While abstaining from tap water and iced beverages when traveling in developing nations seems clear, some individuals still unintentionally consume them. I ended up hospitalized due to an amoeba infection. This incident prompted me to remark:
THANK GOD I BOUGHT TRAVEL INSURANCE!
To start, I wish to clarify that we did not drink tap water or any of the drinks purchased on the street in Cuba.
We consistently imbibed bottled water during our trip, and when we had cocktails, it was only in highly regarded paladares (restaurants) and we had breakfast every day within our private dwelling.
I am not certain of the precise cause of the sickness because even after some analysis, it could be any number of things – the frozen contents added to the morning refreshments…the bottled water we procured which was found to be boiled…the mojitos from the local restaurants which potentially utilized tap water…Whatever initiated it, I endured an awful evening.
So, my advice is:
No matter how careful you are, buy A TRAVEL INSURANCE.
Not only did I lose a day from my vacation due to spending it in hospital care, I would have faced medical bills exceeding 500€ had I not held insurance coverage.
And my second advice, almost as important as the first:
CHOOSE a good TRAVEL INSURANCE. MAKE SURE that it COVERs ALL YOUR NEEDS WITHOUT HIGH OUT OF POCKET COSTS.
As we informed you in the Complete Guide to organize your journey to Cuba, we procured the basic insurance that they offered when we applied for our entry visas. While it was affordable, ultimately it turned out somewhat more expensive than some other choices, as we will tell you later.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH CUBAN HOSPITALS
The day had been extensively spent exploring the surroundings of Trinidad. While we were enjoying the house of music, I did not have full energy, so we left shortly after. As soon as we returned home, we realized we were going to have a difficult night.
Upon waking the next morn, I was unable to depart from bed, prompting Dani to contact travel insurance to determine the optimal medical center for transport. Interestingly, in Cuba there exist hospitals reserved for Cubans as well as designated facilities for visitors termed International Hospitals. Fortuitously, the one in Trinidad was reasonably close to our private residence. However, I was so dehydrated and feeble that transit via bicitaxi was necessitated.
I’ve never been to a medical center in my life where I received attention so promptly. Just 20 minutes after arrival, I was hooked up to an intravenous drip. Then, they performed some tests that confirmed the presence of amoebas, which had also infected approximately 90% of those there.
I started to recuperate after consuming two liters of IV fluid and receiving medical treatment. Following lying horizontally facedown for four hours, I was eager to return to the private home. However, we were not conscious that the intricate situation was yet to develop.
CALLS TO TRAVEL INSURANCE
When receiving medical care while traveling with health insurance and ending up at a hospital, generally there are commonly two options available:
- Pay the stated invoice amount and file a reimbursement claim later.
- Contact the insurance to process payment directly and leave the hospital without paying.
We did not want to pay ahead, so we contacted the insurance three times… After an hour and a half, we finally got through and were able to return home.
The Cuban healthcare system surprised me greatly, and in a positive manner. It was difficult to believe the level of service provided in local hospitals would be so high.
However, my experience with travel insurance did not end there. The most unpleasant surprise, and the reason why I indicate that it proved to be less than reasonably priced but ended up being costly, was yet to come.
Upon returning to Spain, we found a bill of 150€ in phone calls to the insurance. We tried to get money back from the calls, but in the end, they did nothing. Because I made a bad decision when choosing health insurance, I ended up paying a lot more than necessary.
WHAT WE DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THE TESTED INSURANCE
The sole reason we opted for that insurance for Cuba was the cost. For subsequent trips, we decided to conduct a much deeper examination of different insurances to identify one that would suit our travel style most suitable.
The biggest difficulties we faced were:
- Prepared packages that couldn’t be customized to specifically include only the coverage most important to us, like compulsory inclusion of services such as laptop theft, adventure sports, cancellation, etc. We wanted the option to select these services for some trips but preferred them to not be obligatory so our final cost would be lower.
- The insurance we used for Cuba didn’t address some basic aspects that are not usually considered, but that can end up costing a lot later. For example, it didn’t cover telephone calls made abroad.
- Difficulty with completing purchase process: Some required very long and tedious questionnaires that seemed endless for buying a simple insurance when we only wanted a brief purchase. We already had numerous preparations for an important trip, so we did not want to waste time filling out unending forms.
THE INSURANCE THAT WE ARe USING FOR OUR RECENT TRIPS
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