Trip Insurance vs. Medical Insurance: What’s the Difference?

If you are planning on traveling abroad, you might be thinking about purchasing travel insurance. Many don’t realize exactly what travel insurance can cover. Travel insurance is a broad term used for insurance that provides some sort of travel coverage. Typically travel insurance refers to either trip insurance (protection for financial losses due to unexpected trip related issues) or travel medical insurance (protection for health-related issues). For visitors to the U.S., both types of travel insurance can provide a more worry-free journey. Here’s why trip insurance and travel medical insurance are recommended, as well as the specific differences in coverage.

Trip insurance

Trip insurance typically refers to trip cancellation insurance coverage. These policies are usually for a short duration of a trip, such as up to 30 days. This type of coverage protects you against financial losses suffered because of unexpected trip related situations. This can include trip cancellations, interruptions, delays, missed flight connections, lost baggage, or rental car coverage. Some plans may include only certain features and benefits, so make sure that you choose a plan that works for your specific needs.

This type of insurance is useful in cases where specific circumstances may cause changes in your travel plan. Traveling with children or seniors or traveling in high-risk areas might also be reasons to consider this type of coverage.

Travel medical insurance

Travel medical insurance provides protection for unforeseen health issues you may encounter while traveling. These insurance plans are intended for sickness, injuries, and accidents. They may also cover expenses for medical treatment, medical evacuation, and/or accidental death repatriation. Travel medical insurance can also be called visitor insurance, visitor medical insurance, travel health insurance, or overseas travel insurance. It is important to ask the experts what kind of coverage might be best for your specific needs.

Travel insurance plans are especially recommended for traveling abroad to destinations where risk to exposed health issues could be higher, or for foreign visitors to the U.S. Travel insurance for non U.S. residents can provide a low cost solution to the common risks associated with visiting a foreign country. At Insurance Services of America, we make health insurance as easy as ready, set, renew. Call (800) 647-4589 or 01 (480) 821-9052 to learn more.

Do you Need Health Coverage for Your Parents if They Visit You in the US?

Understanding healthcare in the United States can be very difficult. However, you don’t have to understand it fully to know that travel medical insurance for non-US citizens is necessary.

If you have parents coming to visit you for the holidays, while on vacation or for any other reason, you need to get travel medical insurance for them. This is very important because if they need any type of medical care, while in the United States, they won’t get the best care and it will be expensive.

What type of insurance is right for your parents?

A comprehensive policy with full medical and travel benefits is the best choice, if you can afford it. Most of these policies are called visitor health insurance and will include higher medical limits.

Do you need separate policies for each parent?

You need travel medical insurance for each person visiting the United States. If both of your parents are coming to visit, you should get a separate policy for each of them. This will allow for more coverage and usually it’s more cost effective.

What should the policy maximums be for visiting parents?

You should always try to get the highest policy maximum you can. A $100,000 maximum is preferred by many, especially if the stay is short. However, if they plan to be more active or they are older, you may want a higher maximum.

Are you allowed to purchase the travel medical insurance for your parents?

Yes, you can do the entire application for your parents and pay for the policy with a credit card. This will save your parents the hassle of having to deal with it.

What else should you be aware of?

When purchasing travel medical insurance for non-US citizens, you should make sure you get the right policy for their needs. If your parents plan to visit the United States, but also want to see Canada, Mexico or any other country, you may need a different policy. Some type of travel insurance won’t cover them outside the United States.

It’s also important to consider where your parents will be staying. If they will be staying with you, a policy with the right protection may not be the same as if they are staying in a hotel.

It’s important to understand what type of travel medical insurance is best for visiting parents. Whether they are coming for a week, a month or longer, you need to make sure they are covered.

Does ObamaCare have an Effect on Those Visiting the United States?

When it comes to health insurance for non-US residents, it’s important to understand how ObamaCare affects these individuals. Some traveling to the USA are under the impression that they will get free healthcare due to the U.S. Affordable Care Act or ObamaCare. However, this is simply not true.

Not only is healthcare not free for those living in the United States, but it’s also not free for non-US residents traveling to the country. US visitors don’t gain free access to health care while in the country because they are not United States citizens. Even if they have family living here, they don’t get free healthcare.

Only some U.S. Cities and some permanent residents with green cards qualify for the federal programs for health care or ObamaCare. Non-US residents are responsible for getting their own healthcare coverage and ObamaCare won’t help them at all.

United States health care can be very expensive

If you’re traveling from another country to the US, it’s important to make sure you’re covered. Paying for medical care in the United States is very expensive and can put you tens of thousands of dollars in debt quickly. You want to make sure you have the right travel medical insurance before you leave for your trip.

If you’re involved in any type of accident or just need minor care, it can quickly become more than you can afford. Any of the common illnesses or accidents can cost you quite a bit of money out of pocket. Make sure you’re covered or you may end up at home with massive credit card debt because of a medical emergency.

You cannot visit the ER free of charge

You may think the United States will provide a free emergency room visit, but they won’t. If you have a medical emergency that lands you in the emergency room, it may get very expensive. Just a trip in an emergency vehicle can cost several hundred dollars.

