Traditionally travel insurance has been thought of as a type of insurance that people take out when they are travelling overseas, where they might need emergency medical treatment, repatriation to their own country, lost baggage or stolen valuables etc.
Whilst this is true to an extent still, travel insurance has also become much more of an extension of people’s health insurance policy, by virtue of health insurance plans often becoming much more limited in terms of scope and area that they are applicable to.
For many people the main focus of travel insurance relates to the need for medical insurance when travelling away from their home. Increasingly this can relate not only to overseas travel, but also to out-of-state or out of province travel as well.
The most important thing to check first of all is exactly what geographical area your healthcare insurance plan covers you for, and if it specifically excludes any overseas travel or out-of-state travel or any specific geographical area that is not covered.
Once this has been assessed, you can check and see if your plan has any reciprocal agreements with other health care providers or potentially other countries that allow you to use your plan when travelling.
Once these options have been looked at, then travel insurance becomes much more attractive in terms of being able to assess what your needs are and which provider can best meet those needs.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance traditionally is costed on the likelihood of you living urgent medical treatment abroad and/or possible repatriation to where you live. For this reason your travel insurance quote is likely to request a significant amount of information regarding your health or health status.
If you have had any relatively serious health or healthcare issues in the recent past or even historically, then the travel insurance company may well exclude these conditions from the benefits or terms and conditions of your policy. This is an important consideration when travelling as otherwise you may be liable for such costs yourself.
Another important factor to consider is that even if you do have extensive travel insurance that covers you medically for the cost of treatment and/or repatriation, it is a good idea to check that the health care providers and hospitals in the area you are going to visit will accept health insurance as a way of payment.
Some countries/areas are fairly notorious at being difficult or even refusing to accept travel insurance as a legitimate form of payment. Some hospitals expect you to pay first and then claim back on your travel insurance later.
