While a lot of people think “I’m healthy, I don’t need
travel insurance. I won’t get sick,” travel insurance is something you
absolutely need on the road. You never know what could happen, and most health
plans don’t cover you overseas.
Travel insurance is much more than just medical protection.
It covers you when your camera breaks, your flight is canceled, a family member
dies and you have to come home, lose a bag, or something is stolen. It’s
all-purpose emergency coverage and is the single most important thing you
should get but hope to never have to use.
My friend never thought he would break his leg hiking in New
Zealand. A writer I know had to be helicoptered out of the Amazon after he fell
off a boat. Another friend didn’t think her father would die and she would have
to fly back home. I never planned on falling in the sea in Italy with my camera
or popping my eardrum in Thailand, but I did and, if it wasn’t for my travel
insurance, I would have been out a lot of money.
Travel insurance really only costs a few dollars a day.
You’d be foolish not to get it.
Personally I use and recommend World Nomads. They've always
had my back when something happened.
Travel insurance is one of the most complex and confusing
aspects of trip planning. With the myriad of plans and companies out there,
people can easily get confused about what they should get and why. Given its
importance and the amount of time it’s been since I last discussed it, I want
to start the year by discussing it again.
Here is how to avoid getting a bad insurance plan and not be
properly covered:
What to look for in a great plan
There are a lot of options out there. This is a
billion-dollar business, and everyone wants their hand in the cookie jar, thus
you face a mind-numbing number of choices that can be confusing and
overwhelming. And, often, in the fine print, you’ll find that plans aren’t as
good as you thought.
When looking for a
Medical
Travel Insurance plan, first make sure they have a high coverage limit on
your medical expenses. A good company will provide up to $100,000 in coverage
care, though more expensive policies will cover you for higher amounts. The
maximum coverage limit you can find is around $1,000,000 USD, though I’m not
sure why you would ever need a limit that large. High coverage limits are
important because if you get sick, injured, or need serious attention and have
to seek professional care, you want to make sure your high hospital bills are
covered. The worst thing you can do is go cheap and get a policy with a $20,000
coverage limit, break a leg, and reach that limit before they are done taking
care of you. Don’t be cheap with your health. Get minimum coverage of $100,000.
Second, you want to make sure your policy also covers
emergency evacuation and care that is separate from your medical coverage. If
you are hiking in the woods and you break your leg, your policy should cover
your evacuation to the hospital. If a natural disaster occurs and you need to
be evacuated to somewhere else, your plan should cover that as well. This
protection should cover an expense of up to $300,000 USD.
Additionally, evacuation also should mean from the hospital
to your home country. Standard emergency evacuation usually includes this
provision, but it’s important you double-check a company will cover the cost of
your flight back home if you need it.
A great policy will always include the following provisions:
Cover most countries in the world
Some coverage for your electronics (and have the option for
a higher coverage limit)
Cover injury and sudden illnesses
Twenty-four hour emergency services and help (you don’t want
to call to be told to call back later)
Cover lost, damaged or stolen possessions like jewelry,
baggage, documents, cameras, etc.
Cover cancellations such as hotel bookings, flight, and
other transportation bookings if you have a sudden illness, death in the
family, or some other emergency
Cover emergencies, strife in the country visited, etc., that
cause you to head home early
Should include personal accident coverage
Have financial protection if any company you are using goes
bankrupt and you are stuck in another country
Don’t get a policy that doesn’t cover these bullet points!
What isn’t covered is just as important as what is
Know what is also not covered by your Medical Travel
Insurance plan. Most policies do not cover accidents sustained while
participating in extreme adventure activities such as hang gliding,
paragliding, or bungee jumping unless you pay extra. The majority of companies
won’t cover you if you injure someone on the road (called third-party
liability). Policies do not normally cover alcohol- or drug-related incidents,
or carelessness in handling your possessions and baggage. You won’t get
reimbursed if the problem happened because you were reckless, and how
“reckless” is defined is a matter up to each company. Simply put, if a
reasonable person wouldn’t partake in what caused your accident, you won’t be
covered.
Moreover, you won’t be covered for pre-existing conditions
or general check-ups. For example, if you have diabetes and need to buy more
insulin, you won’t be covered. If you want to go see a doctor for a general
check-up, you aren’t covered either.
The medical portion of travel insurance is more about
emergency care than being a replacement for your normal healthcare. A lot of
people purchase insurance thinking it is, then get disappointed when they find
out they can’t go get an annual physical with it. Travel insurance is accident
insurance. It is there to protect you in case of emergency and, if need be, get
you home in a hurry. If you want a global health plan (because, say you now
live in Beijing), you need a completely different type of plan.
Making a claim
If you make a claim, remember that any travel insurance
company, no matter how good, is there to make money and will try to avoid
paying out as much as they can. They are, after all, an insurance company and
they don’t make money by paying out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry. Be prepared
to wait to receive your money, because even the best companies drag their feet.
In order to ensure that you do get paid your claim, make sure you have all your
receipts, necessary forms, and proper documentation — all of it will help make
your claim go through a lot quicker.
SOURCE: [ http://blogs.rediff.com/travelinsurance/2016/06/23/medical-travel-insurance/
]
