Travel Medical Insurance – What Does it Do?
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Interest in travel medical plans has greatly increased over the years. As the world becomes a bit more dangerous to travel in in terms of political strife as well as the inability of some countries to control the spread of infectious disease we do not want to stop visiting this beautiful world we live in. Combine that with the fact that individual and group health insurance policies are either greatly reduced once you leave our borders or those policies lose all their benefits you need to have something in place, just in case. You must be aware of limitations to make sure you are protected properly.
Travel medical insurance policies are specifically built to pick up where you may have any gaps in your current health insurance coverage outside the borders. Many health plans over cover you in the 50 states and sometimes Mexico (be sure to check with your provider). If you do not have any health coverage your travel medical insurance plan will act as your primary insurance. Depending on what plan you choose your policy may have more than just emergency benefits. It may cover some doctor office visits, prescriptions, and even ambulance services. The best policies will even cover sickness and injury due to a pre-existing condition or a terrorist attack. Finally, many of these plans will pay providers overseas on a direct basis so you don’t have to deal with shuffling paperwork back and forth. Finally, the best travel medical insurance plans offer large global provider networks and choose their providers based on how well they will bill your carrier rather than billing you and how proficient they are in speaking your language to offer you the best care.
When you are in the market for travel medical insurance you do want to be on the lookout for a few things. Make sure you know whether or not the policy you are going to purchase is admitted or non-admitted. An admitted policy will be sold by a company based on shore and subject to the laws and regulations of various insurance departments. A non-admitted policy may be sold by a company who sits offshore outside of the reach of any authority of the U.S. legal system. Those non-admitted policies can put you in a world of hurt if they decide not to play by the rules. Furthermore, admitted policies must be written in plain language and conform to the consumer protection laws in the United States. These admitted plans often offer much deeper benefits and safety. Be sure to discuss with your broker what type of plan you are purchasing.
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Jesse Smedley is the Principal Broker for iHealthBrokers and the founder, president, and CEO of Smedley Insurance Group, Inc. and iHealthBrokers.com. Since the inception of SIG in 2007, Jesse has been dedicated to helping people save money on their health insurance by providing them with resources to educate themselves on all their health insurance options, both under age 65 and Medicare beneficiaries. He is featured in many publications as well as writes regularly for expert columns regarding health insurance and Medicare.
