Travel Insurance
Medicare does not pay for medical services outside the United States. Before you book a trip abroad, it is worth knowing exactly where your coverage stops.
Where your coverage stops at the border
Coverage outside the United States varies from plan to plan, and it has to be checked. Some individual health plans for those under 65 cover emergency care abroad and some do not, with narrow network HMO and EPO plans in California the most likely to limit or exclude it.
Medicare is clearer. With very narrow exceptions, Original Medicare does not pay for medical services you receive outside the United States.
That is the single most important thing to understand before you go. A hospital abroad will usually expect payment at the time of service, and Medicare will not reimburse you for it afterward.
What each kind of coverage does abroad
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Original Medicare. Does not pay for care outside the United States, apart from a few narrow exceptions.
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A Medicare supplement, also called Medigap. Plans F, G and N include a foreign travel emergency benefit. It covers emergency care that begins during the first 60 days of a trip, pays 80 percent after a yearly foreign travel deductible, and is capped by a lifetime maximum. We will confirm the current figures for the plan you actually hold.
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A Medicare Advantage plan. Coverage outside the country varies from plan to plan. Some include worldwide emergency coverage and some do not, so check yours before you leave.
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An individual or employer plan for someone under 65. Emergency care abroad is sometimes covered and sometimes not, often at out of network levels, and you may have to pay first and file for reimbursement. California HMO and EPO plans in particular often limit or exclude it. Read the section of your Evidence of Coverage on care received outside the United States rather than assume.
So should you buy extra coverage?
The honest answer is that it depends on where you are going and for how long. Here is how we think it through with clients.
The built in benefit may be adequate
If you are traveling to a westernized country with modern hospitals, and your supplement includes the foreign travel emergency benefit, that may well be enough for a short trip.
That choice is up to you, and we are happy to talk it through rather than sell you something you do not need.
You should get travel coverage
If you are traveling to a country where reaching an adequate hospital might require very expensive air transport, get travel coverage.
Medical evacuation is the expense that turns a bad trip into a financial catastrophe, and it is the one thing a built in benefit is least likely to cover in full.
You will be gone longer than two months
The foreign travel emergency benefit on a supplement covers care that begins during the first 60 days of a trip. If you will be away longer than that, the back end of the trip has no coverage behind it.
You are not certain what you have
Do not guess. Read your plan's evidence of coverage for the section on care received outside the United States, or call us and we will read it with you before you book.
What travel medical insurance covers
Travel medical insurance is a short term health policy that runs for the length of a trip. It can be bought per trip, or annually for people who travel often.
Emergency medical treatment
Doctor visits, emergency room care, hospitalization and prescriptions for an illness or injury that begins while you are traveling.
Emergency medical evacuation
Transport to the nearest facility able to treat you and, when it is medically necessary, transport home. On most trips this is the benefit that justifies the premium by itself.
A 24 hour assistance line
Someone to call who can find an English speaking doctor, arrange admission, and speak to the hospital on your behalf at three in the morning in a language you do not read.
Payment direct to the hospital
Better policies arrange payment with the facility rather than making you put a hospital stay on a credit card and file for it later. Ask about this specifically, because policies differ.
Repatriation of remains
An unpleasant thing to think about and an extraordinarily expensive one to arrange privately. It is standard on travel medical policies, and it is a real reason to hold one.
Dental emergencies and lost medication
Many policies include a modest benefit for emergency dental pain and for replacing prescriptions lost in transit, which are two of the most common problems people actually have.
Travel medical is not trip cancellation
These are two different products, and they are often sold together in one package, which is where the confusion comes from.
Travel medical insurance pays for medical care while you are away. Trip cancellation and interruption insurance reimburses money you have already spent on the trip if you have to cancel or come home early.
You may want either, both, or neither, but do not assume that buying one has given you the other.
What to check on any travel policy
Travel medical policies vary more than most insurance products. These are the questions that matter.
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How does the policy treat pre-existing conditions? Many exclude them, and many will waive that exclusion if you buy within a set number of days of booking the trip.
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What is the limit on emergency medical evacuation, and is it separate from the medical limit?
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Does the policy pay the hospital directly, or do you pay first and file for reimbursement?
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What is the deductible, and does it apply per trip or per claim?
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Are the activities you plan to do covered? Skiing, scuba diving, motorbikes and similar activities are commonly excluded or require a rider.
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Does it cover every part of the trip, including days on a cruise ship and any country the policy lists as excluded?
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Is there an upper age limit or a medical questionnaire, and does the answer change what is covered?
What we recommend
After researching the different travel coverage options available to our clients, we recommend GeoBlue travel medical and international insurance . GeoBlue is a product of Blue Cross Blue Shield, and their site will let you read the plans yourself.
Tell us where you are going, how long you will be there, and what your current coverage is. We will help you match a policy to the trip rather than buy more than the trip calls for.
Traveling soon? Let us check your coverage first.
Tell us the destination and the dates. We will tell you what your current plan does and does not do once you leave the country.