Andre Sanchez

It is vital in these days of international travel that you are aware of international travel health insurance requirements. Although international travel has been readily available to everybody for a number of years, there is still a belief among many people that their personal home health insurance covers them for illness abroad.

If travel insurance is offered with a vacation, most will accept it, but if not then there is a growing body that do not consider taking out a separate policy for their travel abroad. It is only when the unthinkable happens that they find out their error. The time to consider health insurance is prior to departure, not once you are there. Some domestic health insurance policies cover some health issues in foreign countries, but many do not. The vast majority do not cover everything, so once you have decided on your destination either check out your policy, or even better, pick up the phone and ask.  Explain where you are going, for how long and ask what you are covered for.

Much depends on your nationality and where you are visiting. EU citizens, for example, are generally covered for most treatments within member countries, though you should get a form from your home country health service stating that you are entitled to free health care in your own country. USA citizens may or may not receive free treatment in EU countries, depending upon the agreement with the particular country you are visiting.

Senior citizens should be aware that Medicare applies to the USA only, and that they are not covered for treatment abroad.  Some countries such as the UK will not charge you, but others will not commence treatment until you can prove ability to pay. It is not only whether you are covered by international travel insurance or not, but equally important is the level of that cover. How long a hospital stay does it cover?  Does it cover evacuation to your own country? All treatment and drugs needed? 

Think of everything that can go wrong health-wise on your vacation, and then check how much of that your insurance covers you for.  You can then judge whether you require extra or not. For example, you might have basic travel insurance through your credit card, and decide to top up for what that does not cover. However, you cannot do that until you know exactly what you are covered for, and by whom.

Many international health insurance policies cover you for a set number of days, after which the cost is your responsibility. It is wise to be aware of that. Another mistake that some make is to take out travel insurance, and then assume that covers them for medical emergencies. If you are paying for travel insurance then you should know exactly what you are paying for. Check the policy carefully before even purchasing it and make sure you fully understand its terms.

Some insurance policies are only travel policies, covering you for such eventualities as cancellations, lost luggage and the like.  They don’t even mention health or accidents, and yet people believe themselves to be covered.  This is particularly true in countries such as the UK where residents never have to pay for emergency medical treatment.  Health cover tends not to be a priority since they assume that the same is true in other countries:  until they get ill or have an accident!

There are as many options with travel health insurance as there are with any other insurance.  If auto insurance confuses you, you can be sure that health insurance will do the same. There are lots of different types of policy to choose from, and quite frankly people tend to make it difficult for themselves. They pay using a credit card and then fail to ask the card company what insurance they are offering. They also look for cover for eventualities highly unlikely to occur due to a lack of knowledge of the country they are visiting.

First look at what cover you can get free of charge.  Try the credit card company and the vacation company. They might offer you some degree of cover of you ask.  Then decide what other lower cost insurance you can get.  If you are flying, you can generally get cheaper flight insurance from the airport than a travel insurance company. Also check up on your life insurance or even accident insurance policy for any exclusion for foreign travel.  If no exclusions are stated, then in most cases you are covered while abroad for at least the basic cover needed.

It is your personal decision as to what level of cover you need, and whether or not you think it likely that you will suffer a serious accident.  You can only pay for the cover that you can afford, but you must at least be aware of what your cover is, and what it costs to increase it to a higher level to allow such services as air evacuation back to your home country, or total cover for all health treatment costs in a foreign country.

International travel health insurance is not an easy subject to understand, but if you take advice and compare what you have with what you think you should have, then at least your cover will be what you have decided to have, and you will not be unpleasantly surprised.

International Travel Health Insurance was originally published at http://www.globallifenow.com