Travelling with Cystic Fibrosis

Planning

Planning is necessary for anyone who is about to travel, but for people with cystic fibrosis (CF), there are few extra things to plan for. So when planning a trip anywhere with CF, plan ahead and hopefully everything will go as smoothly as possible.

Things to consider when planning a trip are:

Travel insurance
Enough medication for the trip or a way to obtain medications when you are away
Possible flight restrictions
Your destination and access to medical care

Read about Dani McClellan’s experience of travelling with CF here.

Travel Insurance

Getting travel insurance with a chronic disease like CF isn’t straight forward.

Basic insurance that covers your luggage, cancellations and injuries not related to your CF that happen while travelling (e.g. breaking a leg) isn’t a problem, but you will also need cover for “a pre-existing health condition”. This covers you for any CF treatment you might need while you’re away.

Unfortunately it’s not always easy to get travel insurance to cover CF as a pre-existing medical condition, so consider the following:

Apply to a number of travel insurance companies for pre-existing cover at the same time. If you only apply to one company and are rejected, you will have to disclose that fact when you complete the application for the next company
Get a letter from your CF specialist with details of your state of health, a list of your current medications and your treatment plan. Some information about your medical history e.g. frequency of hospitalisations could also be useful
Ask your CF specialist (rather than your GP) to complete the medical report section of the application. They are more likely to know details of your hospitalisations, medications etc. If you are applying to multiple insurance companies, choose the most comprehensive medical form and ask your specialist to complete it. You can then photocopy that completed report to submit to all the insurance companies – it will save your specialist filling out a lot of forms. Please remember your clinic team are busy people and may need time to complete the travel insurance health forms for you as many of them require detailed information about your last admission, medication etc.
Make sure any policy you do take out covers you as comprehensively as possible. Think about things like medical evacuation, ambulances, hospital stays and repatriation

Your destination may have an impact on whether you get cover or not. People heading to Bali and Thailand in the past have been refused cover, but those heading the USA have been covered. The insurance company may also not grant cover if there has been a hospital admission in the past 12 months.

Getting long term travel insurance cover may also be difficult.

The Insurance Council of Australia is very helpful and will work to assist you if you have questions about gaining travel insurance with a pre-existing health conditions

Also, the National Bureau of Insurance Brokers Association can help you find an insurer that will cover you.

Otherwise this list of insurers is a list of companies that have covered people with CF in the past, or have been helpful to people with other pre-existing medical conditions. Please keep in mind we don’t guarantee they will offer you coverage.

CGU Travel Insurance: 03 9601 8252

QBE Travel insurance: 1300 555 017

Covermore Travel Insurance: 1300 728 822

Aussie Travel Cover: 1800 888 448

Allianz Direct

World Nomads: 1300 787 375

Southern Cross Travel Insurance

Medications

You should have enough medication to last you while you are away, in fact it’s possibly a good idea to take a little bit extra just to be on the safe side (there might be delays, you might drop and lose some of the tablets). Make sure you talk to your CF specialist about this well ahead of your trip.

If you are thinking of posting your medicine ahead, or having someone post it to you while you are away, keep in mind not all countries permit certain drugs to be imported. If this is the case, you will need to explore how to get medications locally.

Carry on luggage

The Australian Government has restrictions regarding what can and cannot be taken on board on any international flight to and from Australia.

People with CF may need nebulised medications and insulin that needs to be kept cold throughout the flight. This means it needs be carried in a cool box as hand luggage.

Prescription medication is allowed on board, but there are heavy restrictions on other liquids and items.

This Australian government factsheet explains what can and can’t be taken on board

This page explains the restrictions in more details.

Exemptions for medicines:

Prescription and non prescription (including special dietary products) medicines and medical devices are allowed on board. There is no limit to the amount of prescription medicine that can be carried on board, but remember:

Have supporting documents from your health team covering everything you need during your flight
Have all your medicine and devices ready for inspecton
Make sure the name on the prescription label matches the name on your boarding pass

You can read the Australian Department of Infrastructure and Regional Development website for more details.

A few last things

Now that you’re almost ready to go, there are a few last things to check:

CF Clinics overseas: check for contact details of clinics and CF Associations at your destination
Australia has reciprocal medical agreements with a few countries, mainly in Europe. The Department of Human Services website has more details
Plan your travel carefully and remember that some countries such as those in Asia and many developing countries have no facilities for CF care.
When applying for travel insurance disclose everything about your personal situation. This is very important and may impact your cover if you don’t
Take a letter from the Doctor if you have one that outlines medications, admissions, treatment plan, state of current health
Read the details of your policy carefully if you do get cover and ask practical questions e.g. If x or y happen am I covered?

CF Life

Being an effective advocate

An article on how to be an effective advocate. Printed with permission from Lisa C. Greene...