What is the difference between travel insurance and international health insurance?

 

Introduction

Do many people ask what is the difference between travel insurance and international health insurance? The difference between travel insurance and international health insurance is the notion. International health insurance concentrates on providing the policyholder with medical coverage, while travel insurance provides additional protection that can be used to cover various risks during a trip.

Travel insurance and international health insurance are two different financial protection products that are essential before you go on your trip. While they seem very similar, some key differences between the two products will help you understand the key differences.

What is the difference between travel insurance and international health insurance?

Travel insurance is designed to protect you in the event of a medical emergency while traveling abroad, but it doesn't provide coverage for routine medical care.

International health insurance is designed to provide you with comprehensive medical coverage while traveling outside your home country.

Because travel insurance and international health insurance are two different types of policies, they each have their own set of benefits and limitations. For example, travel insurance covers some basic medical expenses like emergency room visits and ambulance rides, but it often won't cover routine care such as physical therapy or prescription medication. In contrast, international health insurance may cover these types of services in addition to protecting emergencies and severe illnesses or injuries.

Difference between International Health Insurance and Travel Insurance

It's important to understand the difference between travel insurance and international health insurance. While both cover unexpected medical expenses, travel insurance is designed to protect you against travel-related losses. International health insurance is designed to protect you against the cost of medical care when traveling overseas.

International health insurance is a type of coverage that provides access to medical care outside your home country. These plans are typically administered by private companies or government entities in various countries around the world. Some plans only cover basic services such as emergency care or hospitalization, while others offer comprehensive coverage for everything from prescription drugs to dental care and eyeglasses.

Travel insurance is meant to cover unexpected expenses that may occur during your trip — not just medical expenses, but also damages caused by theft or lost luggage. The most common types of travel insurance include:

Travel Insurance vs. International Health Insurance: What's Covered?

If you need to get an X-ray or see a specialist abroad, your travel insurance will probably not cover these expenses unless they're medically necessary -- and even then it might require that you pay out-of-pocket at first and then file a claim later on. This can be a hassle because most people don't have access to their medical records while traveling abroad (which is why it's important to carry copies on your person).

In contrast, international health insurance generally covers all kinds of medical services -- even those related to chronic.

What should I know about international travel health insurance?

Travel health insurance is a type of travel insurance that covers the cost of medical treatment (including dental care) for sickness or injury that occurs while traveling outside your province/territory of residence. This coverage is usually purchased separately from trip cancellation and baggage coverage, which are often included in a single comprehensive travel insurance policy.

Travel health insurance is designed to cover basic health care needs when you're traveling outside your province or territory of residence, but it doesn't cover everything. If you have a pre-existing condition (a chronic medical condition), you may be able to purchase supplemental coverage. For example, if you have asthma and want to travel to Europe, you may want extra coverage for emergency room visits related to asthma attacks.

Pre-existing conditions - If you have a pre-existing condition, your travel plan will not cover any costs associated with that condition while you're traveling. In most cases, if your pre-existing condition becomes an emergency while traveling, your regular health plan will still cover it. This is also true if you contract a disease or illness while on vacation.

Why Travel insurance typically offers a lower level of coverage than international health insurance.

Travel insurance typically offers a lower level of coverage than international health insurance. The reason for this is that it is designed to be used for short-term trips to other countries. It does not cover long-term stays, nor does it usually cover emergency evacuation in case of an accident or illness.

International health insurance, on the other hand, covers you for all medical expenses incurred while living in another country, including those related to travel and repatriation. It also covers emergency evacuation and repatriation if necessary.

Travel insurance policies generally offer lower levels of coverage because they are designed to protect against unexpected financial losses resulting from accidents or injury during travel such as lost baggage or cancellation charges due to weather conditions or illness. They do not provide comprehensive healthcare coverage as international health insurance policies do.

The most important thing to know about travel insurance is that it's not designed to cover every possible cost related to your trip. It's meant primarily as a "safety net" for emergencies — for example, if you get sick or injured on your trip, travel insurance can help pay for medical expenses and transportation home so you don't have to worry about them.

Travel insurance covers some of the same things as other types of health coverage such as hospital stays, ambulances, and prescription medications. But there are several reasons why these policies tend to offer less coverage than international health insurance:

Why are Travel insurance policies cheaper?

1) Travel insurance policies are cheaper because they only pay out a limited amount per incident — usually around $10,000 per incident (including medical expenses). International health insurance policies often have higher limits (upwards of $100,000 per incident). This means that if you need an expensive procedure like surgery or chemotherapy while abroad, the money may run out before the treatment is complete.

Conclusion

Travel insurance and international health insurance are often used interchangeably although they are different, yet overlapping types of travel insurance. Even though the terms can be used interchangeably there are differences between them.

From what I have gathered from my research it seems that travel insurance is more comprehensive than international health insurance. Travel insurance typically includes covering expenses like trip cancellation, missed connections, baggage mishandling, loss/theft, etc. In addition to this, it has been my experience that health insurance will often not cover pre-existing conditions or even what would be considered minor illnesses.

These two types of travel insurance provide very different kinds of protection for travelers, so it's important to know the difference before you buy. For most travelers, we recommend international health insurance that includes medical evacuation and coverage for worldwide medical expenses.