來美國玩一定要保險 The Importance of Travel/Medical Insurance

July is typically the month when many of our Taiwanese friends and families come to the United States for their summer vacation. Inevitably, they will drop by Los Angeles and visit us. I am sure most of us who live in the United States have similar experience when it comes to visitors from Taiwan.

I learned something important this year. Two unfortunate events happened to my family and another friend's family within a day of each other. On July 5 (a long weekend Monday), I found out that the friend's father-in-law passed away from a heart attack while visiting a city about an hour away from home. Her father-in-law came to the U. S. often, so they were on one of their family outings. I didn't ask her what happened afterward, but it's safe to say that many things financial and emotional would need to be addressed after the passing of her father-in-law.

On July 6, a family friend visiting us had a stroke. He survived, but he was burdened with an astronomical medical bill. The ambulance trip between his son's house and the hospital (a total distance of 3 miles) cost more than US$1,600. The first day of emergency and ICU care cost more than US$65,000. Any doctor who visited the patient while he stayed at the U. S. hospital would be charged the doctor's regular hourly rate (at least US$350 per hour). Without medical insurance, the medical bill will continue to increase until this patient is stable enough to be air-lifted back to Taiwan for further medical treatment. This Taiwanese friend did buy travel insurance before he left for Taiwan, but most are accidental coverage for death and dismemberment, and not for catastrophic nor emergency illnesses. He had a NT$50,000 coverage for catastrophic illness. That's not nearly enough to even cover 1 day's worth of doctor's fees.

So a word of advice. If you or your family wants to travel to the United States from Taiwan, please make sure that enough medical insurance is purchased to cover serious illness such as heart attack and stroke for your friend or family. I would recommend travel insurance that include medical care for serious illnesses for people 50 and over. The medical coverage should be around US$300,000 or more. The medical insurance should also include the expenses of air-lifting the patient back to Taiwan for further care.

暑假是台灣親朋好友來美國旅遊的季節。今年也不例外。 可是今年七月卻讓我體會到旅遊醫療保險(重大疾病)的重要。 好朋友的公公來美國住不到幾天就因心臟病發作而過世。 我是沒有問好朋友如何辦妥她公公的後事,可是如果她公公有在臺灣買好旅遊保險,那肯定保險公司將會協助我朋友處理一些相關事物。

在我朋友公公出事的第二天,我的一位親戚也在來美的三天後中風。 因為沒有醫療保險, 第一天的住院費用就高達六萬美金!!! 就連救護車的帳單也要美金一千六(醫院和他兒子家的距離只有三英哩)。 所以奉勸大家--如果你將有親朋好友到美國來探親或觀光,一定要叮嚀親朋好友(尤其是年紀較大的人)來美國之前在臺灣買好至少有三十萬美金的重大疾病旅遊醫療保險。 這旅遊醫療保險最好是也有包括把病人從美國運輸回台灣的費用。 當初林志玲在中國受傷時也是用專機運輸回台灣的,她或她的經紀公司肯定有買這一方面的保險。

阿公阿嫲從歐州回美國 My Parents

My parents returned from Europe after 2 cruises to Northern Europe. I had forgotten which flight my parents were flying in, so I had to wait at home all day yesterday. My dad finally called at 11:30pm and I rushed to the airport to pick them up.

Cruising is my father's favorite pastime and because of this hobby, I had become an expert on cruises because of all the research I had to do for him. On June 12, 2009, my parents boarded Holland America's MS Eurodam for a 10-day roundtrip cruise to Russia via Copenhagen with 4 friends. Then on June 22, 2009, they flew from Copenhagen to London. They had an overnight stay at a London Heathrow airport hotel, booked via Priceline. Then on June 23, 2009, they took a shuttle bus from London to Southampton and boarded Cunard's Queen Victoria for a 14-day cruise through northern Europe with 6 other friends. This would sound like a once-in-a-lifetime vacation for anyone, but my parents have been on these two cruise itineraries before. They just haven't tried the Eurodam (which they raved!) and Queen Victoria (which they said was a waste of money!) before, so they were eager to try out the new ships.

Anyways, as it turned out, my parents flew back to LA from London via Air New Zealand. I would never have guessed, but in April, my dad had found these inexpensive fares on-line and booked them. I think he did tell me about it, but the information completely escaped my mind.

My parents will be visiting us until Thursday, so it'll only be a 2-day visit. They will leave for Vancouver tomorrow afternoon. My sister lives in Vancouver. My parents split their time between Taipei, Vancouver, and traveling, using my house as intermittent stopover between their travels. So I actually see my parents quite often, but just never for a long period of time. Even though my parents' visit is short, my kids are always excited to see their Taiwan Grandpa and Grandma.

昨天阿公和阿嫲從倫敦飛回洛杉磯,可是我卻不知道他們什麼時候到? 找遍所有 email 資料及詢問了所有的相關人士, 都沒有人知道他們會坐哪一班飛機回洛杉磯。我只是覺得他們會晚上到(感覺好像阿公有告訴過我),可是還是不敢大意,整天在家等阿公的電話,哪裏都不敢去。最後阿公是在晚上十一點半來電話說已經出關了。我在二十五分鐘內火速的趕到機場,好在路上都沒車,一下子就到了,沒讓阿公阿嫲等太久! 阿公也好厲害,竟然是買 Air New Zealand 從倫敦飛回洛杉磯。現在回想起來,才記得阿公在四月份有提起他買到 Air New Zealand 的便宜票。是我自己忘記的。

阿公喜歡坐船旅遊。七十三歲的他自己會上網找便宜的票,然後再叫我幫他訂購。我還上網幫他找別人的郵輪旅遊報告。阿公都自己看 (英文的喔!),自己決定到了停靠港站之後,是要用自助方式還是要花點錢透過船公司出遊。他玩出心得來,我也變成郵輪旅遊專家了!

阿公阿嫲明天下午就飛回溫哥華。 我妹她住溫哥華,如果阿公阿嫲他們沒事都會回溫哥華去幫我妹看看小孩。溫哥華的生活機能對退休的台灣人來講非常的好! 阿公阿嫲整年就這樣的飛來飛去,不是回臺北就是去旅遊。有空就去溫哥華小住一番。三不五十就一定會經過洛杉磯來我這兒住上幾天 (轉機嘛!), 所以阿公阿嫲他們是常來洛杉磯的, 只是停留的時間都不會很長。這一次, 阿公阿嫲他們只待了二天二夜就回溫哥華去了!