Don’t forget to pack your health insurance

Stay protected abroad, and save thousands, with travel medical insurance. 

Now that you’ve retired, you’re finally booking that tour of Southeast Asia you’ve been planning for years. You’ve plotted your itinerary, updated your passports and arranged for a pet-sitter – you may have even purchased trip cancellation insurance in case some unforeseen event interferes with your trip.

But what if that unforeseen event is a medical emergency?

Medicare doesn’t cover medical care received abroad, nor do many U.S.-based health insurance plans. Many providers will require cash up front for medical services, which can result in thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. Even if your destination has nationalized healthcare, that service may not be available to nonresidents.

Enter travel medical insurance, an industry that’s booming as more older adults plan trips abroad. The global travel health insurance market is predicted to more than double in the next five years, topping $63 billion by 2030. Even Cigna and FloridaBlue have gotten in the game, launching insurance products geared toward retirees, expats and international travelers.

Different types of coverage

Travel insurance policies run the gamut. You can buy trip interruption insurance, travel medical insurance, or comprehensive travel insurance, which includes both.

Before deciding on a policy, be sure to check any existing coverage to make sure you don’t double up. If you have a premium travel credit card, you’re likely covered for trip disruptions and lost luggage, so a stand-alone travel medical insurance policy may be sufficient. Some cards even include medical coverage, but they generally have lower limits and fewer protections than a stand-alone policy.

Here are some different types of coverage to consider:

• Emergency medical coverage pays for unexpected medical expenses like doctor and hospital visits.
• Medical evacuation insurance covers transport to the nearest suitable medical facility if adequate care isn’t available locally.
• Repatriation coverage pays for transport home if medically necessary, or the return of remains to the United States.
• A pre-existing condition waiver can cover medical issues that existed before you booked your trip, like diabetes, hypertension or asthma.

These types of coverage can be purchased separately or as part of a comprehensive travel insurance policy.

Other considerations

When purchasing travel medical insurance, pay attention to whether your policy offers primary or secondary coverage. With a primary policy, you can submit a claim directly to the travel insurance company. If the policy is secondary, you’ll need to submit your claim to your U.S.-based health insurance provider first.

If you’re planning to take more than one trip in the near future, multi-trip insurance might be more cost-effective than buying multiple single-trip policies. Multi-trip insurance covers you for a predetermined period – usually a year – during which you can leave and come home as many times as you like, to and from as many different destinations as you like. So, for example, you could spend two months exploring Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, come home for a few months, take a 10-day trip to the UK, come home for a week, then spend three weeks traveling around South America – and be covered whenever you’re abroad. It’s worth noting that multi-trip policies require you to also have U.S.-based health insurance.

Between booking flights, packing bags and planning your itinerary, the last thing you need to worry about is a medical emergency abroad. A travel medical insurance policy can help you focus on the adventure ahead. Hopefully you’ll never need it, but if you do, you’ll be glad it’s there.

Sources: Center for Disease Control, U.S. Department of State