesting experience at Central. Advice: Do not ride trains in/around Sydney on Friday/Saturday nights. At least have a group of friends and always be aware of what is going on. Luckily I had Emma, Lindsey, and my pepper spray. Not that I needed to use my pepper spray but yeah there were a few interesting characters out.

Saturday Lindsey and I spent the day at the mall getting our nails done and then to North Wollongong Beach for lunch. Good day.

Saturday night was spent getting ready, eating at Nam's and dancing at Glassy's. Good birthday. No doubt one of my best birthday's ever.

I esp. have to say a BIG THANK YOU to all my friends who came out even though they still have a few exams to go. You guys are amazing. xoxo

Here's to being 21.

It still hasn't hit me.

Now its time to relax, enjoy Australia, and pack. :) Oh and figure out how I'm getting to the airport....lol