Medical insurance

I%26#39;m about to book a river cruise thru Amadeus Waterways from Budapest to Prague and was told that the Czech Republic requires that tourists have $35,000 in medical insurance when in that country. I%26#39;ve never heard of anything like this. Has anyone else?

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This is from the Czech Embassy in Washington%26#39;s own site:

HEALTH

There are no health precautions for travel to the Czech Republic and no vaccinations/ inoculations are required. Tap water is safe to drink (though the chlorination may give it an unpleasant taste), and the incidence of hepatitis is smaller than in the United States. Prague has a number of health facilities catering mostly to foreigners (with English-speaking doctors and personnel), but check with your provider to make sure you are eligible for coverage abroad.

So - in short - there is no such obligation, although it may be advisable to sort out some kind of travel insurance before you go just in case, and most travel insurance will cover you for that much (or more) anyway.

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Beg to differ GCEK. Here%26#39;s a quote from the US State Department:

%26quot;ENTRY/EXIT REQUIREMENTS: A passport is required to be valid for 3 months beyond a visitor’s intended stay. Visas are not required for U.S. citizens for tourist, short study or business visits of up to 90 days. Visas are required for U.S. citizens for longer stays and for any gainful activity. See our Foreign Entry Requirements brochure for more information on the Czech Republic and other countries. The Embassy of the Czech Republic’s web site at http://www.mzv.cz/ washington provides for the most current visa information. The Czech Government requires that you have proof of finances to pay for your stay and for you to have travel/health insurance and is requiring proof of medical insurance for travelers to the Czech Republic. Minimum coverage of the insurance has to be at least $35,000.%26quot;

You can see this at:

…state.gov/travel/…insurance

Majo5: we bought supplemental medical insurance for our Prague/Budapest trip in Oct 2007. It was not expensive. Our travel partners did not, and they weren%26#39;t asked for any proof of insurance.

tptr

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First I%26#39;ve heard of it, but then I am a citizen of the EU so we get reciprocal health care provided for anyway.

But as it says below that:

According to the Czech Government, a health insurance card or an internationally recognized credit card with health insurance included will generally be accepted as proof of insurance to enter the Republic.

So that should cover your 35K no problem. I get such insurance free with my bank account, for example. I don%26#39;t think it is a big problem and I am not aware of plane loads of people being turned back at Ruzyne for lack of insurance :)

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Anyone from the States belonging to an HMO has a real problem here. The majority of our HMO%26#39;s do not/will not cover any sort of medical expenses for members traveling outside the US.

Bottom line: if you have any anticipated health woes, you should probably buy a supplemental policy for your trip. You could face some nasty bills if you end up in a hospital in a foreign country.

Sure, I can show them my HMO card over there, but it basically doesn%26#39;t mean squat as it won%26#39;t cover anything while I%26#39;m there. But yes, the card would most likely get me through immigration.

tptr

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Thanks to all who replied. Found out from the agent that the trip cancellation insurance includes this proviso, so we opted for that. Now all I have to do is find some flights thru a reliable website.

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