My wife and I recently traveled outside of the US for vacation. I did my research on how our personal medical insurance would take care of us outside the US and would it be enough if something happened to either of us. The big answer was NO! There were gaping holes in what our personal insurance coverage would provide outside of the continental US. Even though I offer travel medical coverage and have for several years, I knew it was time to put the company that I worked with to the test and what better way than for me to use them for me! The experience was a positive one. More about that later!

Here is what you need to know about travel medical coverage:

Travel medical insurance is for travelers who are leaving their home country. It provides coverage for medical emergencies and evacuations. Depending on the company selling it, it is sometimes called International Medical Insurance, International Travel Insurance, or Worldwide Medical Insurance.

How is Travel Medical different from other types of insurance?

These plans are for travelers leaving their home country that are concerned with coverage abroad. Many insurance plans don’t cover you once you leave the US, and an accident or illness abroad would not be covered.

Biggest difference: It focuses on emergency medical/evacuation vs trip cancellation coverage’s

With a travel medical plan, the focus is on emergency medical and evacuation costs.

If you are abroad and have an accident or become ill, it would cover medical costs for you. Emergency dental treatment is usually included and emergency transportation (ambulance, air lift) services are also covered.

Emergency medical evacuations will get you out of a remote area and transported to a place where you can receive proper medical care. If you are killed or die on your trip, the repatriation coverage will ensure your body is properly transported home or to a funeral home nearby.

Travel medical plans often include some Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) and/or term life benefits which are paid regardless of any coverage you may have back home for a covered injury. This coverage can fill out your life insurance benefits and provide extra coverage for you or your family in the case of a serious accident.

It is cheaper than trip cancellation insurance

Medical plans are priced based on age, trip length, and coverage amount. This usually adds up to a few dollars per day, so it is a very economical way to get emergency medical coverage abroad.

Trip insurance with cancellation, interruption, delay, baggage coverage, etc, are based mostly on the cost of the trip. It usually costs 4-10% of the insured trip cost, so these plans can easily be in the hundreds of dollars.

It has some trip insurance benefits in some plans

Some medical plans offer a few trip insurance-like benefits such as minimal trip interruption coverage, coverage for lost or delayed baggage and even trip delays.

This is a nice additional benefit, but if you are looking for true trip insurance benefits you should look at that type of plan.

Examples of why would you need emergency medical coverage:

• You’re sent on a long business trip and contract a severe case of food poisoning.
• You trip on a cobblestone street and break a tooth.
• You are traveling ahead of your church missionary group to organize housing and get in a traffic accident.
• You are traveling in a foreign country with your children and are injured in a fall.
• You want the assurance of having travel medical assistance services to help you in an emergency.

Even though this is a simple policy to get and the pricing is more than fair based on benefits, my team can help you navigate through this and actually issue a policy for you by phone immediately. Let us know if we can help before your next trip outside the USA. Our best provider of this type of protection is IMG (International Medical Group). You can click here for our IMG website and get complete details including information about the Patriot Platinum policy that my wife and I purchased recently. Email us at info@BentonWhite.com or call us personally at 615.377.1212. A few pennies can save you a lot of financial hardship when you have International Medical Insurance. (Tweet this!)