Yes, travel insurance is also a form of medical insurance. Just like other insurance documents, the travel insurance policy literature too has many clauses that should be clearly understood before purchasing an advertised plan. In this regard, the fine print of the insurance documents is particularly critical for those who are vulnerable to falling sick or those who have been diagnosed with diseases or those with a recurring medical problem. Please understand that most of the travel insurance documents carry two kind of categories under which all medical conditions are listed. These are called Pre-existing conditions and list of Exclusions.
Understanding Pre-existing Conditions Nearly every kind of visitor travel insurance document consists of a clause that clear states that medical care sought for medical conditions that existed at the time of signing the medical insurance contract or disease that the insured was already suffering from will not be covered. This clause essentially refers to the fact that if the insured has a history of diseases and the same needs medical care when traveling overseas, the resulting costs are outside the realm of travel insurance benefits. If due to any pre-existing condition, the insured develops a new set of symptoms or his condition gets medically complicated in any way, even then the insurance provider is not bound to pay for the medical bills.
Thus, if you have a history of lower, lumbar pain in your back and upon reaching the foreign destination the pain radiates to your upper leg area, the medical services employed due to such symptoms will not be covered. If you feel that any of the existing medical problems that you are suffering from may precipitate into a bigger problem when traveling abroad, it is advised that you share it with your insurance provider. Most of the insurance providers try their best to ensure that at least some of your current medical conditions are somehow adjusted into the coverage. If not the entire amount, the effort is to ensure that you gain some percentage of the coverage in form of medical insurance for these conditions.
Understanding Exclusions Apart from pre-existing conditions, there are certain diseases that are listed as Exclusions. Here, visitors health insurance contract simply says that it will not offer coverage for any medical bills incurred due to seeking treatment for the listed diseases. Most of these diseases are life-threatening diseases or those like cancer that are known to have very expensive treatment methods. Most of the travel insurance providers don't offer financial coverage for such conditions. However, there are no rules against trying to seek coverage for the same. This means that as a customer you can try your best to request your travel insurance provider to offer some sort of coverage for an excluded medical condition. Usually, such requests are considered for slightly higher premium charges.
Understanding Medical Evacuations The more comprehensive travel insurance packages or international health insurance plans offer a very significant form of medical insurance coverage that is referred to as medical evacuation insurance or emergency medical evacuation.
This insurance covers the expenses that are borne when an untreatable, life-threatening medical condition develops midway, during the journey. Please understand that these are considered niche medical insurance services and can be provided by established, globally-renowned travel insurance providers only. This is because such evacuations often include employing the services of air-ambulances and requesting stoppages of international flights. However, as explained earlier, if the cause for the medical evacuation is an excluded or pre-existing condition, your insurance provider has the right to refuse insurance coverage for the resulting expenses. Medical evacuation services are very expensive and none of the other travel insurance resources like credit card insurance or employer insurance or your personal medical insurance policy is entitled to provide coverage for it.
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People who plan to buy visitor travel insurance should consider the more comprehensive and globally-respected travel insurance products that are retailed as overseas travel health insurance packages. Details for such plans are listed at resources like NRIOL.com
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