What is International Medical Insurance?

International medical insurance is a must for anyone traveling outside of their home country. Imagine how terrible it would be to be in a foreign country and suddenly fall ill or be injured. Travel insurance for international trips is essential because the great majority of domestic policies do not cover medical incidents that occur in a foreign country.

Here is one scenario where you would need travel insurance; one of your family members is hit by a car while crossing the road in France. She is taken to the nearest hospital for treatment of internal bleeding and a broken leg and has surgery on her leg. Her total hospital stay is five days; you only have domestic coverage, so you are stuck with a bill in excess of several thousand dollars. However, if she had travel insurance for international trips, your family member would be taken to a top-rate hospital and her eligible medical expenses would have been covered with travel insurance. Additionally, if she needed airlifting or medical evacuation, these services are a benefit of travel insurance. If she had broken her leg before your trip and was deemed unable to travel, or had to go home from your travel destination after her leg was broken, travel cancellation or evacuation would cover these events.

Travel insurance can also cover loss or theft of your prescription medication. If your luggage is stolen with your medication in it, replacement through your travel insurance is handled through their coordinators. If you didn’t have this, how would you replace those vital medicines?

With 24/7 assistance, if you need to locate a doctor, replace a lost or stolen passport or luggage, etc., you are just a phone call away from help.

Standard benefits of a travel insurance policy are emergency medical care for illness or injury, medical evacuation in case you need to be taken to another location for treatment, surgery and transplants, medical equipment, accidental death, and return of remains.

Insurance Terms:

• Deductible: The amount of money you are responsible for before the insurance benefit is available;
• Co-Pay: For domestic coverage, a certain amount of money paid by a person who has insurance coverage at the time medical care is received;
• Deductible: The amount that must be paid before insurance pays;
• Network: The group of medical professionals and facilities who have a contractual agreement with an insurance company;
• In-network: A medical professional facility who has a contractual agreement with an insurance company;
• Out-of-network: A medical professional or facility who does not have a contractual agreement with an insurance company; this service will cost more;
• Claims: Requests for payment from the insurance company;
• Primary and secondary coverage: primary coverage is the insurance policy that will pay first; the secondary coverage will take effect second;
• Explanation of benefits (EOB): The EOB is the written explanation of your benefits and what they paid that the insurance company sends you.

TYPES OF INSURANCE PLANS:

There are plans available for both short-term mission trips, lasting two days to one year and long-term trips for those who will be living outside of their home country for extended periods of time. Having travel medical insurance in place also ensures that if one of your group members is injured or becomes ill, they will go to the best medical facility in the area.

• Multi-trip plans: When more than one trip is made during a year;
• Secondary vs. primary insurance: Whether the plan pays first, or second;
• Pre-existing conditions: Whether a condition that already exists will preclude payment for medical treatment for that condition;

In short, your travel insurance policy is just as essential as your passport. Don’t leave home without it!