# Recommendation for travel/medical insurance



## sancerre (Mar 4, 2010)

I need to purchase a 6mo/1 yr travel/medical policy for my elective residence visa appt. coming up. I have spent quite a bit of time researching different insurance companies (IMG, Seven Corners, Travel Guard, Allianz, etc) and I am seeing nothing but negative, scathing reviews for all of these companies for people who have needed to file claims. Has anyone had an experience with having to submit a medical claim with a travel/medical insurance company where there was a positive outcome? If so, any recommendations? I guess they are probably all the same and you just have to take your chances and hope for the best! My goal would be for this to tide me over until I can join the Italian national health care system in the future. Hopefully I will not need to use the insurance but for the peace of mind and in case there is an emergency, one needs it. Thank you.


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## BBCWatcher (Dec 28, 2012)

sancerre said:


> I need to purchase a 6mo/1 yr travel/medical policy for my elective residence visa appt. coming up.


It has to be 12 months or longer, actually. You're applying for an ER visa, and you must demonstrate a serious intention to reside in Italy for over one year. Everything you present should be consistent with that intention. Medical insurance less than 12 months in duration is inconsistent with the ER visa. However, you are permitted to cancel your policy prematurely (for a partial refund, presumably -- check that) after arrival and after you have enrolled in alternative acceptable medical insurance coverage, e.g. enrolled in the Italian public medical system.

"Schengen minimum" insurance provides at least 30,000 euro of coverage. Such insurance is only adequate to obtain a visa. You should not automatically consider such insurance to be adequate for your personal situation. It probably isn't. One option is to get the lowest cost Schengen minimum insurance but also stay on your U.S. medical insurance policy at least until you get well established in Italy, assuming your U.S. insurance covers emergency and urgent care in Italy. (Something else to check, but many U.S. policies do.) That way you'll both have continuity of adequate coverage and satisfy the visa application requirements.

Finally, please note that the Italian public medical system provides zero coverage in the United States (and in most other countries). You'll need to find some other coverage solution even for short visits to the United States and to most other countries.


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