Medical treatment is one of the major components of a travel insurance plan. Treatments can often be very expensive, probably running into tens of thousands of dollars. If you do not have adequate cover for medical treatment, the costs will probably affect you more seriously than the disease itself. There are other basic issues covered in your insurance plan as well.
What Is In Your Travel Insurance
Your typical travel insurance plan will include coverage for trip cancellation and trip interruption, medical expenses, transportation coverage, and stolen/lost baggage and others. Basic plans will have restrictions related to the coverage of hazardous activities and preexisting medical conditions.
However, with some extra premium, you can cover almost all major risks that may be involved in travel. These are trip curtailment/cancellation, delayed departure, damages or loss to personal property, emergency evacuation or repatriation, delayed baggage, accidental death, flight accident, overseas funeral expenses and legal expenses. If you want coverage for preexisting medical conditions, travel to high risk countries and indulgence in high risk sports, you will have to go in for specialized insurance plans with an additional insurance premium.
Specialized Plans
You can buy an active traveler plan if you plan to enjoy sports activities during your travel. In that scenario, your plan will offer you coverage for specialty equipments such as fishing gear, golf clubs, hunting equipments etc. that you would need to carry while traveling.
You must go in for a medical plan if you are looking specifically for medical coverage. This type of a plan will completely cover all medical and emergency medical transportation expenses. However, if you have bought an exclusive medical plan, it may not include coverage for trip cancellation and lost baggage.
Common Exclusions
There are some common exclusion clauses in a travel insurance plan. These are war on terrorism, pregnancy related expenses, illness or injury due to drug use or alcohol and preexisting medical conditions. Many insurance providers will list these exclusions and will not cover them. However, some insurers might cover them for an additional premium.
Travel Agent Or Insurance Company
The travel insurance plan that you buy from a travel operator or a cruise line will have lesser inclusive coverage as compared to that of insurance companies. Claiming will become very difficult with a tour operator if he goes out of business or is financially bankrupt. If you have bought your plan from an insurance company, the risks of claiming will be limited. Federal authorities regulate insurance companies and in case of a dispute between you and your insurer, you have limited risks in claiming. However, travel operators offering group packages may not be under the control of the federal authorities.
You will be given the original travel insurance documents. Make two photocopies of your original documents and keep them safe in different places. It would help in case you lose the original documents. However, the best thing would be not losing your original documents. Although your plan would take care of your basic medical expenses, do consult your doctor if you have to. Keep a record of your treatment history while you are in a foreign country.