What Does Being Medically Able To Travel Mean?

by Steve Dasseos on August 2, 2008

HELP PLEASE – final payment for our South Pacific cruise is next week. My DH (darling husband) had a chainsaw accident last month from which he developed a life threatening infection requiring multiple surgeries/skin grafts. His doctor says he’s “medically stable” and should be able to travel for our cruise (though it might be uncomfortable); does he qualify for pre-existing coverage?

Unfortunately, your husband does not qualify for pre-existing medical condition coverage with a trip cancellation travel insurance plan.

The reason why is that he does not meet a trip cancellation travel insurance plan’s definition of being “medically stable”. What a doctor means and what a travel insurance company means by “medically stable” are oftentimes different.

Here’s what your doctor needs to tell you before you buy travel insurance:

< Your DH is 100% able to travel today if he was leaving on a trip today. He has no medical condition that would require any treatment, prevent him from traveling or will cause him to return home early if he was leaving on a trip today. >

The reason I said “today” is because one of the rules to cover a pre-existing condition is he must be able to travel on the day the insurance is purchased.

It doesn’t matter when the departure date is. He must be 100% able to travel on the day he gets travel insurance.

You need to be careful when getting the answer from his doctor. The wrong answer is “he will be able to travel by the time you leave on your trip”. That’s a different answer from being able to travel today.

Click here to learn more about what a travel insurance plan means by “medically stable”.

I hope this makes sense. If you want the right travel insurance advice, call us at 1-888-407-3854 and we'll help you figure it all out.

Now, a word from our sponsor: TripInsuranceStore.com (Travel Forums' Most Recommended Travel Insurance Website)

PS - If you liked what you read, please Subscribe to my Blog.

Previous post:

Next post: