Common Travel Insurance Questions

When it’s time to head overseas to another country, you may be considering travel insurance to protect yourself from emergencies. With the right America travel insurance, you won’t have anything to worry about. It can be tricky learning what is covered in a travel insurance policy, so here are some of the most common questions when it comes to travel insurance.

Does my regular health insurance cover me abroad?

Usually, your regular health insurance will only provide partial coverage when you are out of the country. Some plans won’t cover you at all, with Medicare providing no coverage abroad.

You may gain assistance with minor medical needs from countries with “universal health care.” However, they are not obligated to help you and any major medical emergencies won’t be covered.

Doesn’t my credit card give me some type of travel insurance coverage?

Some credit cards may offer travel insurance, but it’s not the same as a separate policy. Often, it will only have a small limit under $5,000 for a 12 month period for cancellation. Most credit cards provide no coverage for an evacuation or medical emergency.

Will I be covered in the event of a natural disaster?

Once you have your travel insurance in place, you are covered for many different emergencies. Make sure you check with your policy, but most American travel insurance policies cover natural disasters, such as hurricanes.

What is the cost of travel insurance?

Most travel insurance policies will cost between 4% and 8% of the total cost of the trip. Travel medical insurance is based on the length of your trip and can be as low as $1 per day.

How do I purchase travel insurance?

Whether you decide you just want basic coverage or you prefer a travel insurance policy with medical benefits, you can purchase your policy online with a credit card. It can also be purchased over the phone after calling the company directly.

Can I get travel insurance with pre-existing conditions?

Yes, you can find travel insurance policies with pre-existing conditions. With Atlas America travel insurance plans, you can get travel insurance without answering any health questions. These policies are guaranteed and can be issued within 24 hours.

When should you purchase your travel insurance policy?

When you are ready to put a deposit down for your trip, it is time to purchase travel insurance. The sooner you purchase insurance the better, as there are additional benefits to obtaining insurance as soon as possible.

These are some of the most common questions regarding travel insurance. Whether you’re traveling to the United States or from the US to another country, you need to make sure you’re fully protected on your trip. For more information, give us a call today at (800) 647-4589.

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Top Reasons You Need Travel Insurance for Your Next Trip Abroad

US citizen travel insurance might not be the first thing on your mind when you’re planning an exciting trip abroad. But you owe it to yourself and your family to investigate coverage and make sure you’re prepared and secured against financial disaster, should something go amiss. Here are a list of reasons why travel insurance should be on the top of your list of things to do when taking a trip overseas.

Missed Connections, Canceled Flights

The only sentence worse than “Ladies and gentlemen, this flight is now delayed” is the sentence “Ladies and gentlemen, this flight is now cancelled.” Plans such as the RoundTrip Insurance plan will help offset costs accrued should your return flight be cancelled.

Bad Weather

Let’s say you’re planning a trip to the Bahamas and a hurricane hits the region. You’ve dug into your savings to afford the trip, and now what? The right insurance may help cover the cost of rebooking your flights and accommodations.

Sickness or Injury

Nothing is worse than taking a trip to a place you have never visited and being forced to spend the entire time in your hotel room due to illness. Travel insurance can help cover unforeseen medical expenses, including sickness of injury.

We’ve All Got Baggage

You know you’ve got baggage, but what happens if you arrive in Paris without your clothing? This can be a real financial hit. Typical travel insurance plans will reimburse you for your lost luggage, as well as your valuable belongings inside.

Lost Passport

This can be a time-consuming and costly problem, but with travel insurance, you’ll typically have support replacing your passport and the costs associated.

Emergency Medical Evacuation

Hope for the best, plan for the worse. What happens if you have a sudden medical emergency that can only be handled through hospitalization or a specialist at home? The costs associated with this could be enormous, so protect yourself with travel insurance to stay safe.

Terrorism

We live in a dangerous and complicated world, and if you’re planning a trip to an area that might be subject to terrorism, you need to take that into consideration. What happens if an airport is closed, or if there’s an announced terrorist threat? Travel insurance may allow you to reschedule or cancel your trip outright.

The process for purchasing US citizen travel insurance is simple. At Insurance Services of America, we make health insurance for foreign nationals as easy as possible. Call (800) 647-4589 to learn more about the top travel insurance.

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Medicare May Not Cover You Outside of the U.S.

