Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Should You Buy International Travel Health Insurance?

Will Your Medical Plan Cover You Across The US Border?

Most people spend a lot of time planning for a trip to another country. They arrange for transportation, hotels, and sightseeing. They may even buy new clothes and personal items to take with them. Planning foreign travel can be a big job. It is probably fair to assume that most international travelers have good US medical insurance. However, they never bother to find out if their US health insurance covers them when they travel over the border.

Does US Health Insurance Cover Foreign Travel?

Some American insurance plans have no coverage outside of the USA. Others only have very limited coverage. Some network medical insurance plans may only cover local networks. Others may make exceptions for travel.

Many plans will cover emergency care, but it is important to find out how your insurer defines an emergency. If you get sick or inured, it is not always easy to know how serious of a problem you have. You need a medical professional to help you! If plans do cover emergency care, they usually define it as anything a reasonable person would seek treatment for. You need to check with your own insurer to be sure you understand how they regard urgent or emergency situations.

Basic Medicare rarely covers treatment in foreign countries. You may have purchased additional coverage that will cover it, or your additional coverage may also be limited to the USA.

Of course, while you are making plans for a trip to another country, you should contact your own medical insurance provider or agent to find out how you are covered when you leave the country. Make sure you understand how you can get your treatments covered while you are over the US border, or even across the ocean.

International Travel Policies

If you do not have international coverage, or if your coverage is very limited, you may want to consider buying an international health insurance plan. You can find these plans advertised on the Internet. In addition, your travel agent or booking service may have more information.

These policies and companies vary a lot, so be sure you take the time to research different providers. Not all travel policies provide medical coverage. Some travel policies do cover health care, and they also cover other services. I cannot recommend any particular plan. You might browse some travel sites to see what the experts, or other travelers, recommend.

Have A Fantastic Trip!

I sincerely hope you have a great trip! I hope you never need to use any of the benefits that travel insurance provides. But if you do have a problem, during your trip, you may be very happy that you took the time to select a good travel policy!

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