Is Travel Insurance Worth It?

Many people never consider buying any form of travel insurance and many just figure it is an unjustified expense. Young people subconsciously feel they are invulnerable, but a lot of older people realize that they or their close relatives are living a more fragile existence and that the chances of some health crisis popping up are greatly increased, so they do consider getting insurance, in case they need to cancel their trip.

But there is one type of travel insurance that is increasingly becoming more important in this day and age....

As more people are taking active vacations and more are going to remote locations, the medical and repatriation aspect of insurance coverage is gaining more importance. While this is normally included in the standard policies that include trip cancellation coverage, it can also be bought separately, and without the trip cancellation coverage included, the cost is greatly reduced. 

Consider this:

• most cruises to remote places like Antarctica, the Arctic and the Amazon now require you to have medical and repatriation coverage
• countries like Ecuador are considering requiring people to have medical coverage in order to enter the country so that their hospitals are not stuck with unpaid bills.

Over the years, we have had clients who had unusual occurrences, but luckily for them, they had bought insurance. One lady slipped while walking up stairs in Lima, broke her ankle and had to spend the rest of her vacation in a Lima hospital. Another couple had a flight delayed and paid extra to get a night transfer to a jungle lodge, but their boat collided with another boat in the dark, so they suffered broken bones and ended up spending 9 days in a hospital (that is why most lodges refuse to do boat transfers in the dark). Their insurance covered the extra expenses that they incurred.

The people at Travelex insurance pointed out some interesting facts:

Did you know…

•  Medical evacuation costs can be on average $25,000 within North America, as much as $100,000 from Europe, and $250,000 globally, depending on location.* Schengen Area Visa requirements include a minimum $50,000 USD emergency medical coverage, including urgent health, emergency hospital treatment and repatriation.
• A nurse escort costs on average about $11,000 within North America and about $25,000 from Europe.*
• Medicare/Medicaid and health insurance carriers may stop or decrease coverage once a person leaves the U.S. or their coverage area.
• Hospitals outside the U.S. may ask for payment prior to treatment and may not let you leave the country unless treatment is paid in full. (Having a Travelex plan means our travel assistance provider* can guarantee payment up to the coverage amount shown in the Policy.)
• If your clients have a medical emergency while traveling, our travel assistance provider* will assist with foreign and domestic medical arrangements, so your clients can focus on recovery.
• Our Travel Select plan provides $50,000 emergency medical expense coverage and $500,000 emergency medical evacuation coverage – including a $25,000 escort sublimit, hospital of choice and repatriation.
• Additional coverage for medical expenses and evacuation is available as an optional upgrade on some Travelex plans, including Travel Select. The additional medical coverage upgrade can provide coverage for almost any medical emergency one could face while traveling.

 So I think that those are certainly things to think about.

Learn More About Travel Insurance and the Costs