Travel insurance that includes medical coverage provides a way for people to protect themselves financially if they experience a medical emergency while traveling outside their country. Travel insurance provides coverage for costs associated with hospitalization, evacuation, treatment costs, disability, and accidental death. Travel insurance also provides travelers with access to emergency assistance services to prevent travelers from incurring high medical costs due to the emergency situation.
You can experience excitement when you travel to an unfamiliar destination but may also have situations that you cannot predict. An example of a situation that may happen during international travel could include becoming sick or injured while traveling and the high cost of hospitalizations depending on the countries that you are visiting. Therefore, it becomes very beneficial to have travel insurance policies with medical coverage because these plans can help cover the cost of hospitalizations as well as other unexpected costs associated with emergencies while traveling.
What is medical cover in travel insurance?
The medical insurance coverage within your travel policy helps cover health care expenses associated with sickness, injury or needing medical treatment during the course of your travel (such as seeing the doctor, going to hospital, requiring emergency surgery etc.) It also helps ease any financial burden you face should you require medical assistance while travelling abroad.
If medical coverage is not included in your travel policy, you will have to pay for healthcare expenses yourself, which could become an expensive proposition, especially when travelling to expensive destinations such as USA/Europe.
Through medical coverage, you may receive assistance if you require evacuation back to India for medical treatment. An emergency evacuation back to India can cost you lakhs of rupees unless you have insurance to cover those costs.
Types of medical expenses covered in travel insurance
With medical coverage included, most travel insurance coverages offer these benefits to travellers:
- Emergency Medical Assistance: For accidents involving you or a loved one where the traveller requires immediate treatment
- Evacuation or transfer to the closest medical facility: The traveller may be air lifted by helicopter or taken to the closest facilities by ambulance.
- Short-term medical treatment: This could include hospitalisation for an illness such as food poisoning, or an illness such as an infection requiring treatment for a short period of time.
- Accidental death: Transportation of the deceased to their home town or the closest funeral home, along with burial benefits for family members.
- Disability Coverage: Disability caused by an accident during travelling may have an impact on the psychiatric and physical health of the traveller.
Benefits of having medical cover in travel insurance
Why You Should Have Medical Insurance as Part of Your Travel Insurance:
- Save Money: Medical expenses can be very high while traveling abroad, sometimes costing tens of thousands of dollars; insurance will save you from being faced with these massive bills.
- Emergency Assistance: Most travel Insurance policies will have a 24/7 support line that will help you locate a hospital and arrange for treatment when you need it most.
- Protection for Serious Events: If an accident occurs while traveling abroad or if you get an infection, or suffer from food poisoning, your insurance will provide medical coverage for these situations.
- Family Support: If you become hospitalized while abroad and need extended care, your insurance may help cover travel expenses for a family member to come and support you during this time.
How does medical cover in travel insurance work abroad?
First, contact the emergency telephone number listed in the policy on your Insurance. They’ll provide a set of instructions and likely direct you to a facility that is nearest them (the emergency facility).
At times, the insurance carriers will have hospital agreements with the medical facilities so they will pay directly to those hospitals when presenting an emergency insurance card. Nevertheless, if you pay out of pocket you must retain all receipts, etc., related to your treatment so that later you can submit a claim for reimbursement under your insurance policy.
In many cases (depending on your level of coverage) if your condition is severe enough, your insurance plan will contain coverage for medical evacuation including the arrangement and transportation to India and/or to a local medically equipped hospital.
You should have a copy of your travel insurance policy and the current phone number for your insurance carrier before traveling.
Conclusion
Medical coverage through travel insurance is a vital component of insurance policies for international travellers. It covers you when you are abroad, against unexpected medical issues and also if you incur costly medical expenses while there.
When you purchase travel insurance online, it is important to also thoroughly read the policy terms and to ensure that the coverage is the right fit for your needs. If you require assistance selecting the most suitable travel insurance including medical coverage, please complete the form located on this page so that our industry professionals may assist you.
Disclaimer: The content in this article is not meant to replace, supplement, or provide legal advice. You should contact your attorney for any legal questions you may have. This blog post contains a lot of speculation, but please keep in mind that we do not know what will happen in the future. If you want to use any content from this blog post, please do so at your own risk. Travelguidemn.com assumes no responsibility for any error or omission contained herein.