When traveling abroad, you may find your health insurance is not set up to cover emergency or other necessary care outside your home geographic area. That could put you in financial jeopardy.
As part of your travel plans, include a review of your health insurance contract—you should have been sent a packet after you signed up. You can also contact your personal insurance agent if you procured coverage through a professional, since understanding health insurance policies can sometimes require familiarity with the terminology and nuances. You need to know what your current plan will cover (and what it will not), as well as how much you can expect to pay out of pocket. You may have to pay upfront and file for reimbursement. You can also discuss travel insurance plans to see if this is a better option for you.
Some other considerations include whether you are traveling for business or for personal reasons, to which countries will you be traveling, how long you will be staying, and how frequent these trips will be.
If you are on Medicare, you will need to consult with your agent for additional options to ensure that you have coverage outside of the United States, as these plans can be tricky. Don’t assume you won’t be injured or need medical care when you travel. Make health coverage part of your planning for every trip.
