Why you really should buy international travel medical insurance for your family
Travelling abroad with your family is always exciting. It is great to be able to let your kids experience a different way of life and see things they have never seen before. But, travelling abroad as a family can be stressful.
There is a lot that can go wrong, and when you are a long way from home, dealing with emergency situations is even harder. But, taking the step of buying good international medical insurance coverage will really help.
You get access to proper support
Should a member of the family fall ill or get hurt being able to ring someone and get advice that is tailored to your situation is vital. To start with, it gets you past the language barrier. You know that the person at the other end of the phone will know what to do. They will tell you which emergency number to call. As well as how to handle admission to the hospital and how to keep track of expenses, so you can claim back that cash.
You will avoid getting into debt
Unfortunately, a lot of people greatly underestimate the cost of medical treatment. In particular, those people who live in a country where healthcare is free at the point of access. The state uses the taxes their citizens pay to cover the costs of treatment.
So, when they discover that fixing little Johnny’s broken arm cost several hundred dollars they are often shocked and do not have the means to pay for it. The more serious the injury or medical emergency is the bigger the bill is and the more of an issue paying it becomes. Most families do not have thousands of dollars sitting in their bank accounts ready to pay for an emergency operation. For example, having your appendix or gall-bladder removed.
As a result, when they get home, they have to take out a loan to pay that medical bill. If they also have to pay $25,000 to $50,000, sometimes more, to transport the person back home, they can end up living in debt for life.
How to by the right policy for your family
The above are just the two most important reasons for buying good quality medical travel insurance. There are others, but they are not as vital.
What is vitally important is buying the right policy. Sadly, some of the policies that are available are woefully inadequate.
Make sure you buy a policy that offers adequate cover
It is important to bear in mind that there are limits to how much your insurance company will pay for medical emergencies. If one of you has to be sent home in an air ambulance and it costs $30,000 you want your insurance company to pay the whole amount. Not just the first $15,000, leaving you to scrape together $15,000 more to settle the bill.
This in-depth article goes into more detail. Importantly, it explains how to work out whether the policy you are planning on buying provides a high enough level of coverage.