While some Medicare Advantage plans cover international travel, it’s important to note that original Medicare does not. So if you are a senior citizen planning a trip abroad, it would be wise to consider international travel health insurance for U.S. citizens. Medicare does not cover any medical care services when you are outside the U.S. International travel health insurance coverage is provided only when you are within the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands, and anywhere inside the U.S. borders.

Exceptions with Medicare

A few exceptions exist in cases of travel to Canada and Mexico. Medicare can sometimes pay for inpatient hospital services in these countries if the following conditions are met:

• You live in or are inside the U.S. and need medical care, but the closest hospital is in Canada or Mexico. When the foreign hospital is closer/easier to get to than one in your home country, Medicare may pay for those services.

• You are crossing through Canada without delay between Alaska and another state and you need medical care. If a Canadian hospital is closer/easier to get to than the nearest U.S. hospital, Medicare may pay for those services.

Remember that these exceptions are not guaranteed, so Medicare may or may not come through for you in an emergency medical situation in Canada or Mexico.

Medicare Advantage plans

If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, it should provide worldwide coverage benefits for senior health care insurance needs, but always verify this with your provider before you leave the country. Certain Medicap policies (C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J) provide foreign travel emergency health care coverage for travel outside the U.S. These policies typically pay 80 percent of the cost of emergency care during the first 60 days of each trip (after a $250 deductible), and be aware that a lifetime limit of $50,000 applies.

If these plans don’t apply to you, then you will have to consider other options for medical coverage while traveling abroad. Although Medicare covers you in the U.S. and its territories, once you cross the border, you will be on your own. Travel medical coverage for seniors can provide peace of mind at a low cost, so ensure that wherever your next trip may take you, you are covered.

Planning a Trip Abroad? Steps to Purchase the Right Travel Insurance

There’s nothing like the excitement of planning a trip overseas. It’s easy to get carried away with the anticipation, and while you may already have a checklist going (you do, don’t you?), you might be forgetting an important piece of the proverbial travel puzzle: travel insurance.

“Travel insurance for US citizens?” you might be asking. I have insurance. Well, if you’re a US citizen you know how complicated health insurance can be domestically, and if you have a medical condition of whatever stripe or severity, you know navigating the insurance system doesn’t always mean a straight line. What happens if something happens to you overseas? Here are three simple steps you can take to give yourself peace of mind. You’ll be happy you prepared, especially if you need to visit a doctor overseas.

Make a list of potential issues

Are you traveling alone, or with your family? Regardless, you should make a list of potential issues that might arise abroad. If someone has a pre-existing condition, note that. Are you planning to play a sport abroad? Even something as seemingly benign as hiking could lead to a sprain or break. What happens in that case? Make a note of your recent visits to the doctor, say over the past twelve months, and the conditions that took you there. Could they recur? What happens if they do, and where will you find treatment abroad if so?

Contact your insurer

Look at your current plan and contact your insurer to see what’s covered, if anything, for overseas travel. We strongly recommend you contact your insurer and ask specific questions in preparation, as often the terminology can be confusing in writing. Be sure to ask what medical costs are covered outside the country, and for the international number to contact the insurer should something happen while you’re overseas.

You’ll also want to ask about medical transportation coverage. Typically the emergency need for transportation back home is covered by emergency ambulance service, but transportation and treatment are separate insurance benefits. Consider how expensive it might be should you need emergency care, hospitalization, and repatriation from a foreign country. This could easily cost tens of thousands of dollars, and who has that in their budget? Even if you do, I’m guessing you wouldn’t want to spend it that way.

Talk to an expert

Securing travel insurance for US citizens has its complications, but the process doesn’t need to be a headache. Fortunately you don’t have to become an expert in travel insurance to secure yourself against a financial disaster. At Insurance Services of America, we make health insurance for foreign nationals as easy as ready, set, renew. Call (800) 647-4589 or 01 (480) 821-9052 to learn more.

