If a person has a high-limit (like $2 million), quality major medical policy that covers cancer, buying another $1 million just for cancer coverage is throwing money out the window. However, if a person has a poor medical policy (such as one with a $250,000 lifetime limit), then buying an extra million dollars of coverage is a good idea - but not just for cancer.

If you're considering buying a dread disease insurance policy (a policy that covers only specific illnesses) because your health insurance isn't very good, don't. Save your money and use it instead to get a top health insurance policy or an excess major medical supplement to the policy you have that covers all illnesses and injuries -- not just the ones you fear.

Evaluating travel insurance

We address two types of medically related travel insurance here. One pays medical bills you incur through travel, within a certain date range and up to a dollar limit (such as $5,000). The other covers the costs of airlifting you from a remote area, in a medically equipped aircraft, to a top hospital. The former usually duplicates your health insurance; the latter fills an important gap.

Travel medical insurance

Travel medical insurance is Las Vegas insurance. In other words, you're gam- bling that you'll get sick while you travel. Not a smart gamble - it violates almost all the rules for buying insurance. It often unnecessarily duplicates your health insurance. The only time the insurance may be of value is if you have a very large deductible on your health plan and you're buying travel medical insurance to cover the deductible while traveling.

Be very careful if you do buy travel medical insurance. Read the policy care- fully. Many are very restricted; you may as well throw money down a rat hole. If you're traveling abroad, call your health insurance company before you leave to discover its preferred method of handling claims incurred abroad. Can you call a 24-hour toll-free phone number? Does the policy have any cov- erage restrictions abroad?

Medical evacuation insurance

If you travel much, especially if you travel abroad, and you get seriously ill, the hospital or treatment facility you end up in may be terrific - or it may not be state-of-the-art in terms of doctors, equipment, or both. Medical evacuation insurance does not duplicate any other insurance you have. A good policy covers the cost (about $50,000) to bring an intensive-care jet to wherever you are in the world, fully staffed and medically equipped, and to fly you to your preferred treatment facility. Coverage is available from travel agents, tours, and credit-card companies on a per-trip basis, and from travel assistance companies who sell the coverage to those who travel frequently.