Travel Medical Insurance: What Is It And How Can It Help?
Travel medical insurance can refund travelers if a medical emergency occurs during their trip. Due to the potential high cost of receiving medical treatment abroad, this is one of the main reasons many travelers buy insurance for their vacations.
Because many U.S.-based health insurance providers don’t extend coverage overseas, travel medical insurance policies can be an inexpensive way to have coverage during international travel. There are two main benefits: Emergency Medical and Medical Evacuation & Repatriation.
Travel Medical Insurance: Emergency Medical Coverage
Emergency Medical coverage can reimburse the costs associated with medical treatment for an unexpected illness or injury during your trip.
The Emergency Medical benefit will either have Primary or Secondary coverage, depending on the policy. With Primary coverage, you can immediately file a claim with your travel insurance provider. With Secondary coverage, you will need to file with your health insurance provider first, even if you know the claim will be denied, and then you can file your claim with your travel insurance.
Squaremouth recommends $50,000 in Emergency Medical coverage for international trips, and $100,000 for cruises or trips to remote destinations.
Travel Medical Insurance: Medical Evacuation Coverage
Medical Evacuation coverage can arrange your transportation to the nearest hospital in the event of a medical emergency. This benefit can also cover the cost to be transported home if the treating physician deems it necessary.
Squaremouth recommends $100,000 in Medical Evacuation coverage for international trips, and $250,000 for cruises or trips to remote destinations.
Comprehensive Policies with Travel Medical Insurance
Most travel insurance policies have a predetermined package of benefits that can’t be changed. Coverage limits can vary widely from one policy to the next, so it’s important to determine the minimum amount of protection you’d like before you begin comparing policies.
A policy’s premium depends on five primary factors: total trip cost, age of travelers, length of travel, the policy type, and total coverage amounts. If you would like a fully comprehensive single trip travel insurance policy, which includes coverage for medical emergencies, cancellations, delays, and luggage, you can choose to insure your trip cost. You can expect these policies to cost between 5% and 10% of the trip cost you insure. However, if you are only looking for travel medical insurance, you can save money by choosing not to insure your trip costs.