Finally a subject I do know something about. I had a 67 year old woman break her sholder in London on a trip to Europe with the Girl Scouts. It was not fun and we were very lucky she had purchased insurance. Even then I spent two days of the trip dealing with the Insurance company and the British health system. The only thing that saved me from spending longer was that I had contacts at a private facility in London who took the case over and dealt with the insurance for me.

Medicare does NOT cover anything outside the US. So a person who used Medicare as primary coverage in the US does need to look into thier insurance options.

My mother went with an AARP policy. If your family member has this make sure it is the deluxe version. (I can't recall the plan names, but the cheapest basic version has no international coverage)

Also, a website I found helpful was http://www.insuremytrip.com

Good Luck!

Carol Nashville, TN