No one wants to get sick while on vacation, and an illness or injury can be one of the most devastating events that can happen during a trip.
Travel medical insurance is designed to help in these cases. It’s especially important if you’re traveling outside the country, where your U.S. health plan will generally have limited or no coverage. And Medicare doesn’t cover health care outside the U.S.
What is Travel Medical Insurance?
Travel medical insurance pays for emergency medical expenses during a trip. If you are traveling and have an unexpected illness, injury or medical condition that’s covered by your travel medical insurance, the plan will reimburse you, up to the plan limits.
Travel medical insurance pays “reasonable and customary” charges for bills such as:
- Ambulance service
- Doctor bills
- Hospital and operating room charges
- X-rays, examinations, treatments, lab tests and anesthetics
- Drugs and medicines
- Dental care, but check for special limits on the dental payout, such as $500
Generally, there are two forms of travel medical insurance :
- Stand-alone medical insurance plans: These plans cover emergency medical and dental expenses you incur while traveling. However, a stand-alone medical plan doesn’t include other travel insurance coverage such as trip cancellation insurance or baggage coverage.
- As part of a comprehensive travel insurance plan: In addition to emergency medical benefits, a comprehensive travel insurance plan can package coverage for trip cancellation, trip delay, emergency medical evacuation, baggage loss and more. It’s the best way to cover a host of potential problems.
Travel medical insurance is for medical emergencies while traveling, like a sprained ankle while sightseeing. It does not cover non-emergency or elective procedures.
“It’s not intended for experimental medical treatment in a foreign country,” explains Carol Mueller, vice president at Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection. “It’s designed for travelers who face medical or dental emergencies and require care and treatment while traveling.”
Primary vs. Secondary Medical Coverage
Travel medical insurance can be primary or secondary coverage, depending on the plan. If it’s primary, it will pay out before any other health insurance you have. If you have health insurance and buy travel medical insurance as secondary coverage, your own health plan must pay first.
If you’re traveling overseas where your U.S. health plan doesn’t provide coverage, a travel medical plan that’s “secondary” will essentially become primary coverage due to lack of other insurance.
Getting to a Better Location
You also want to consider emergency medical evacuation insurance. This pays for you to get to the nearest adequate medical facility, or even back home, depending on your condition. For example, if you’re vacationing in a remote part of the world, this would be essential coverage to have. Medical evacuation back to the U.S. can cost more than $50,000, according to the U.S. Department of State.
Be aware of your travel insurance policy’s rules for evacuation. For example, some policies might pay to transport you back to the U.S. only after you’ve been hospitalized for seven days following a medical emergency.
What’s Not Covered by Travel Medical Insurance?
What’s covered and excluded by a travel medical insurance plan will depend on the travel insurance company. Here are some common exclusions.
Pre-existing conditions. How pre-existing conditions are covered will vary by travel insurance company, and one insurer might define a “pre-existing condition” differently than the next. Some insurance companies will take a look at your past medical history to determine if a condition was present during a period that could range from 90 days to one year ago, depending on the policy.
Travel insurance plans will generally cover pre-existing conditions as long as you buy your plan within a couple of weeks after you make your first trip deposit. Buying your plan right away lets you lock in a pre-existing condition exclusion waiver. For example, Allianz Travel requires you to meet the following requirements before it will cover expenses due to a pre-existing medical condition:
- Your policy was purchased within the timeframe specified by your plan (for example, within 14 days of the initial trip payment).
- You were a U.S. resident when you purchased the policy.
- You were medically able to travel when you purchased the policy.
- On the policy purchase date, you insured the full nonrefundable cost of your trip with Allianz Global Assistance. Any subsequent nonrefundable costs must be insured within 14 days of their purchase. If you fail to do so, those expenses will be excluded under the pre-existing medical condition exclusion.
Intoxication and drug use. Travel medical insurance typically won’t cover emergency medical costs due to intoxication or drug use. For example, if you become intoxicated and fall off a balcony, your travel medical insurance won’t cover the cost of your injuries.
Dangerous activities. Some travel medical insurance policies won’t cover expenses that resulted from activities such as mountain climbing, skydiving or parasailing. If you plan to engage in activities like this, work with a travel insurance agent to compare adventure travel insurance plans to make sure your particular activities will be covered.
Other typical exclusions to travel medical insurance include:
- Routine medical examinations, such as vaccinations or immunizations
- Obesity or weight modification, such as intestinal bypass surgery
- Organ or tissue transplants
- Corrective devices and medical appliances, such as eyeglasses or contact lenses
How Much Travel Medical Insurance Should You Have?
It’s a good idea to select a plan with enough coverage based upon the type of trip you’re taking. For example, emergency medical evacuation from a cruise ship can cost between $50,000 and $100,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The most generous travel insurance plans provide $500,000 per person for emergency medical expenses and $1 million for emergency medical evacuation.
Other good plans have ample medical coverage of $250,000 or $100,000 per person. And some have less, which you might find sufficient. See Forbes Advisor’s ratings of the best travel insurance.
Here are examples of travel insurance plans with at least $100,000 coverage for medical expenses and at least $250,000 for emergency evacuation.
Examples of Travel Insurance Plans With Good Medical Coverage
Who Needs Travel Medical Insurance?
Even travelers in good health should have some form of travel medical insurance if they’re going outside the U.S. According to Allianz Travel, the most common overseas medical emergencies their policyholders experience include:
- Fractures from falls
- Trauma involving motor vehicles
- Respiratory problems such as a collapsed lung
- Cardiovascular problems such as a heart attack
If you don’t have the right coverage in place and you get injured or sick on your trip, you’ll be stuck paying medical bills out-of-pocket.
Senior travelers, especially, should make sure to have good medical benefits when traveling abroad, since Medicare won’t provide benefits outside the U.S.
“If you’re traveling outside the United States you absolutely need some form of travel medical insurance. You also need to look at where you are traveling outside the country because medical care varies greatly around the world,” says Mueller at Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection.
