Types Of Coverage You Need When Obtaining A Travel Medical Insurance

In days of old, when Polynesian, European, and other ancient seafaring peoples set out to sea for a journey in their hand-crafted boats and ships, they had no guarantees that they would be coming home again. These brave peoples only knew that they were searching for riches or new places to live someplace far away, but they did not have compasses, maps, or a GPS system to guide them. And often, they did not return home.

Today, when we take a trip by sea, air, or land, we have a much, much better chance of returning safely than those ancient seafaring peoples. Travel has become an extremely safe affair, especially when it comes to the major modes of transport to and from our destinations. Airplanes, ships and trains have become extremely safe modes of transportation - much safer than the automobiles we use every day while at home, in fact.

And yet, even these days when you travel you face certain risks. There is always the possibility of getting into a fender bender, getting injured while hiking, having a boating accident, falling ill with a rare disease, getting food poisoning, etc. Fortunately, we have something these days that our ancestors did not: access to travel medical insurance.

If you are planning on obtaining travel medical insurance for an upcoming journey abroad, here are 5 types of coverage you need:

1. Make sure it covers your care from time of accident or illness until you return to your home country:

Some illnesses and accidents that you encounter while on the road can be treated successfully while you are still in-country. However, getting into a very serious accident or succumbing to an exotic disease for which you forgot to get vaccinated is not outside of the realm of possibility. To handle this type of situation, you will want to make sure that the travel medical insurance policy that you purchase includes coverage for your continued care once you return home.

2. Check out any destination or activity restrictions:

Read the policy you buy carefully and look for any restrictions related to either your planned destination country (or region) or any types of risky activities. It would be a shame to buy a policy that you cannot cash in on because you unknowingly violated a hidden policy restriction during your trip.

3. Verify that the policy will cover your hospital needs while you are still in-country:

Of course, as a basic requirement, you will need your policy to cover your in-country hospital bills for a reasonable duration that covers your treatment.

4. Make sure that the policy will cover your transportation needs to and from the hospital:

If you get into an accident or get sick at your hotel while traveling, you will need access to transportation staffed with medically-trained staff (i.e., an ambulance) to transport you to and from the hospital. Be sure that coverage for such transportation is included in your policy.

5. Read the fine print concerning specialty treatments:

Finally, read the fine print about getting access to specialty treatments. For example, if the hospital to which you are first transported does not have the proper facilities to handle your required treatment, you need your coverage to take that possibility into account; you need coverage for expenses related to secondary transportation to another facility.

As you look into obtaining travel medical insurance, consider these 5 types of coverage that you will need in order to get the peace of mind you deserve for your upcoming trip.