Luckily I have never needed medical attention while traveling internationally, however I always prepare for this when I plan for a trip.
Health Care Insurance coverage at all times is important, especially for those with medical conditions that may need care when traveling.This probably comes as no shock, but some insurance providers can charge more or may not even cover someone with medical conditions while traveling. As stated before, your usual medical insurance may not cover you while traveling. While each person’s health insurance plans are different, in general, most health insurance plans only provide partial coverage, or likely no coverage at all, when you are traveling in another country. Additionally, countries with universal health care coverage may assist with minor needs, however medical conditions and the complications from those conditions are typically not covered as well.
The solution, in every case is Travel Insurance.
So how does Travel Insurance work?
In most cases, if you have travel insurance, the company will reimburse you for your covered financial losses after filing a claim with the proof of your loss. While most people use travel insurance for financial protection while traveling, such as trip cancellations due to weather or stolen items, there is the added bonus of medical assistance, hospital stays, and emergency services while traveling abroad.
Which Travel Insurance is the Best?
When I travel, I purchase Allianz Travel Insurance. This is not an advertisement, I just have had great experiences with Allianz for my insurance needs while traveling abroad. I did my research before my first trip, and found that Allianz is the most affordable plan, while also covering and assisting with medical needs. Allianz, and others as well, can arrange for medical treatments, monitor your care, and serve as interpreters to medical staff while in another country, or provide your transportation home or to your care provider for further care if warranted. While it cannot cover everything that may occur, it covers the vast majority of things that can go wrong. Also, many major credit cards are now offering travel insurance, however, it may not cover as much as stand-alone travel insurance, so check out the benefits of your credit card as well.
I choose Allianz, because it is one of the only insurance companies that states “serious, disabling illness can be considered a covered reason for trip cancellations, which means you can be reimbursed for your prepaid, nonrefundable trip costs.” So, no matter that you have an illness or medical condition, you can be covered for the same price, all you need to do is gather the required documents and receipts and file a claim to be reimbursed.
This makes life easier when trying to plan a trip with a medical condition. Medical conditions are unpredictable. You can get sick, be in the hospital, or unable to fly at the time of your trip. Most hotels, airfares, excursions, cruises and car rentals are nonrefundable. Some flights can be cancelled and given a credit due to a medical condition if provided a doctor’s note, but if you are unable to travel for the foreseeable future, this is not a great reimbursement idea. If you are wary of booking trips in advance because you do not know how you will be feeling when your trip comes, whether it is a month, 4-6 months or even a year away, this can ease that burden. Good travel insurance like this allows you to plan and book your trip, but have the peace of mind that you can get reimbursed if something were to happen.
Which Plan to Buy?
I like the “One Time Trip Prime Plan” l from Allianz when traveling. This plan is affordable, but also cover the most for a traveler with a medical condition. Other plans may work better for you and you can choose the amount of coverage you want.
For example, for an upcoming trip to Asia I put in that my trip would cost about $3,000 of nonrefundable items, including hotel, airfare and transportation. My quote was $137 for One Time Trip Prime Plan that included the following:
Some things to highlight from this example:
The emergency transportation covers up to $500,000, which includes transporting you to a location that is able to care for you. Medical transportation by air is incredibly expensive and this alone could be worth the cost of the insurance.
$3,000 trip cancellation, which is how much my non-refundable items were. You can add more insurance if you add more components to your trip at a later date.
Emergency medical reimbursement up to $25,000 to pay for care or hospitalization
Trip interuption means that if you needed to return home due to a complication or getting sick while traveling, you will be reimbursed up to $4,500 to return home (which is different than the trip cancellation coverage)
Overall, you can see Allianz covers you well to allow you to travel safely with coverage for almost every circumstance.
When to Buy a Plan?
This is really important to know for those of us with known medical conditions. If you have a pre-existing condition that you want to be covered, you should buy the coverage within 14 days of your initial deposit or purchase of your trip. If you do not, that condition may not be covered. For example, if you have diabetes and have recently needed treatment for it and you do not buy the policy within this 14 day window and have to cancel your trip due to a complication of diabetes, it will not be covered. For many plans you have a week to cancel the plan and get a full refund so there really is no reason not to purchase the coverage as soon as you pay for any part of the trip. In addition, this coverage includes your immediate family members. So, if your parent has a condition and that causes you to cancel the trip, you are covered for this as well.
According to Allianz Global Assistance, they define a pre-existing medical condition as:
An injury, illness, or medical condition that, within the 120 days prior to and including the purchase date of your policy:
Caused a person to seek medical examination, diagnosis, care, or treatment by a doctor;
Presented symptoms; or
Required a person to take medication prescribed by a doctor (unless the condition or symptoms are controlled by that prescription, and the prescription has not changed).
Which would apply to almost everyone with a medical condition. To be clear, you do not need a formal diagnosis to be considered to have a pre-existing medical condition by Allianz, it just needs to fit these criteria.
Each Allianz plan has requirements that need to be met so that the pre-existing medical condition benefit can apply. This typically includes:
Your policy was purchased within the time frame specified in your plan (usually 14 days of the date of the first trip payment or deposit.)
You were a U.S. resident when the policy was purchased;
You were medically able to travel when the policy was purchased;
On the policy purchase date, you insured the full non-refundable cost of your trip with Allianz Global Assistance — including trip arrangements that will become non-refundable or subject to cancellation penalties between the policy purchase date and the departure date.
It should be noted, that if you incur additional expenses that would fall into category 4, you are not out of luck. You can insure them with Allianz within 14 days so that they can also be covered and not subject to the pre-existing medical condition exclusion.
Additionally, each plan has specifics and each plan may not cover a pre-existing condition, these are just the general requirements I have seen, so make sure you read through each plan.
Having Travel Insurance brings you, your family members, and travel companions a peace of mind that if something were to happen to you, you would be financially and medically covered. I could not imagine traveling without it.
To check out more about Allianz Insurance click here.
#subqpump #caddms3 #pulmonaryhypertension #crohnsdisease #HHT #curehht #ulcerativecolitis #chronicillness #diabetes #invisibleillness #invisibleillnessawareness #phighter #phawareness #PHA #PH #travel #traveling #medication #medicalconditions #travelingwithmedicaldevices #travelingwithmedicalneeds #blogger #allianz #allianztravel #traveltuesday
Comentarios