What Does Travel Medical Insurance Cover

If the vacation you are planning is an adventure in a remote location or in an area where contracting malaria is a possibility, or if it evokes some other fears in you, then travel medical insurance may help you relax on your vacation. Travel medical insurance can lessen your concerns about the cost of any treatment you might need while traveling.

Function

If you are on a trip and have an accident or get sick, travel medical insurance can help cover your costs. Your current health insurance plan may cover you in foreign countries and areas in the U.S. that are outside of your usual area of service; however, the coverage may be more limited than you think. Travel medical insurance helps make up the difference in cost and coverage from your primary health insurance.

Types

The major types of travel medical insurance cover two basic scenarios: medical expenses from accidents or sickness and emergency transportation, including medical evacuation. Insurance companies and plans offer coverage for different types of injuries and illnesses and for different coverage amounts. One website where you can compare options from various travel medical insurance providers is www.insuremytrip.com.

Features

Travel medical insurance could cover medical expenses such as a long stay in a hospital or prescriptions that you must fill while on a trip for an illness contracted on that trip. You might also need emergency transportation from falling during a climb and breaking your leg. Sometimes you can get the best treatment for an injury or a serious illness by returning to the U.S. Even going to a hospital in the area where you are visiting might be a long, expensive drive in an ambulance or taxi.

Facts

While getting sick or injured is possible anywhere, your chances of being in a serious car accident are higher in industrializing countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia. According to the Association for Safe International Road Travel , "Death and injury rates [from traffic accidents] are between 20 to 80 times as high as equivalent rates in industrialized countries."

Considerations

Check to see what your current health insurance covers when you are traveling. Look at how far you will be from major hospitals on your trip. If you are traveling to remote areas of foreign countries, you may want to make sure that a medical evacuation is covered, either by your current insurance plan or by a separate travel medical insurance policy.

Resources

• InsureMyTrip.com