Should You Buy Travel Medical Insurance if You’re Healthy?

Many people getting ready to travel internationally may wonder if it’s worth purchasing travel medical insurance for a trip outside the USA or visitors medical insurance for a trip to the USA if they’re healthy. It may seem like there’s no reason to spend extra money on health insurance for an international trip when you’ve never had anything worse than a minor cold in recent memory. But the truth is exactly the opposite.

You Cannot Predict the Future

Travel medical insurance and visitors medical insurance is for new, unexpected medical conditions that occur after the effective date of the policy during a trip abroad. If you already have a diagnosed medical issue, it would be a pre-existing condition. While some plans can provide limited coverage for pre-existing conditions or acute onset of pre-existing conditions, international travel medical insurance is primarily designed to cover new medical conditions, which can occur no matter how healthy you’ve been up to this point.

For example, consider any sort of injury. A healthy person can step wrong and break their ankle just as easily as a person with a history of health problems. And you aren’t going to get treatment for free just because it’s never happened to you before. Plus, if the COVID-19 pandemic taught us anything, even a healthy person can quickly become hospitalized when exposed to a new virus that their immune system is not equipped to handle. When you travel to an international destination, you can expose your body to a range of viruses and bacteria that you’ve never been exposed to before. None of this is meant to alarm; rather, it is meant to illustrate the importance of being insured against unexpected health issues.

But if I’m healthy and probably won’t use the insurance, I can just buy the cheapest plan available, right?

There’s one major problem with this line of thinking. The cheapest plans are almost always fixed coverage plans. They are less expensive to purchase, but they also offer far more limited coverage than comprehensive plans.

For an example of this, let’s assume you’ve broken your leg during a trip abroad and require surgery, and you have a $50,000 fixed coverage policy with a $50 deductible. The total bill for the surgery and hospital stay comes out to $40,000. You may assume that because you have a $50,000 policy, you’ll only have to pay your deductible, and the insurance will take care of everything else up to $50,000. But this is not the case.

Fixed coverage plans only pay according to a fixed schedule of benefits.

If you look at that schedule of benefits, you will notice that the plan only pays $3,600 towards surgery and $1,450 per day for hospitalization. That means the plan will pay a total of $7,950 for your surgery and three days of hospitalization, leaving you responsible for the remaining $32,050, plus the $50 deductible.

So, while you may have saved a bit by purchasing the cheapest plan you could, you’re now responsible for paying far more out of your own pocket. After all, hospitals don’t charge less just because the patient was a healthy person beforehand.

On the other hand, had you paid more for a comprehensive coverage plan, it could have covered up to 100% of the eligible costs to the policy maximum, depending upon the plan you choose. Therefore, with some comprehensive coverage plans, your out-of-pocket costs may be as little as $0 if you have a plan that waives the deductible for hospitalization, rather than over $30,000 with a fixed coverage plan. Of course, this all depends on the exact plan you choose, where you get treatment, and other details as explained in the certificate wording for the plan. The point is: do you your research, and understand what you could potentially pay for treatment before deciding on a policy.

And remember, no matter how healthy you are now, illnesses and injuries can befall anyone. It’s best to be prepared for them with insurance that can provide meaningful coverage.

Winter Storms and Travel Insurance

Throughout the world, many locations regularly get socked in with heavy snowfall, dangerous ice, and even blizzards. Obviously, any one of these things can have a big impact on your travel plans. The question is: What is covered during winter storms, and what isn’t?

To answer that, we’ll first have to outline the three basic types of insurance that are sometimes collectively referred to as “travel insurance.”

Travel Medical Insurance

Travel medical insurance primarily provides medical coverage during trips to destinations outside the United States, and is available to both US residents and non-US residents.

Visitors Medical Insurance

Similarly, visitors medical insurance primarily focuses on medical coverage for trips abroad, except it is specific to trips to the USA. Most people who purchase visitors insurance are non-US residents, though some US citizens who live abroad may purchase it as well for when they visit.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is designed primarily to cover prepaid, nonrefundable travel expenses such as airfare, hotel rooms, rental cars, etc. in the event of a trip cancellation, trip interruption, or another covered situation. However, emergency medical coverage is available as well. Travel insurance plans are typically only available to US residents, and can be purchased for both international and domestic trips.

How Can Insurance Help During a Winter Storm?

For the most part, whether or not your international insurance will be of assistance during a winter storm will depend upon the severity of the storm. Generally, the weather must result in widespread and severe damage that renders the destination uninhabitable, though the exact requirements can vary depending upon the plan. Regardless, the storm has to have a major impact on welfare and safety in order for insurance coverage to come into play. A small snowstorm or a little bit of ice on the road is not enough for you to file an insurance claim.

If you have travel medical insurance and a blizzard, avalanche, etc. causes your destination to become unsafe or uninhabitable, you may be eligible for reimbursement for the cost of evacuation. You would simply need to submit proof to the insurance company for the accommodations or activities from which you were displaced, and for any expenses directly or indirectly related to the items included in your plan’s General Exclusions certificate wording.

If you have visitors medical insurance, you may be able to take advantage of a natural disaster replacement accommodations benefit, if your plan offers it. If it does and your accommodations become uninhabitable due to a winter storm or other covered reason, the insurance can pay for alternative accommodations by way of a daily stipend.

Those with travel insurance policies have different benefits they may be able to leverage depending upon the situation. For instance, if a winter storm shuts down your destination airport or hotel, or causes flight cancellations for at least 24 hours and you’re unable to make alternate arrangements, you may be able to file a claim for reimbursement using your plan’s trip cancellation coverage. Similarly, the plan’s trip interruption coverage may be able to fund alternate lodging arrangements or even transportation home in case of a natural disaster or uninhabitable accommodations. On the flipside, if your own home becomes damaged due to a winter storm while you’re away on vacation, the travel insurance plan may cover the cost of an economy-fare one-way ticket home.

Regardless of what type of insurance you have, do be sure to read the policy/certificate wording so you understand what is covered and what’s excluded. Not all insurance plans are the same, so it’s best to be prepared with as much knowledge as possible if disaster strikes.

Croatia Has Joined the Schengen Agreement

At the beginning of 2023, Croatia became the 27th member state of the Schengen Agreement. It joins Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland, becoming the first new member of the agreement since 2008.

What is the Schengen Agreement?

The Schengen Agreement is a 27-nation alliance that shares a common visa and no internal border controls. This means that anyone with a Schengen visa is free to travel to and between any of the Schengen nations using a single visa.

Do I Need a Schengen Visa?

Currently, residents of 105 different nations, including India, China, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand are required to get a Schengen visa to travel to any Schengen country. And if you require a Schengen visa, compliant Schengen visa medical insurance is mandatory. This insurance must provide medical coverage of at least €30,000, as well as coverage for emergency medical evacuation and repatriation of remains. Upon purchase of Schengen visa insurance, you will be provided with a printable visa letter that you must submit to the embassy/consulate as part of your Schengen visa application.

What if I Don’t Need a Schengen Visa?

Citizens from 62 nations, including the United States, Australia, and South Korea are allowed to travel to Schengen nations for up to 90 days for tourism or business purposes without a visa. Those who do not require a visa are also not subject to mandatory Schengen visa insurance requirements.

However, although coverage is not mandatory for citizens of these countries, it is still highly recommended that they purchase travel medical insurance or travel insurance before traveling to Croatia or any other Schengen nation. Although most Schengen nations offer excellent medical facilities, they will not be inexpensive if you get sick or injured. Therefore, it is imperative that you have appropriate international insurance coverage in case of a mishap. Without it, you could be on the hook for costs that you cannot afford to pay.?