The Basics About Travel Medical Insurance

Why Medical Travel Insurance is Important

If you’re a senior on Medicare and plan to travel overseas, you need to fully understand how your insurance coverage with Medicare works abroad to avoid potentially unexpected medical expenses while you are traveling outside the U.S. and its territories.  Failure to plan could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you are not adequately covered.

How Original Medicare Looks at Overseas Travel

Original Medicare does not offer coverage to seniors overseas.  However, several of the federally standardized Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans do.  Medicare Supplement (Medigap) Plans C, D, F, G, M, and N offer limited emergency foreign travel to policyholders with some stipulations.  The coverage is limited to emergencies only and does not cover any pre-existing medical conditions.

The coverage under these Medigap plans is limited to 50,000 US Dollars lifetime with a 250.00 dollar deductible.  Once the deductible is satisfied you are then required to pay a coinsurance of 20% up to the 50,000-lifetime cap. This means you could be stuck paying 10,250 dollars for a 50,000 dollar claim! And, there are no additional benefits under the coverage for things like trip cancellation or repatriation of mortal remains.

Travel Medical Insurance Plans

For many seniors on Medicare, the obvious solution to this lack of coverage is a travel medical insurance plan.  Petersen International Underwriters is reinsured by Lloyd’s of London and has been offering travel medical to Americans for many years now.  They have developed a comprehensive and robust travel medical plan with more benefit options than these supplemental insurance plans do. Moreover, the rates are extremely affordable since you are essentially purchasing the coverage strictly for the dates you will be traveling.  

This travel Medical policy allows you to select the coverage amount up to 5 million dollars and also to select your deductible.  The deductibles range from o to 5000 dollars, offering you flexibility in plan design and pricing.

Eligible Expenses

How to Enroll

The enrollment process is easy.  You can click the below link to access the brochure and policy documents for a more detailed description of the policy coverage details and exclusions.  You can even apply online in less than 10 minutes and print your declarations page and policy documents at the end of the short form.

Go to: https://zone.piu.org/online_major_medical/start?producer=SBA6CD

Or if you prefer to speak with a licensed agent you can call us at 281 255 4444.  We will be happy to answer all your questions and assist you with the application if you prefer.