Traveling back to states - covered by NHS?

What do yall do for insurance when you go back to the states for a visit? Do you have to get travel insurance? Cross your fingers and hope you don't have an accident?

Travel insurance is the recommended method, although I never had any when I would visit.

I always make sure I have travel insurance.. I figure why chance things.. At least should something happen whether its a strep throat or a fractured bone or something worse.. At least I know I'll be covered.. To me its worth the expense..
Others mileage may vary

If you have private medical insurance you might be covered in the US. I know that I am because our insurance originates from my husband's US employer. But if I didn't have that cover I'd get insurance, or look to see if I have coverage through my credit card. HSBC for example, gives free travel insurance to some levels of credit card/account holders

Do make sure you are covered, a simple broken bone could cost you thousands in medical bills.

I agree - travel insurance is cheap compared to the cost should you have an accident. I'm over 65 and have Medicare A.....wahoo....but that wouldn't cover a doctor visit. Even with the higher cost of travel insurance for my age bracket, well worth the peace of mind.

It's definitely cheaper in comparison.  I got a UTI while in the US over the summer.  A walk in clinic visit was $190.  The antibiotics were $30.

You might also consider that travel insurance can cover things like travel back to the UK in medical circumstances. You can find a broker to go through your needs to get the best advice.

http://www.biba.org.uk/CustomerHome.aspx

I would be uncomfortable chancing it, if it were me.

We have travel insurance with our Gold account through Lloyds. 

We always get travel insurance when we go on holiday/visit the states, never really costs more than 20 quid so well worth it in my opinion.

Thanks for all the info! Is this still the case if we won't be UK permanent residents? I think we'll be on a Tier 2 visa. What about traveling through the EU? I know most countries have reciprocal agreements but are they for non-residents too?

Thanks for all the info! Is this still the case if we won't be UK permanent residents? I think we'll be on a Tier 2 visa. What about traveling through the EU? I know most countries have reciprocal agreements but are they for non-residents too?

You will have NHS coverage (in the UK) on a Tier 2 visa.

Thanks for all the info! Is this still the case if we won't be UK permanent residents? I think we'll be on a Tier 2 visa. What about traveling through the EU? I know most countries have reciprocal agreements but are they for non-residents too?

You can get travel insurance if you're not a permanent resident. But you have to shop around.  Both AMEX and Virgin allow for this, for example.

You can get a European Health Insurance Card when you're a non-permanent resident as well, which can cover you in Europe.  But travel insurance is so value added for so many other reasons (IMHO!)

Just to add, many policies state that they only cover permanent residents, but if you enquire further they will almost always say that for their purposes, a permanent resident is someone who lives in the UK more than 6 months in the year and is registered with a UK GP. I have not once found a travel insurer that said they considered a permanent resident to be someone with ILR. So basically any travel insurer should be OK as long as you get them to put their definition of permanent resident in writing (if it is not already specified in the policy documentation, which it sometimes is).

I personally took out a Nationwide FlexAccount, which provides a free European travel insurance policy that can be upgraded to worldwide for £20 a year.