How a simple illness could cost you $100,000 overseas
While incredibly uncomfortable and disruptive to your travel plans, you wouldn’t expect a simple bout of gastro to completely derail your life. However, travel insurer Cover-More has found the common travel bug, which causes severe diarrhoea and vomiting, could end up costing you more than a home loan.
According to Cover-More, medical bills for gastroenteritis treatment can set travellers back by more than $100,000. In fact, their most expensive claim for a holidaymaker struck by the illness was $105,890 in 2015 from a traveller visiting the US. Another, holidaying in China in 2016, was handed a bill for $99,985.
“In general, medical care in the USA is about five times the cost in Australia,” Dr Stephen Rashford, chief medical officer at Cover-More, told news.com.au. “This means that even a simple visit to an emergency department in a US hospital can cost many thousands of dollars.”
Plus, if you experience potentially fatal complications from gastro, this could also cause the cost of your hospital visit to skyrocket. Kidney failure due to hydration, for example, “may result in a much longer, more complex hospital admission and therefore high cost medical care.”
Due to its popularity with Aussie travellers, Indonesia is the destination where the most cases of gastro occur among travellers – 875 cases in the last year alone by this one particular insurer.
So, how can you prevent ruining your trip AND your bank balance? Here are Dr Rashford’s top tips for avoiding gastro.
- Money is one of the easiest ways for bugs to spread, so always wash your hands after touching notes and coins.
- Don’t drink the tap water if you’re not 100 per cent sure it’s safe. Even when brushing your teeth, always use bottled water, and keep your mouth shut in the shower.
- When buying bottled water, check the cap is sealed. Some sellers fill old bottles with tap water and sell them as if they’re new.
- When ordering food and drinks in countries with unsafe tap water, ask for no ice and avoid salads, which may have been washed in tap water.
- Bring hand sanitiser wherever you go, so if you’re unable to get to a bathroom, you can still keep your hands clean and free of germs.
Have you arranged your travel insurance yet? Tailor your cover to your needs and save money by not paying for things you don’t need. To arrange a quote, click here. For more information about Over60 Travel Insurance, call 1800 622 966.