An emergency fund rather than insurance?

[Craig krup]

If your resting pulse is 40 you suffer from bradycardia. See a doctor immediately and buy insurance on the way to the hospital.

What e you trying to do - give me a heart attack?

I think if you went to a cycling or running club you'd nearly everybody was down in the forties. I've been examined loads of times and all they say is, "You must take a lot of exercise".

[Craig krup]

I have medicare in the US so if I found out something major I would go back.

That obviously will not cover a heart attack or accident were A big bill would need to be paid. I do have a credit card but only a $5000 limit.

Is there a type of long term travel insurance?

Interesting point, because I was thinking about this. You can buy five weeks of "treatment plus repatriation" insurance for £25 if you are going on holiday, but it's over £60 a month for health insurance - basically three times the price. That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. However, insurance always works on the basis of generalising about cohorts. If you go to Thailand for five weeks you are going to be different in your characteristics and behaviour from someone who goes to live there. People coming back are more likely to have a job in the West, and that (probably) is correlated with loads of other things. Once you're ensconced in another country long-term your behaviour will probably change - on average you'll drink and smoke more. You might drink a bucket-load on holiday, but not for long enough to affect your health.

Basically it would be nice if the health insurance market was developed enough for people who are low risk to demonstrate that fact and get lower premiums. The Thais had people peeing in cups to check for drugs before offering that low-cost option recently, and in the UK they have "Drive like a girl" - they put a box in the car and if you don't accelerate hard, corner fast and brake late you get cheaper car insurance. What's needed is an insurance company for hypochondriacs. If I apply I get quoted what they think the average 50 year old Brit will cost. But the average 50 year old Brit looking for health insurance for SE Asia isn't about to jump on an exercise bike and bust himself into the ground. The really irritating thing is that the tendency to worry which causes you to look after your health is exactly the thing which will probably force you to buy the (overpriced) insurance.

[Craig krup]

Personally just one year ago I had a stroke....The fact that I recovered in a few days is due to a overdose of blood diluting pills I took when I realised what was happening...

And I to, don't drink or smoke.....

I think everybody should carry aspirin. if something "big and funny" seems to be happening crushing an aspirin and swallowing it, and then sticking another one under your tongue, is unlikely to make things worse and it could well make them an awful lot better. A bleed stroke won't be made much worse, and blockage strokes and heart attacks will be made dramatically less damaging.

[MaeJoMTB]

posted rubbish, moderated it myself.

Edited April 18, 2015 by MaeJoMTB

[falang07]

If your resting pulse is 40 you suffer from bradycardia. See a doctor immediately and buy insurance on the way to the hospital.

forget about insurance since any preexisting conditions void it anyway, just read the fine print

[Sheryl]

Highly athletic people do sometimes have pulses that low and can be perfectly healthy.

[Craig krup]

If your resting pulse is 40 you suffer from bradycardia. See a doctor immediately and buy insurance on the way to the hospital.

forget about insurance since any preexisting conditions void it anyway, just read the fine print

You don't have bradycardia if your heart rate comes up under exercise load!

Bradley Wiggins has a resting heart rate of 35 and Mo Farah's is 33 (apparently). Neither have bradycardia. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I had a medical student tell me that I had "winged scapula". In a state of high anxiety I went to the student health centre an exasperated doctor, who plainly spent his life mopping up the consequences of the casual remarks of first year medical students said, "No, you don't have winged scapula".