Why travel insurance is essential

Many people believe that travel insurance is just in case you lose a bag or miss your flight… but in reality, there is much more involved.  It is essential that you take out a quality travel insurance any time you travel overseas.

Not only will your travel insurance cover your trip cancelations due to you, a family member or your traveling companion or their family member becoming ill or injured before your trip, but it will also safeguard you against any medical expenses you incur on your trip if you become ill or injured.

Often when traveling overseas, hospitals and medical clinics require payment upfront – and your medical bills can rapidly climb into the tens of thousands depending on the length of your stay. In many countries, medical treatment for visitors can be incredibly expensive; daily hospitalisation costs in Southeast Asia regularly exceed $800 and daily costs in the USA can be more than $10,000 a day, and that’s without any tests or scans. If you require medical attention while travelling, you may be liable for the cost of your treatment if you don’t have travel insurance. Medicare will not pay or reimburse you for any medical expenses you incur overseas. When you have travel insurance with emergency medical benefits, it can pay for covered medical and dental emergencies that occur during your trip.

If your medical condition is severe or the country where you have travelled to does not have adequate medical facilities, you may need to be medevaced to either the nearest hospital or home. Medical evacuation via air ambulance can cost more than $100,000 depending on where you are in the world and where you need to go to. This is a prohibitive amount of money if your family needs to pay for this themselves… and again, Medicare will not pay or reimburse you for this cost.

In most cases, your travels will go without a hitch. You’ll not have to experience the nightmare of being seriously ill or injured in a foreign country. But if you do, the last thing you want is not having the support or financial means to get treated and flown home. Emergency medical transportation benefits can pay for medically necessary transportation to the nearest appropriate medical facility, as well as the cost of getting you home following a covered injury or illness – make sure you check your policy to ensure that it has a high level of medevac and medical coverage.

When you’re wondering “is travel insurance worth it?”, weigh the small cost of buying travel insurance against the massive costs of a medical emergency overseas… we think you know the answer.