Do you like to travel?
Traveling is an amazing and fulfilling experience, however planning vacations can be exhausting and leave you feeling burned out, before your trip even begins!
When planning a trip, entertainment, transportation, accommodations, are always a top priority but what about the unexpected. Traveling leaves you hours away from relatives and your regular doctor. Often times, existing medical insurance policies are not valid once you leave the United States or your home country.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is a temporary insurance policy. It covers your vacation travel or business trip. The travel medical insurance can be used independently, or can work with your existing insurance policy to ensure no gaps in coverage exists. Nothing is more stressful than having an emergency, only to find your insurance policy is missing a specific rider. The financial burden alone is enough to turn an expensive vacation into a life changing financial burden.
Travel medical insurance focuses on urgent care and evacuation costs.
Many travel agencies offer travel medical insurance however not all policies are equal. If you can go directly to the insurance provider, you can save a significant amount of money on your travel policy. You can even get travel insurance quotes online, saving you time and money.
Real examples of why travel insurance is important
- You’re on a business trip and contract a severe illness
- You trip and break a tooth.
- You are injured in a fall.
Vacations are all about having fun and you can enjoy your vacation travel more if you’re insured. Peace of mind is an important feature often forgotten when traveling. When traveling with your family, knowing your family is covered in the event of an emergency can provide you with the peace of mind needed to fully enjoy your vacation.
Medical plans follow certain guidelines in their coverage. Of course, you can use the plans in different countries but it all depends in the circumstances. For instance, you get sick on board a cruise ship, some plans may only cover a portion of your total medical expenses. With travel insurance, the full medical bills will be paid and you may enjoy other benefits as well.
Travel medical insurance can be obtained without the need for medical exam. Travel medical insurance policies are available to almost every traveler. Pre-existing conditions are not covered by most policies but unforeseen accidents are fully covered.
Travel medical insurance is very easy to purchase and often times can be done online via one of these insurance companies.
Types of Travel Medical Insurance Policies
Most companies offer several different insurance plans to meet your needs. Whether you are expecting to stay for months or a weekend, a plan exists to fit your needs and budget.
Short Term
Short term medical coverage is a comprehensive package of short term accident and sickness insurance, emergency transportation coverage, and more. Some common features of a short term medical coverage are.
- Emergency Medical Expense Benefit ($$$)
- Physicians’ fees and hospital expenses
- Emergency medical evacuation
- Special trip expenses for accompanying travelers (18 and under)
- and more
Long Term
Some long term packages are more complex and offer more protections for travelers.
- Emergency Medical Expense Benefits ($$$)
- Low deductibles ($100-$250)
- Emergency medical evacuation
- Special trip expenses for accompanying travelers (18 and under)
- and more
Cost of Medical Travel Insurance
Plans range in pricing and some plans are based on your age, selected medical benefits, trip length, and your deductible.
Here is a chart from MedEx that describes their daily rates based on a $250 deductible.
Fig. 1 Outbound from U.S. – Daily Rates
| Age | $50,000 | $100,000 | $250,000 | $500,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Child Alone (0-17) | 1.22 | 1.35 | 1.42 | 1.55 |
| 18 to 29 | 1.22 | 1.42 | 1.57 | 1.62 |
| 30 to 39 | 1.42 | 1.62 | 1.93 | 2.15 |
| 40 to 49 | 2.22 | 2.50 | 2.65 | 2.75 |
| 50 to 59 | 3.57 | 4.12 | 4.35 | 4.58 |
| 60 to 64 | 4.12 | 4.85 | 5.25 | 5.73 |
| 65 to 69 | 4.85 | 5.18 | 5.50 | 5.93 |
| 70 to 79 | 7.07 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 80 plus * | 14.13 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Dep. Child (0-17) | 0.68 | 0.88 | 0.95 | 1.02 |
*Rates current as of March 29th, 2015 at Medexassist.com
As you can see from the chart above, the daily premiums for medical travel insurance are incredibly affordable. Make sure that you stick with the reputable and experienced insurance providers. After all, you’re going to pay for the policies and you need to ensure that you’re protected by a company with a solid reputation. Secure travel medical insurance now before it’s too late.
