How to Choose a Travel Medical Insurance Plan (2024)

Your grand adventure to Australia ends with a twisted ankle in the Outback. You hike all the way to the top of the Rocky Mountains, only to trip and cut yourself on your broken camera. Perhaps that cute animal you get too close to for a photo decides to attack. Sometimes accidents happen, even on the most well-planned excursion.

But these minor (or more serious) health concerns do not have to put your life abroad on hold if you’ve thought ahead with travel health insurance. A quick Google search shows hundreds of plans to choose from—something that can quickly become overwhelming. With all these options, how do you choose the right international travel medical insurancefor you?

First, don’t panic! Every problem has a solution, and it’s best when taken in steps. Follow these steps to find a plan.

Step 1 – Examine your current health care plan

If you have private health insurance in your home country, research whether it covers you internationally. Although very few plans cover everything you need when you travel abroad, you may be one of the lucky ones. Make sure you know exactly what is covered while you are overseas, how much coverage you have for those benefits, and how long it will cover you outside your home country.

Step 2 – Assess Your Needs

Consider what you will be doing during your time abroad. If you intend to ski, scuba dive, and bungee jump across America, you should certainly purchase a travel health insurance plan to cover those sorts of activities. However, if you plan on having a more sedate experience, or if your time abroad will mainly consist of work, you may need only a modest plan.

If you are married or have children, consider your family’s needs as well. If they need preventive medical services or coverage for a pre-existing condition, find a plan that includes these items.

Another item to consider when choosingtravel medical insurance and visa requirements is that many work or travel visas require you to maintain global health insurance while abroad. Please check the specific requirements of your destination country based on your situation. Also, see student insurance and insurance for J-1 Visas.

As you assess your health needs, pay close attention to your financial needs as well. You should determine a realistic budget for global health insurance.

Related: Differences Between International Health and Travel Insurance Plans

Step 3 – Research Your Destination’s Health Care System

How do individuals in your destination country access health care and what sort of medical technology is commonly available? Also, never assume you can access the country’s health care system, even if it has socialized medicine. Do your research– look at what information the destination country’s government provides about foreigners accessing health care. If socialized healthcare is available, there will likely be a waiting period before you can access it. Know what that waiting period is so you can have private health insurance in the meantime.

Step 4 – Ask your friends

Since you are not the first to travel or relocate abroad, you may know someone who can share their research with you. Be advised: as with everything else in our modern world, technology has changed travel health insurance, too. Make sure you ask individuals who have recently traveled so you can have the most current and accurate advice.

Step 5 – Research the Plans

Now that you know what you need and suggestions from your friends, it’s time to start the research. Some items to consider as you decide which travel health insurance plan is best for you:

• Company Reputation—As with any major purchase, especially with any repeated monthly purchase, you want to work with a company with a reputation for excellent customer service.
• Customer Support: Finda company with a 24-hour customer call center in your native language. The time to practice and improve a second language skill is NOT when you are ill or injured.
• The number of medical providers—Does the company have a wide range of in-network medical care providers so that you may have some choice of doctors? If not, find out if you can visit a doctor whois not in-network and what that will mean for your coverage.

Step 6 – Consider Your Budget

As with any health insurance, global health insurance is complicated. Now that you have narrowed down your options to a few possible travel medical insurance plans, it’s time to examine the fine print closely:

• What is the plan’s out-of-pocket expense? It will be a co-pay, deductible, or co-insurance.
• Will your insurance company be billed directly, or will you be responsible for filing a claim for a refund? Ensure you know this beforehand so you will know what to expect. Often, it may depend on the provider you visit and how they choose to bill.
• Do you need to pre-certify? Many plans require that certain instances are pre-certified, like surgeries, CAT Scans, or pregnancies. Know what items need pre-certified, and ensure you do so for those items. If not, the insurance company will often reduce the amount of coverage you receive.

Choosing a travel medical plan is much like any important purchase – you need to assess your needs and budget and then research the best option for you. With a bit of diligence, you can find the right global health plan for you.

Two Best Travel Medical Insurance Plans to Choose