International travel insurance claims information

• Understand your policy: Make sure you know your policy coverage details and beware of anything that is not covered in your plan. Some treatments might require pre-authorization and failing to do this might result in denial of the claim.
• Seek treatment at in-network provider: Choose to seek treatment if possible at an in-network healthcare provider who meets the requirements of your plan. This will be faster than an out-of-network provider where unfamiliarity with international insurance might slow down the processing of the claim.
• Collect necessary documentation: Collect all the necessary medical records, itemized bills, and prescription bills carefully and ensure to keep the copies of these as a backup in case the submitted documents did not make it to the insurer through postal service.
• Claim submission: For each family member, you need to submit a new claims form, and a new claim form is required for every new condition treated. The claim needs to be submitted before the specified duration for submission, which is usually 60 or 90 days from the date of service. It is always recommended to file a claim as soon as the treatment begins.
• Follow up: Ensure that you have the confirmation that your service provider has received your claim. Keep track of the claim status through the insurer's portal or by contacting their customer service with the phone number listed in the claim form.

• Documentation issues: Incomplete documentation or missing of medical reports, itemized bills can lead to delay in claim processing.
• Communication gaps: Delay in communication between policy holder, healthcare provider and the insurer can cause hindrance in claim processing.
• Understanding the policy: Some individuals might not have understood what exactly is covered and this might delay the claim processing.
• Choosing the healthcare provider: Navigating varying healthcare systems and regulations in different countries can be complex, therefore ensure you have chosen a good healthcare provider.

The insurance company will need 3 to 4 weeks of time to complete the process of the claim submitted after the complete submission of the claim. After submitting the claim form to the insurance company, the company will send the benefits explanation provided for the specific kind of benefit by the plan that you have. Reading it carefully and submitting any required or requested information in time to the company is the key role the client should perform with due diligence.

Once the insurance company receives the required information from the client, the payment will be made accordingly. If it is a direct billing, the insurance company will directly pay the amount to the provider or if it needs to be reimbursed to the client, the insurance company will reimburse the client with the payment.

In both the cases the payment will be the same. The payment of claims delayed or denied by the insurance company without any reason or any excuses are not true. Many claims are pending to be cleared due to the company waiting for the client to provide the required medical records or documents. It is important for the client to communicate with the healthcare provider to provide the required documents to settle the claim in time.

Claims process information of various plans offered by prominent insurers is displayed below. Travelers or students can easily access relevant claims forms and apply for claiming the medical benefits.