I’m dealing with World Nomads right now about a canceled trip to Indo last month. So far they seem great and easy to deal with. But I haven’t gotten my refund just yet. I had to cancel 2 days before my trip due to illness. I got lucky that they require travel insurance for the place I was going in the Mentawei’s because I never get travel insurance. I travel at least a couple times a year. For my 3+ week trip it was only $225. I’ll probably buy insurance for trips more often.
Travel insurance for cancellations is a whole different animal than medical travel insurance. Don't confuse the two.
And while I highly recommend medical travel insurance, it can get complicated depending on what your medical problem is.
Case in point: my son was in Santiago, Chile on a project as part of his master's program. The University required everyone in the program to pay for medical travel insurance and had a good policy. He had a heart condition as a kid which cardiac pediatricians treated and said he would outgrow. It seemed he had until the episode in Chile when he started passing out. The local docs diagnosed him with an inner ear problem; I questioned this and called some doc friends who said it wasn't an inner ear problem, it was most likely this heart issue rearing its ugly head. I talked to the docs in Santiago, got nowhere and booked a flight that day to Santiago, and flew back with him the same day that I arrived. His heart rate was around 30 beats per minute which is why he kept passing out.
What was supposed to have happened in that situation, according to the medical travel insurance policy, was that they would pay for his flight home, accompanied by a nurse. Because of the misdiagnosis, that didn't happen. Those same day tickets cost me a pile of $$$, and I went to bat with the insurance company, which eventually coughed up the dough.
If you have serious traumatic injuries, with a clear emergency, then the insurance will pay more readily. If it is some other health issue, particularly if misdiagnosed, prepare for a battle.
Regardless, I still recommend buying the coverage.