With 15 years of immersion in the world of personal finance, Ashley Kilroy simplifies financial concepts for individuals striving toward financial security. Her expertise has been showcased in reputable publications including Rolling Stone, SmartAsse.
Ashley Kilroy Insurance WriterWith 15 years of immersion in the world of personal finance, Ashley Kilroy simplifies financial concepts for individuals striving toward financial security. Her expertise has been showcased in reputable publications including Rolling Stone, SmartAsse.
Written By Ashley Kilroy Insurance WriterWith 15 years of immersion in the world of personal finance, Ashley Kilroy simplifies financial concepts for individuals striving toward financial security. Her expertise has been showcased in reputable publications including Rolling Stone, SmartAsse.
Ashley Kilroy Insurance WriterWith 15 years of immersion in the world of personal finance, Ashley Kilroy simplifies financial concepts for individuals striving toward financial security. Her expertise has been showcased in reputable publications including Rolling Stone, SmartAsse.
Insurance Writer Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
Michelle Megna Lead Editor, InsuranceMichelle is a lead editor at Forbes Advisor. She has been a journalist for over 35 years, writing about insurance for consumers for the last decade. Prior to covering insurance, Michelle was a lifestyle reporter at the New York Daily News, a magazine.
| Lead Editor, Insurance
Updated: Jul 24, 2024, 11:45am
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Getty
No one wants to get sick while on vacation, and an illness or injury can be one of the most devastating events that can happen during a trip. Travel medical insurance is designed to help in these cases.
It’s especially important if you’re traveling outside the country, where your U.S. health plan may have limited or no coverage. And Medicare doesn’t cover health care outside the U.S., except in very narrow cases.
Travel medical insurance pays for emergency medical expenses during a trip. The plan will reimburse you, up to the plan limits, if you’re traveling and have an unexpected illness, injury or medical condition that’s covered by your travel medical insurance.
Generally, there are two forms of travel medical insurance:
Travel medical insurance covers medical emergencies while traveling, like a sprained ankle while sightseeing. It doesn’t cover non-emergency or elective procedures.
It’s not intended for experimental medical treatment in a foreign country. Travel medical insurance is designed for travelers who face medical or dental emergencies and require care and treatment while traveling.
— Carol Mueller, vice president at Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection
Travel medical insurance pays “reasonable and customary” charges for bills such as:
When you’re buying travel medical insurance, it’s important to know the difference between these coverage types.
Travel medical insurance can be primary or secondary coverage, depending on the plan.
How often you travel in a calendar year could be the deciding factor between these two coverage types. Here’s the difference between the two.
What’s covered and excluded by a travel medical insurance plan will depend on the travel insurance company. Here are some common exclusions.
How pre-existing conditions are covered varies by travel insurance company. One insurer might define a “pre-existing condition” differently than the next. Some insurance companies will look at your medical history to determine if a condition was present during a period that could range from 90 days to one year ago, depending on the policy.
Travel medical insurance typically won’t cover emergency medical costs related to intoxication or drug use. For example, if you become intoxicated and fall off a balcony, your travel medical insurance won’t cover the cost of your injuries.
Some travel medical insurance policies won’t cover expenses that result from activities such as mountain climbing, skydiving or parasailing. If you plan to engage in those activities, work with a travel insurance agent to compare adventure travel insurance plans to ensure your particular activities will be covered.
If you have a medical emergency while traveling abroad, contact your travel insurance company for assistance. Travel insurance companies offer 24/7 global assistance hotlines to help travelers in emergencies, including coordinating medical treatment, language translation and arranging for medevacs.
If you are traveling outside of the U.S., consider buying travel medical insurance even if you have a U.S.-based health plan. Many health plans won’t cover you outside the U.S. or provide only limited global coverage. If you get sick or injured, you could be stuck paying for your medical expenses out-of-pocket. Senior travelers should definitely get travel medical insurance because Original Medicare isn’t accepted outside the U.S., except in very limited cases.
It’s best to buy travel insurance within the first 14 days of your first trip deposit to get a pre-existing medical condition exclusion waiver. This waiver means that pre-existing conditions won’t be excluded from your travel medical coverage. Even if you miss the window from your first trip deposit, you can still buy travel insurance at the last minute.
Look at comprehensive travel insurance plans if you want coverage for problems such as trip cancellation, trip delay, trip interruption and lost baggage. If you only need travel medical coverage, it doesn’t make sense to spend money on coverage you won’t use and you can focus on medical-only plans.
Travel health insurance requirements aren’t common, but some countries require travelers to provide proof of medical coverage before being granted entry. Always check a country’s entry requirements before leaving the country. If your trip includes an organized tour, it’s also a good idea to check with the tour operator to determine if they have any specific insurance requirements.
Yes, most travel medical insurance policies cover Covid like any other illness. Covid medical coverage will fall under the limits of the plan’s travel medical insurance. It can cover any medical costs associated with contracting Covid during your trip, including doctor bills, medication and hospitalization. The best Covid travel insurance plans provide at least $100,000 in medical expense benefits and $250,000 in medical evacuation coverage. Additional travel insurance benefits, such as travel delay insurance, can cover the extra costs of Covid quarantines. For example, if you contract Covid during a trip and have to extend your stay because of a quarantine, your travel insurance plan can reimburse you for the extra costs—assuming the plan includes Covid coverage and you test positive.
Helping You Make Smart Insurance DecisionsGet Forbes Advisor’s ratings of the best insurance companies and helpful information on how to find the best travel, auto, home, health, life, pet, and small business coverage for your needs.
Thanks & Welcome to the Forbes Advisor Community!This form is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policyand Terms of Serviceapply.
By providing my email I agree to receive Forbes Advisor promotions, offers and additional Forbes Marketplace services. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information and details on how to opt out.
Was this article helpful? Share your feedback Send feedback to the editorial team Thank You for your feedback! Something went wrong. Please try again later. Best Travel Insurance Companies
By Michelle Megna
By Meera Pal
By Natalie Campisi
By Jason Metz
By Dawn Nici
By Meera Pal
Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.
Insurance WriterWith 15 years of immersion in the world of personal finance, Ashley Kilroy simplifies financial concepts for individuals striving toward financial security. Her expertise has been showcased in reputable publications including Rolling Stone, SmartAsset and Money Talks News. She's committed to equipping readers with the knowledge needed to achieve their financial goals.
© 2024 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Are you sure you want to rest your choices?The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. This compensation comes from two main sources. First, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. The compensation we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market. Second, we also include links to advertisers’ offers in some of our articles; these “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor. While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof. Here is a list of our partners who offer products that we have affiliate links for.
