Travel Insurance for US travelers outside & within the US

Whether you are a frequent international traveler or an occasional overseas traveler, taking care of all travel related items while leaving the US should be a priority. Among these should be your travel health insurance also known as travel insurance for coverage outside of the United States. Traveling has now changed to a new normal due to coronavirus pandemic. Being safe and healthy is become one of the most important part of travelling.

US residents who are frequent international travelers will be aware that health insurance works quite differently outside the US. While some domestic US health insurance plans may cover a part of international healthcare costs most plans cover nothing or very little outside US national borders.

US Government sponsored healthcare programs like Medicare does not provide any coverage in foreign nations, this is particularly important given that Medicare recipients are seniors. Emergency medical evacuation coverage is a must and this gets very tricky when you are abroad and there are good chances where you might end up without coverage.

Choosing to include trip cancellation coverage with extra rider Cancel for any reason cover will be of good help in case of any sudden cancellation.

US Travel Health Insurance while abroad

There are many reputed US travel insurance plans available for both short and long term travel. These travel insurance plans cover healthcare related to unexpected sickness and injury while some of them extend their benefits to even cover acute onset of pre-existing conditions coverage.

A traveler should not confuse these with the trip insurance or regular traveler's insurance which provide coverage for the trip costs alone, such as if the trip gets cancelled, or the trip is interrupted. These insurance plans are available online and should be purchased before you leave on your travels for the best usage of these plans. These plans are also commonly known as Health/Accident insurance plans.

How do I choose the right international travel insurance for travel outside USA?

Travel health insurance plans cover unexpected sickness and injury and can extend benefits to cover unique benefits that you might be interested in. These benefits can include acute onset of pre-existing condition, adventure sports coverage, evacuation coverage... Some of these unique benefits are available as add on to the main plan. Usually the travellers age up to the age of 65 or in some plans 70, does not play a big role in getting coverage.

However after this age limit, available coverage gets reduced and the choices also narrow down. There are some comprehensive travel plans with good coverage and with higher medical maximum coverage even for acute onset of pre-existing condition available for seniors. Safe Travels Outbound insurance offered by Trawick International is one such plan which provides a policy maximum of $50,000 for ages 60 and over. This plan covers pre-existing conditions after 6 months look back period.

Patriot Platinum International offered by International Medical Group is one such plan with very good evacuation coverage and offers first class medical coverage for seniors. Voyager Essential insurance from Geoblue offers medical evacuation up to $500,000.

Patriot international Lite cover from Up to $1,000,000. (Also, please look up the Safe Travels plan; they have high evacuation amounts as well….) Other popular international health insurance plans include Atlas International which covers sports for no additional charge and Patriot international Lite which is a very economical option with an adventure sports rider available as an add-on.

While buying the travel health insurance plan is important it is equally important to establish the kind of coverage you will receive from it. The plans that we have discussed above are good for any unexpected sickness and injury and paying the hospital bills. They might have dental coverage for sudden pain. They will also provide baggage delay and trip interruption coverage. One should look at specific benefits to understand these benefits which are very useful while traveling abroad.

What are the Global health insurance plans with long term extensive coverage for US citizens living or working outside USA?

If you an expatriate outside the US with a long stay overseas and are interested in plans that have maternity coverage, preventive care services...you might want to consider long term comprehensive plans such as the Global medical plans from IMG. Global plans from Geoblue are some plans with coverage for expatriates who plan to travel abroad and stay in foreign country for a long term.

In an event where the trip needs to be cancelled or interrupted due to an unexpected event, Trip Cancellation insurance cover protects the health of the traveler and the cost of non-refundable trip expenses. It provides coverage for non-refundable trip expenses like hotel rooms, airline tickets lost or damaged, delayed or stolen baggage.

Some of the popular travel/trip insurance plans available are: Trip Insurance by International Medical Group and Travel Insurance Select from USI Travel Insurance Services. Travelers can include ‘Cancel for any reason” (CFAR) as an additional cover to get the maximum percentage of the cost of the trip covered up to 75% of the expenses for a future trip. CFAR provides coverage for any reason that may not be mentioned as a reason for coverage.

Which plans offer coverage for flight accidents?

Normally you find this insurance in the airport and it covers in case of flight accident/crash which is very rare. But these insurance plans provide very less coverage for medical part for unexpected sickness and injury making it a bad choice for travel/health insurance.

What are the exclusions in Travel insurance coverage?

It is important to be aware of what is excluded in a travel health insurance plan:

• Many kinds of adventure or hazardous sports activities are normally not covered in health insurance although there are exceptions.
• Health/accident insurance do not cover mental illness or substance abuse.
• Pregnancy and maternity coverage is available only after certain waiting period and not available for an existing case.
• Most of the plans might not cover prescription drugs for a pre-existing condition

Where can I get the best group travel insurance quotes?

In case you have a group of employees in your organization and they might want to travel internationally for training purposes, business purposes, then you can consider group plans from the following companies:

• IMG(International Medical Group) group plans
• Atlas Group Insurance
• Voyager Essential Group Insurance
• Voyager Choice group insurance

Buying Insurance is not an end in itself! It is important to make sure that you take good care of yourself, ironically so that you do not use your travel insurance. Make sure you have all you need for your international sojourn to make your trip a memorable happy experience.