[pct-l] RE: Domestic Travel Health Insurance

[dilorenz at hotmail.com (Mike DiLorenzo)]

in certain states you can purchase what is known as temporary health 
insurance policies.  these are cheap, major medial policies that can be used 
to pay for say, a broken ankle, but you wouldn't want to rely on for 
chemotherapy.  they are not great, nothing in comparison to true, major 
medical coverage.  but they'll save you from paying the full cost of an 
injury out of your own pocket.  i've purchased these from blue cross blue 
shield.  note that temporary health insurance is not available in all 
states.   for example, in 2000 i bought some in new hampshire.  you can't 
buy it in new york state.  i have no idea why.  no one (insurance 
professionals and those who work for the NYS department of helath) seems to 
have an answer to why you can't buy temporary helath insurance in NY.  
another caveat of these policies is that you can only purchase two 
consecutive policies for up to 12 months of continuous coverage. hopefully 
you'll find a job by then.   finally, i've also bought affordable 
(~$115/month) and decent coverage from fortis on my own.  again, you can't 
do this in all states.  i bought this coverage in Colorado and it was good.  
the max out of pocket major medical expense was maybe at most $4000 (compare 
that to paying, say $8211 for a broken ankle).  but such policies don't 
exist in NY.  if you want to purchase major medical insurance in NY on your 
own expect to fork out near $300/month.  again, i have not found an answer 
to the question of why it is so expensive in NY.

the moral, shop around, and consider establishing residency in a state 
before your hike where you can purchase a suitable policy.

d-low

_________________________________________________________________
Learn how to help protect your privacy and prevent fraud online at Tech 
Hacks & Scams. http://special.msn.com/msnbc/techsafety.armx