The Myth of “Free” Medical Care Overseas

First thing’s first: unless the hospital or doctor is literally giving it away, there’s no such thing as “free” medical care. Somebody pays for it. In the United States, we know there’s a vast system of insurers and government programs. Elsewhere, taxpayers cover the bill, as in the case of the United Kingdom. So, let’s say you’re traveling to Old Blighty (that’s London) – why should you purchase travel insurance (for examples, Atlas Travel Insurance)? Won’t you be able to drop into an emergency room and receive treatment? The answer is… maybe, and are you willing to risk your financial well-being (not to mention your health) on a maybe? If you’re on the fence about whether you need travel insurance, here’s a quick list of things to think about when planning a trip overseas:

Imagine the worst

Nobody expects it to happen, but let’s say you look left when you’re supposed to look right, and a double-decker bus clips you. Now you’re in the UK, so medical care is covered, but will you be able to finance the cost of time spent abroad in recovery? Which leads to point #2:

Repatriation

If you’re unable to recover… those are very large buses… travel insurance will typically cover repatriation of your remains. It’s a pretty dark thought, but bad things happen. On a less morbid note, travel insurance will also often cover a return trip to the country if you’re in need of an emergency evacuation. That also applies for situations in a country abroad where you’re unable to access a hospital (e.g. a helicopter picks you up on a remote Scottish island… it could happen). Without travel insurance such as Atlas Travel Insurance, you’ll be left with the bill and possibly facing bankruptcy.

Non-emergency treatment

In some countries emergency treatment is covered but non-emergency treatment is not for non-residents. Do a bit of research and find out what the situation is in the country you’ll be visiting.

Unexpected Detours

In an emergency your flight might be re-routed. What happens if you end up in an unexpected country, perhaps with injuries, or if you or a loved one becomes ill on the flight?

What to do?

At Insurance Services of America, we make travel health insurance as easy as ready, set, renew. Call (800) 647-4589 or 01 (480) 821-9052 to learn more!

Babies on a Plane

From Shine.Yahoo.com

In a split second, everything you know about the safety of air travel can change.

That’s what happened to the 114 passengers on a United Airlines flight this past President’s Day.

Unexpected turbulence hit mid-flight, catching even the crew off guard. People went flying, two passengers were sent to the hospital, and the mother of an infant was unable to hold on to her baby in her lap — other passengers reported her heartbreaking cries as she called out for her little one in the chaos that followed. Read More »

Traveling With A Baby–Guest Post

This week we have a guest post from a wonderful blogger named Erin with Unconventional Mommy Tails. <–check out here blog! Erin is an avid blogger who features posts about being a mom, being a wife, and even tips and advice for having pets. She was kind enough to let us feature her blog post about Tips for Packing & Traveling with a Baby Under One. If you enjoy Erin’s post, follow her on facebook here! Enjoy.

“I have a lot of experience on this topic because of the fact that my husband and I are about 1400 miles away from all of our friends and family. We’ve been traveling by plane with our son since he was 7 weeks old. This week Thursday we will be making yet another trip to Michigan to celebrate his first birthday. While packing and preparing I decided to share some of the most important things I’ve learned by trial and error with everyone.” Read More »

Travel Tech Gadgets

Road trip? International flight? Here’s what you will need

Whether it’s a road trip to the next state along or a transatlantic flight across the pond, you’ll need an assortment of technology to keep you connected, powered up, and organized.

Long Flight Tips

A lot of us have been there. We’ve been on that almost unbearablly long flight when 30 passing minutes seems to take 3 hours. Every little annoyance can seem amplified to present themselves like long fingernails on a chalkboard. You pull out your trusty Ipod and give that a try, but after 3-4 songs, you are counting the seconds as you watch each song pass by on that little lit up screen.

All you have in mind is getting to your final destination. The thought of finally being able to lay down a bed, beach or boogie board is your top priority. Free of crying babies, smelly feet or your neighbor in the window seat hogging the view of the horizon.

But there is hope! Below I have compiled a list of things you can do to keep your peace of mind and your sanity. Next time you feel yourself getting anxious in that plane seat, try these methods out! Read More »

Taking A Pet Overseas

If you decide to take your pet with you when you go abroad, check with the embassies of the destination countries as to specific requirements that must be met before a pet may be brought into the country. Many countries have strict health, quarantine, agriculture, wildlife, and customs requirements and prohibitions. The Department of State has compiled a list of foreign embassies and consulates but their contact information may also be found on the Country Specific Information for each country.

In a crisis in which chartered or military aircraft or ships are used to evacuate U.S. citizens from a danger area, pets will not normally be permitted on the carrier. The pet owner will need to make other arrangements to remove the pet from the area. (Service animals, such as guide dogs, are not considered pets and will be accommodated if possible.)

Copyright © 2013, U.S. Department of State