Travel Health and Evacuation Insurance for most trips are extremely important and should not therefore be overlooked during your travel planning.

Travel Health Insurance:

Travel Health Insurance covers your healthcare-related expenses when traveling outside your own country. Details such as deductible (amount you pay for care of each illness/event), maximum benefit, and type of healthcare expenses covered varies widely from policy to policy.

Evacuation Insurance:

Evacuation insurance covers expenses related to transporting you to a facility that can care for you if you are unable to get there without assistance. It may also cover other expenses, such as returning you to your home after medical treatment is administered and transporting a family member or friend to the location where you are receiving care.

Most health insurance plans (including Medicare) that you might use to cover health expenses in your country of origin DO NOT cover you while you are away. Similarly, they do not likely cover evacuation costs, which can surpass $250,000, depending upon your situation and location at the time of the illness/accident.

Finding Travel Health & Evacuation Insurance:

• You should check to see if coverage is REQUIRED where you are going. For instance, some countries mandate that you carry travel health insurance as a requirement to obtain a visa.
• If you have health insurance (ie. Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Medicare, etc.), does it cover you abroad? Check your policy and, if it is still unclear, call your company. Often, the answer is “no.”
• See if you already have other sources of travel health insurance, such as an employee benefits package, the credit card you used for your upcoming trip, or any organization in which you are a member.
• If you are not insured or have inadequate insurance, start looking for coverage!
• Some resources to explore coverage:
  • The tour operator for your trip or your travel agent (if you have either).
  • An insurance agent.
  • Travel insurance comparison websites.
  • Friends/family that have traveled previously and may have purchased insurance.
  • Online insurance brokers (such as www.insuremytrip.com).
• If you do not have Evacuation Insurance, there are many companies that specialize in evacuations, health, and safety assistance, even under extreme conditions. Some will only evacuate from a medical facility. Others will even evacuate from a war zone, natural disaster area, or other potentially desperate situation. They may even include security coordination if you are traveling to a known unsafe area of the world and can provide other highly specialized support services. Three companies that our more-seasoned travelers have used and are well established are MedJet, International SOS, and Global Rescue. Please note: We do not have any experience dealing directly with these companies (and this is not an advertisement for them!).

Please consider some type of plan or some company that provides you with at least modest healthcare coverage and some evacuation options. You likely will never need any of it. If you do, it can save you a tremendous amount of money and may save your life.

-Julian Klapowitz, MD