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Informative Articles

Finding Travel Deals
If your vacation time is coming up and you are planning on making a trip, then you will need to make some plans. Perhaps you are going to visit family? Or, maybe you plan to take your family to see an attraction somewhere? Maybe you are going to...

Health Insurance for Canada Travel
While we as U.S. residents think often about travel insurance coverage when we're traveling overseas we're not so quick to worry about health insurance for Canada travel. This is especially true if our voyage to Canadian provinces is by car and not...

Rail Europe for the Student Traveler
Rail Europe As a Student Passenger Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com Read this entire feature FREE with photos at http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/adventure/trains/raileurope/student/eurail.html ...

Sweden Travel - Stockholm and Karlskrona
Known as the land of Vikings, Sweden is actually an odd mix of cosmopolitan cities and vast stretches of wide-open spaces. For budget travelers, Sweden is a bit expensive. Stockholm An incredibly beautiful city in the summer, Stockholm is the...

The Ultimate Traveler's Day Dream Come True
More than a few times, I've caught myself sitting at work day dreaming about dropping everything and just jumping on a plane. In October of 2003, I did just that. Life can grind you down when you get in a rut. In my case, I had a particularly bad...

 
International Travel and Health Insurance

Embarking on Your Dream Vacation
Are your Plans Complete?

Your bags are packed, passport and papers in order and you couldn’t be in a higher state of excitement preparing for travel to that wonderful, exotic location. This is the vacation you have planned it seems forever. As you sit on the plane, you and your partner discuss for the hundredth time the scuba diving you will do, the awesome rock climbing and hikes into the rain forest. Everything is perfect!

Life seldom gets better than this.

Despite all the excitement of travel, Americans do have some concerns.

According to a survey by the Chubb Group, more than 70% of Americans surveyed said their greatest concern when traveling is suffering a medical emergency...more than double the fear of being mugged (30.7%), three times the fear of being injured in a terrorist attack (23.4%).

What happens if a medical emergency arises when traveling overseas?

Many people assume that while they are out of the U.S. or Canada they will be covered by their standard medical plan. However, most traditional health insurance plans are not designed for international travel.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, approximately 27 million travelers board U.S. airlines for overseas destinations and almost 26


million foreign travelers come to the U.S. each year. However, many are not prepared for a medical emergency abroad.

Most traditional health insurance plans would not cover an unexpected illness or injury during international travel. But travelers with international medical insurance would have protection for scenarios ranging from a local ambulance trip to an emergency evacuation for care at the nearest qualified medical facility. Some even offer repatriation flights out of the country where the traveler is located back to the US.

Available plans can cover individuals or groups for specific periods of time abroad and can be in effect should they be stationed abroad for an extended period of time. There are policies for corporations to insure their personnel, plans to cover missionaries who are on an outreach program and for those participating in extreme sports. International travel medical insurance should be considered for anyone traveling or living abroad.

©David M. Schmader, Solon, Ohio January, 2005
www.brownschmader.com

About the Author

David Schmader is an independent broker agent located in the Cleveland Ohio suburb of Solon, Ohio. With over 25 years of corporate finance experience he specializes in serving the individual, professional and small business markets.