If you are one of those people who do not do much travelling or have been travelling but did not quite get the hang of it, especially if you are travelling to a foreign location all by yourself, being surrounded with people you don’t know might put you out of your comfort zone. Travel health insurance is possibly one of the most important things to consider when travelling abroad.
Though technological advancements have made travelling a lot easier and worry-free, aside from the fact that information dissemination becomes quicker, there will still be those times where you will find yourself stuck in an unfortunate situation. You can miss a flight, lose a baggage or even get your flights cancelled and get off it right away but if you contracted an illness or got yourself involved in an injury while travelling, these bad situations cannot compare.
The changes in weather patterns and climactic temperature may have ill effects on your bodies. This occurs most of the time to those people who have travelled from a certain area to another for the first time who were not able to adjust to the new climate at the new location. Also, countries mostly in tropic locations are plagued with different types of illnesses and diseases. That is why there is a need to take all the necessary precautions which most of the airline companies, as well as travel agencies would recommend for travellers, first-time or not to acquire travel health insurance.
But what exactly is travel health insurance?
There are several kinds of travel insurance spread in the market nowadays. There are even those which are parts of the ticket expense you have paid for when you’re travelling either by sea or by air. As a matter of fact, due to the terror attacks happening lately, different kinds of travel insurance spread anew. There are insurance plans which provide accident coverage even when accidents happen during the flight. These types of insurance plans also cover cancelled flights and also flights halted at the middle of the trip.
One downside of travel health insurance is that you need to process it yourself. People who want to stay in a foreign country for a long period of time mostly avail the said plan. These types of insurance plans are being offered to those people who plan in staying in another country from about two weeks up to a year. Most travel health insurance packages are renewable up to two years.
International Medical Insurance, for example, reimburses medical expenses you incurred when you get sick while travelling in a foreign country. Package can also cover for extended hospital stay and emergency surgery depending on the package you applied for. Also, there are insurance plans which cover emergency evacuation in case you need to transfer from one location to another for treatment, death and accident benefits and other travel assistance services. There are even companies which provide coverage without medical examinations in the availing of the package.
There are also insurance plans available for expatriates and their families who will be living for an extended duration in a foreign land while there also those for the employees which works abroad for an assignment. Lastly, there are also insurance plans which cover for both the home and foreign country in the case that the person often transfers from one country to another.