All of us need to travel, either for business and professional reasons or for pleasure. Whatever is the cause of your travelling there is no doubt about the fact that while away from home we actually expose ourselves to different conditions and situations that can negatively impact our health. Moreover accidents never come with warnings and considering all these facts you can safely conclude that an individual can help you in covering various unforeseen expenses that you might be forced to incur while travelling.
To make the situation further difficult, different foreign countries maintain different health care standards. Though government run health insurance plans are available for citizens in most countries but that is hardly available for foreign nationals visiting the country and as result if you are not covered by individual travel insurance policy for eventualities like this you might end up by paying a hefty fee only to see a doctor or in case of other before seen medical conditions.
Travel insurance plans for travelling in foreign countries or even in your own country offers you coverage against personal accident that also includes ambulance cost and cost of hospitalization. Travel medical insurance policy will only cover your medical expenses during the period for which you will be traveling but you also need to be insured against incidents like loss of passport or baggage, burglary or other cases that can cost you dearly during a travel. You can always consider it a better option to avail as much coverage as you can depending upon your personal heath, the places that you will be visiting and also the type of luggage you will be carrying along with purpose of your travel.
But before you get an extra policy for your foreign travel you will do better to have a talk with your current health insurance provider. There are many policies from different companies who will offer you travel health coverage for a limited period as an ad hoc to your existing health insurance with them and such a policy will always cost you much less than an individual travel insurance plan. Always make certain that your travel health insurance covers both illness and accident because treatment for both of them can be extremely expensive in a foreign land. It is wise to share your travel plan with your insurance service provider and you must also let your service provider know beforehand if you are going to indulge in adventure activities during the period of your travel.
But in case the current health insurance you are having cannot be extended to cover your health during a foreign tour, it will be wise to seek an individual for a short duration of time. But always keep in mind that the policy you buy should cover emergency visits to doctors and healthcare professionals, cost of treatment and also the cost of hospital stays if required by the situation. There are also travel cancellation insurance plans that will reimburse your travel related expenses in case you are forced to cancel the whole tour due to some emergency medical conditions. You never travel to get hurt or fell ill but it is always better to take the precautions for in case the something unfortunate happens you are still able to keep things well under your control.
Gaurav Kumar Srivastava is a financial adviser who loves to share his key ideas to choose individual travel insurance plans in India. For more information about travel insurance policy, visit beforeufly.com
