travel to US for cancer patients

I have a question about travel insurance for my mom who is a UK-Y.  Mom has been in the UK for nearly 2 decades and is retired now.  She recently had a recurrence of cancer, which has been deemed "incurable."  After a series of palliative chemo she is feeling good and her MD has deemed her fit to travel, but she is having no success in getting insurance for travel back to the US.  In the past it has been her practice to travel back to the US twice a year to see her family, including my grandmother (her mother) who is 95 and too frail to go see her.  At the moment, though, it's looking like her only option for coming back to the States is to travel without insurance which she is understandably deeply reluctant to do. 

She has looked into sea travel, but even though it does not carry some of the specific risks of air travel it seems to present similar difficulties for obtaining insurance, and the infrequent fall and winter crossings would make it difficult for her to schedule the trip (she has to plan for both further cancer treatment--if necessary--and the needs of her partner who does not like her to be away for more than a month at a time. 

Does anyone on the list have experience with this kind of situation?  Are there alternatives we are not considering?  So far Mom has been consulting UK insurance companies that have a history of insuring *some* cancer patients--are there US-based insurers that she should be looking into?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

I'm posting a related question on the "repatriation" board...

I work in travel insurance, so I'm probably the best one to answer.

If shes deemed incurable, then chances are she won't get cover for travel insurance for her cancer. Especially since shes going to the USA where medical costs are outrageous.
Most travel companies,like the one I work for, will still provide her standard travel insurance,the only thing that wont be covered is anything related to her cancer.

Thanks, Ah-Loom-in-um (love the name!)--that pretty much confirms the picture she's been getting.  Unfortunately, there's a lot of stuff that can go wrong, given her weakened immune system, most of which an insurer could deem "cancer-related."

Yet another reason to resent the U.S. healthcare system...

The only people I can think of who may help are Saga.  They have very flexible insurance schemes including some for people with pre-existing and, I am sure, terminal illnesses.

I hope this all works out.

Vicky

My mother had breast cancer and my father has uncurable degenerative leukemia (and the rest).  They were trying all sorts of insurance companies for a trip to italy and quotes were outrageous at almost double the cost of the trip.

They eventually went with insure and go who covered them for anything other than pre-existing conditions...not the most ideal but they were desperately in need of the trip.

Good luck finding something.

No great news to report here either, I'm afraid.  No cancer, but my son has asthma and takes two medications a day and has been hospitalized twice inthe last ten months.  Quote for 34 days of travel insurance for the US?

650 pounds! 

We excluded the asthma (and will have to pay for anything related ourselves) but got travel insurance for everything else just in case.

No great news to report here either, I'm afraid.  No cancer, but my son has asthma and takes two medications a day and has been hospitalized twice inthe last ten months.  Quote for 34 days of travel insurance for the US?

650 pounds! 

We excluded the asthma (and will have to pay for anything related ourselves) but got travel insurance for everything else just in case.

thats the thing,...your travelling to a country where medical costs is very very high and travelling for a long period of time...so insurance companies see it as a risk.  Although £650 is a bit high Id admit, if you want to send me a PM, I can tell you the company I work for, Im sure having mild asthma wont cost that much to cover it,if you want to call them for a quotation

It's great to know we're not alone in wrestling with these issues.  A question I have: Mom has called a great many insurance companies that have a reputation for insuring cancer patients, and all of them refuse to sell her insurance.  They won't even give her a quote; they just say "no." 

Would the situation be as dire if she were travelling to Canada?  I'm asking because if it's her only way to see my grandmother, I'm sure my grandmother would consider making a trip to Canada so they could meet up--but I'd like to find out if this is even feasible before I urge my mother to make another round of time-consuming and demoralizing calls to her list of insurers...

Anyone know?