Health insurance plans are intended to protect you on with medical costs that occur in our everyday lives or in cases of emergency or illness. They are superb in all senses except your medical coverage is incomplete or non-existant when you travel. Once out of your medical coverage network, things can rapidly become costly if you need medical care. There is an answer though and it is called travel insurance. Travel insurance is intended to pay for certain unexpected expenses that may arise when you are traveling. These can include urgent situation hospital medical costs, trip cancellation, lost baggage and accidental death and dismemberment insurance. Not all travel insurance plans cover all of these potential aspects though. For instance, the trip cancellation insurance you buy when you book your trip may not include health insurance. Be sure you realize what type of protection you are buying and whether it meets your requirements. Make sure to pick up a travel insurance policy that has some medical coverage.

When traveling outside of your native country, you will need to purchase a foreign country insurance plan that can be used in all the places you will be going to. For out-of-country expenditures, coverage varies. Health ministries strongly advocate that you consider other sources of coverage if you are leaving your home country as health coverage, in itself, may not be sufficient. Other sources include group insurance through your employment, credit card companies, and individual travel insurers. If you are traveling in Europe, you can get a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and be able to receive medical treatment while visiting a European Economic Area (EEA). For your own peace of mind make sure you know if the country you will be traveling in even accepts your insurance and if not what you will need, such as an EHIC card or even something else similar.

Questions you should ask your current insurance provider are:

*Will your insurance policies cover you for the entire length of your traveling period if you decide to expand the length of your stay, can your policy be renewed? How would this be done?

*What limits and restrictions does your travel insurance policy have? Does the travel plan pay for services provided in outpatient clinics or doctors’ offices?

*Does the insurance company have a toll-free or collect telephone number for emergency assistance that you can reach from everyplace you travel?

*Does your policy require that you use the toll-free number at the time of accident or illness, in order to be eligible for coverage?

*What maximums, deductibles or co-insurance charges would apply in the event of a claim?

*What documentation (receipts for billing) is needed to submit an insurance claim? What are the procedures?

*Does the policy pay for emergency return trips home?

*If you are traveling with others, does each person traveling require a separate travel insurance policy or can one group policy cover all travelers?

*Does your policy provide for trip-cancellation, baggage loss and other damages?

Make sure that you know all the facts prior to booking a trip. This way you will know what additional insurance you may need to get prior to departing. You never know how long it might take to apply and get accepted for a specific type of insurance, especially if you are traveling worldwide. When traveling to an overseas country research and find out what types of insurance they accept from foreign travelers. Many countries have very specific policies they will accept and won’t accept. Talk with your insurance agent to see if there are any foreign policies you can add to your current coverage. You might be able to get them at a reduced rate by already being a member and the agent can give you the specific requirements for a particular country or region.

Once you have worked out all the particulars for your health coverage, take some time and find out what is covered in an emergency situation. If you had to be flown back to your home at a different planned time, is that cost covered or not? You want to find out if you are required to receive full treatment where you are situated or could you be returned home for treatment or hospitalization once you are stable? Make sure you have coverage for whoever is with you as well. This person might have to rearrange their flight and schedule, too, so make sure that is covered in your plan. All of these thoughts and concerns are important so you know what to expect and don’t add more surprises to your injury.