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Medical/Health Travel Insurance

Packing your suitcase for a trip, consider taking adequate Travel Insurance as the most important item. Though insurance is the item you hope to never use, proper coverage provides you with the right attitude towards possible travel problems and gives you peace of mind. Vacations can be very costly, and you need protection in case the tour operator or cruise goes bankrupt or you need to cancel your trip due to illness or some other unforeseen event.

When purchasing Travel Insurance, you should know what aspects of your trip you need protected most of all. Choosing the right plan from a variety of Travel Insurance types can be quite a challenge. Travel Insurance offers you protection against a variety of mishaps: trip cancellation and interruption, health problems during the travel, situations when your luggage is lost or property damaged, etc.

Strictly speaking, Travel Insurance protection is usually divided into the following categories: trip investment, property, health and life protection. Trip investment protection means covering the cost of your trip should your trip be canceled, interrupted, or delayed due to some circumstances. Property protection offers coverage in case of luggage loss, delay, or rental car damage. Health protection tackles your health problems while traveling, medical emergency, dental emergency, or cases when medical evacuation is needed. Life protection takes care of air flight and common carrier accidents. Travel Insurance packages offering several options are also available.

Traveling overseas implies not only new positive impressions, interesting and exciting adventure, but may also be associated with some difficulties and unpredictable situations. The mere thought about getting sick or injured on the road or in a foreign country is frightening to most of us.

You may face the complications related to a different culture and a foreign language, trying to locate doctors, hospitals and other healthcare facilities and providers should you need medical help in a foreign country. Another problem is that few traditional medical insurance plans offer international coverage in addition to domestic application. Health Insurance plans with limited benefits do not offer adequate coverage in case medically supervised emergency evacuation or repatriation is required.

Check with your Health Insurance carrier what coverage you have when you are planning to travel abroad. Find out if the existing policy will pay your transportation back home or to a country with first-rate medical care should an accident happen. Senior citizens should know that in most cases Medicare program does not cover health care in a foreign country. Having got used to quality medical care and coverage at home, traveling to different countries you should not leave it behind. This is when Travel Insurance is a necessity.

Health protection aspect deals with travel medical insurance, emergency medical evacuation and their variations. Medical Travel Insurance plan will offer protection in case the policyholder gets ill or injured during their travel. Travel medical policies may also help you with translation. Most Medical Travel Insurance plans will reimburse the traveler within 7 to 10 days after they have paid for their treatment locally.

Medical Travel Insurance is essential if you are traveling abroad. It is especially true when it comes to vacationers involved with skiing or hiking. Travel Health Insurance covers hospitalization you might need and all arrangements for the trip back if your condition requires immediate medical assistance at home or other place with adequate medical facilities.

Pre-existing medical conditions are often excluded by Travel Medical policies. Medical Travel Insurance policy offers coverage for health problems that occur during the term of the policy but not already existing illnesses of an applicant. Some plans cover pre-existing conditions if an insured person is currently covered by an appropriate Health Insurance plan, or in case the Travel Health Insurance policy is purchased within 21 days from the date the traveler made the first trip payment.

It is necessary to declare pre-existing medical condition before you go for a trip. You can obtain a separate package that will cover pre-existing ailment while you travel. Remember that concealment of any information concerning a pre-existing illness will turn against you: if you experience any symptoms related to the pre-existing ailment during your trip, you won't be able to claim for insurance.

Comprehensive Travel Medical Insurance is meant for people who don't have any other medical insurance. Usually it is long-term travelers who left their jobs and consequently lost their Health Insurance coverage at home. It also applies to people who live and work outside their home country.

In serious cases, when a traveler is dangerously injured or sick and needs medical treatment at appropriate facility, Emergency Medical Evacuation is required. If a traveler is in a remote or rural area, Emergency Medical Evacuation Insurance provides coverage for transportation to a local hospital, to the hospital near home, or the hospital of the traveler's choice for treatment.

For example, this coverage would help you in case you had to stay for an extended period of time in a hospital in a foreign country, or you had a skiing accident up in the mountains and had to be transported in a plane on a stretcher with a doctor. If covered on the same policy, your family members can return home with you. Emergency Medical Evacuation is very expensive and may cost $10,000 if transportation by air is involved. Therefore, for long-distance trips sufficient coverage is highly recommended. This type of coverage is available not only with Travel protection plans, but also with International Medical Insurance, and can also be sold separately.

International Medical Insurance is designed to compensate medical expenses you might incur when you are traveling or living abroad for any period from two weeks to two years. International Medical Insurance offers such plans as Emergency Evacuation, Reunion, Repatriation benefits, as well as Accidental Death and Dismemberment insurance (AD&D). Maximum policy coverage levels can reach as much as $1 million in order to cover emergency surgery and extended hospital treatment.

Medical Travel Insurance coverage can be purchased through your tour or cruise operators, from a travel agent, or by individual insurance companies, specializing in this type of coverage. Your credit card company may provide some travel coverage as well. The cost of Travel Insurance largely depends on the level and details of coverage itself and insurance company. Generally, the cost can be from 5% to 12% of the cost of the trip. Almost all Travel Insurance policy types have deductibles.