Most travelers have heard of trip-cancellation insurance and believe it’s at least something to consider. But what about medical insurance for your journey? If you get sick while overseas, will your regular health insurance cover your care? Do you need to buy insurance if you’re on a cruise ship that has an infirmary on board? Is there any reason to buy travel health insurance if you’re traveling domestically?
Bottom Line Personal asked Suzanne Morrow, CEO of the travel-insurance comparison site InsureMyTrip.com, to explain who needs travel medical insurance…what these plans cover…and how to purchase a policy.
Who needs travel health insurance?
Anyone traveling should at least consider purchasing a policy. Your regular health insurance is unlikely to cover emergencies abroad, so if you’re going overseas you’ll want to buy international travel health insurance. In fact, having a certain amount of health-insurance coverage is an entry requirement to some destinations including all 29 Schengen Visa countries. (To see which countries are Schengen Visa countries, go to Consilium.europa.eu/en/infographics/schengen-visa.
Even if your travel is within the US, it might be a good idea to purchase travel health insurance because an emergency while you’re away from home could result in treatment at an out-of-network facility—and that could cost you a lot of money.
Many people think they don’t need travel medical insurance if they’re going to be on a cruise ship. Certainly if you get sick or injured on board, you’ll be treated in the ship’s facility…but you will be billed exorbitantly for it.
What’s covered?
Travel medical policies vary greatly in what they cover, so it’s important to look carefully at exclusions. Generally, a policy will cover impromptu doctor visits, visits to urgent care or emergency rooms, hospitalizations, emergency medicines and dental emergencies. If you break your leg coming down the steps of a museum…if you suffer a heart attack in your hotel room…if your taxi is involved in an accident and you need medical transport to the next town…most policies will take care of you.
Some medical travel policies will pay for evacuations and even repatriation of human remains, things that nobody’s regular health insurance policy would ever cover. Other help you can get as a result of these policies include arranging for care…providing translation with health-care providers…and even performing such services as replacing your broken eyeglasses, refilling your prescriptions and helping you deal with a lost passport.
Most travel health insurance policies exclude elective procedures and medical tourism, drug- and alcohol-related events, accidents on rented mopeds, and injuries from team sports and adventure activities. Before you buy a policy, make sure that the things you’re planning on doing will be covered. Keep in mind: Some policies have lookback periods from 60 days to two years—they won’t cover events related to medical issues you’ve had during that period.
How much do travel health insurance policies cost?
International health insurance for travel is surprisingly inexpensive, generally between $25 and $100 and typically providing between $50,000 and $1 million in coverage. Deductibles vary but can be as little as $0.
Premiums are not based on the length of your trip but rather on your age and the extent of coverage you’re seeking. Frequent travelers may buy multi-trip policies in the form of an annual plan, but these may not be used as a substitute for regular health insurance.
How do I obtain a travel health insurance policy?
Often when you book a flight, cruise or excursion online, you’re prompted to purchase insurance at the point of sale. This is never a good idea—what you get is a watered-down policy, typically with high deductibles, that’s unlikely to meet your needs.
Instead, visit a comparison site such as InsureMyTrip.com to find the best travel health insurance for you from among the various options. You have a great deal of control over the features of the policy you buy. Because purchasing insurance should always be done carefully, some sites allow you to ask questions of licensed agents. Note: Most travel agents are not licensed in insurance and therefore not reliable sources of information about travel medical insurance.
Medical insurance often is bundled with trip-cancellation insurance into a “comprehensive” or package plan that also covers such eventualities as cancelled flights and lost luggage. In the US, it’s easy to find standalone travel health insurance policies, but policies for just trip cancellation are virtually non-existent. If you buy a comprehensive policy, you’ll still be able to select your medical-insurance features with a great deal of precision.
Before you buy: Read the policy carefully or, even better, talk through it with a licensed agent. Each state regulates insurance licensing independently. You want to make sure that you’re getting the right deductible and coverage levels and that nothing about your planned trip will result in an exclusion.
