Insulin & Insurance
Our first ever public submission delves into the complexities of travel insurance and the paramount importance of careful planning.
When I travelled to Europe and the UK for a month earlier this year, I learned that as a Type 1 Diabetic, you have to be a bit more prepared than other travellers. One must-have for any traveller is of course a good travel insurance policy to have your back when things don’t go to plan. My travel agent tried to get me to sign up with their preferred travel insurance provider.
Fortunately I read the fine print about diabetes which, though extremely boring, is absolutely necessary for diabetics. This policy was about as useful as a white crayon as it didn’t cover diabetics that had a reading below 4 mmol/l or above 13 mmol/l in the previous six months. I don’t think there would be many type 1s that could claim not to have gone out of that range at least once in that time. We’re only human!
I continued to search around for the right travel insurance policy. What I found across the board was that no insurance company in Australia covers diabetes if you’ve had any long term complications. Unfortunately after over 30 years living with type 1, I now have diabetic retinopathy. Diabetes Australia confirmed with me that no travel insurance company would fully cover me because of it. I still obtained travel insurance for non-diabetic related cover. Mind you, the premium remained the same.
As would any diabetic, before departing I calculated how long each box of insulin would last. Sadly though, not long after arriving in London, I realised I hadn’t packed enough for the whole trip. This was possibly because of the stress of packing.
After spending a few nights in London, I was about to head to a very rural part of Italy and I knew that it would be difficult to find a doctor there, let alone one that spoke English. The NHS in the UK (similar to Australian Medicare) sent me to a clinic to get some scripts for more insulin. After waiting 45 minutes at the clinic I was told that they would only prescribe 7 days’ worth of insulin.
Clearly I needed more so they pointed me in the direction of the closest private clinic. I was able to get an appointment with a doctor within the hour. I knew that the visit wouldn’t be covered by my travel insurance but I wasn’t prepared for the cost of that appointment — £170. I was only in there for 10 minutes! But it had to be done.
The doctor told me that the insulin had to be on a private script meaning there was no subsidy. She suggested I shop around because the pharmacies were basically at liberty to name their price. The cheapest I could find for two boxes of insulin was at the Boots discount chain pharmacy. It still cost me £108! I just had to grin and bear it. A very expensive but valuable mistake to make.
For better or worse I didn’t even use the £278 worth of insulin in the end. The constant walking and climbing that I did reduced the amount of insulin I needed. This was because of high energy consumption and some weight loss. Still, it is better to be safe than sorry.
My greatest advice for diabetics would be to triple check how much insulin you think you’ll need on your trip when you’re packing. Moreover, read the fine print of any travel insurance policy before paying. It may be tedious but it definitely would be preferable to the rude shock of forking out a small fortune for something so crucial. In the end, the more groundwork you do at home the less risk you take on the road.
Author: Anonymous.
