Whether you are a holiday lover heading off for a long-awaited trip with your loved ones or just moving abroad for the next few months due to your work responsibility, you cannot just pack your bags and leave without making essential preparation like medical care and financial support in a foreign country. You don’t know what may happen and when you will need emergency treatment while traveling abroad and as you know the medical expenses abroad are way too higher than in the country. So, having good insurance is a must before you leave.
Talking about insurance, there are mainly two options available for such cases; one is travel insurance and other is overseas health insurance. Though both of them are preferred as per the requirements of the insurers, each plan is significantly different from the other, which may lead to confusion. So, if you want to ensure the best medical facility in a foreign country, you will need to understand the difference between both the policies and then can make the right decision.
So what’s the difference between international health insurance and travel insurance?
Travel Insurance:
Travel insurance usually covers you against any mishaps and financial emergencies or accident during your abroad trip. It may include some sorts of health and medical care benefits, but due to the limited coverage, they just limited to cover travelers against any travel related issues.
Travel insurance protects against:
- Loss of luggage/passports/documents
- Trip cancellations/ flight cancellations
- Natural disasters
- Emergency medical treatment
- Return assistance
International Health Insurance:
As the name suggests, international health insurance is made for people living or working overseas or have gone for a few months due to whatever reasons. Just like any other health insurance policy, it covers the person against all the medical issues and emergencies with routine check-ups, ongoing treatments facility and detailed health insurance coverage abroad. For people relocating abroad, international health insurance would be more important to stay financially sorted for medical emergencies.
International health insurance covers for:
- Cancer and critical diseases
- Maternity cases
- Medical emergencies
- Regular check up
- Rehabilitation
- Hospital stay/ ambulance cover
- Compassionate visits
However, you need to remember that the premiums will be a bit higher for the international health insurance plan.
The adjustable nature of certain insurance plans, meaning they can be tailored to match your particular needs, proffering the right combination of protection for you and your family, whether you are traveling or staying in a foreign country.
When it comes to choosing the best among international health insurance and travel insurance plan, you can clearly consider an international health insurance plan as it provides you cashless treatment, anywhere in the world within the region of over making sure that you get back to normal without any pressure of financial trouble and medical care expenses. While on the other hand, travel insurance may cover a part of these, but the main aim to ensure that you are returning home in order to get treatment.
Whatever you choose, make sure you know what are the benefits your insurance policy can provide you while staying in an unknown country. Plus, before you choose a plan, ask your insurer if the policy will be valid for the region or not.