If you do end up in the emergency room and you don’t have any health coverage, you may be transferred to a welfare hospital very quickly. The quality of your care may be compromised and you may not get the treatment you need.

Liability falls on your visa sponsor

If you’re in the United States on a sponsored visa and you have to go to the emergency room, your visa sponsor will be held liable for your bills. This can cause your sponsor to lose their visa or be prosecuted by bill collectors.

There are many reasons why you need to make sure you have the right health insurance for non-US residents before you travel. Without the right coverage, you may find yourself in debt or putting your visa sponsor in jeopardy.

Visiting the US? Here’s Why You Need Travel Insurance

It’s no secret that medical care in the United States is a complicated issue, even for US citizens. So it should come as no surprise that a foreign national visiting the country should also have to take this into account, especially as the Affordable Care Act (so-called ‘Obamacare’) rolls out and impacts the system in unpredictable and often misunderstood ways.

If you or someone you love is planning a trip to the United States, you owe it to your peace of mind to know a bit about the landscape so you can plan accordingly. Of course we hope the trip will go smoothly, but the simplest, easiest way to secure your finances while traveling to the US is to purchase US Visitor Insurance or travel insurance. In the case of an emergency, you’ll be glad you did, and here are three top reasons why:

Visitors are not entitled to medical care

Unlike the United Kingdom or other European countries, medical care is not covered by taxes, and visitors are not entitled to free care. This might surprise many visitors from countries where a visit to the doctor costs nothing, and never has. So please plan accordingly.

What about the emergency room?

Visitors are expected to pay for this too. In the case of an absolute disaster, the cost of the ambulance, the emergency visit, and ultimately the cost of any long-term care, should you need it, would be billed to you if you are uninsured. Needless to say, these costs will add up quickly. Health care in the US and Canada is the most expensive in the world. A simple visit to the emergency room for some stitches can cost hundreds of dollars. A ride in the ambulance might cost a thousand or more.

Students and foreign workers can purchase domestic insurance, but consider the coverage gap

Short-term visitors to the United States will be ineligible to purchase domestic health insurance, so will want to secure US Visitor Insurance to cover the whole of their travel. However, students and foreign workers on visa will be eligible for insurance, typically through their school or employer. That noted, even students and workers on visa will want to consider travel insurance to cover any gaps between the beginning of the insurance eligibility in the United States and their date of arrival.

You might be wondering: what’s the likelihood of the US health and insurance landscape changing in the near future? Will it ever be less complicated? The answer, unfortunately, is that the system only recently received one of the largest overhauls in history, which seems to have only added to the confusion and complexity. So, foreign visitors are urged to plan accordingly.

Fortunately you don’t need to understand the often inscrutable American health insurance system to secure yourself or a loved one against financial disaster should something go wrong when they’re visiting the US. At Insurance Services of America, we make health insurance for foreign nationals as easy as ready, set, renew. Call (800) 647-4589 or 01 (480) 821-9052 to learn more.

Travel Tips for US Visitors

Travel tips for US visitors.

Having a travel guide is good advice for anyone traveling to another country. If you’ve ever seen a travel guide, you’re probably aware of the kinds of details inside of them. They include details such as, how to travel to your destination, then how to travel around your destination, money tips, where to stay, what to eat, etc.

When traveling to the US, a guide book is also a great idea. Being prepared while traveling is essential. Below is a list of things you may experience here which most likely aren’t printed on the pages of any book.

Some of the generalizations you may have always thought to be true about America may or may not be true. Whatever the case, make sure you’re aware that the US and our citizens have a unique spirit.

While we know the list below is not isolated to Americans, we feel these are oddities that somewhat define our country. Some may be embarrassing, but others keep us inspired and encouraged.

Read More »

Pack Lightly, Board Early

American Airlines rolled out a new boarding policy Thursday that allows passengers with one carry-on item that fits under the seats to board planes earlier than others who require overhead bins.

It’s all about being able to get to and from destinations on time, the airline says.

“Our tests indicate that this new boarding process will improve our dependability and on-time performance, while being easier and more enjoyable for our customers,” Carol Wright, the airline’s vice president of customer planning, said in a statement.

Read the rest of Pack Lightly, Board Early here!

Free Things On Planes

From shrinking seats to ever-dwindling in-flight amenities, the airline industry really earns its tightfisted reputation. But if you know what to ask for, you’ll find that in-flight offerings are not quite as stingy as they seem. We asked author and former flight attendant Beth Blair for her tips on the free extras and services only available to those who know to ask.

So next time you’re hit with a headache onboard or have a thirst that’s going to take more than a glorified Dixie cup of soda to quench, know you can ask for—and most likely receive—a little onboard assistance.

Find out what other free things on planes you can get!

Saving on Summer Airfare

Chaotic schedules often lead to fantasies of summer vacation. The same schedules typically result in putting off planning said getaways. Now that summer’s upon us, the question arises – is it too late to book a vacation? It’s a reasonable concern, seeing as many airlines have few seats left during the summer months, particularly for prime vacation destinations. Another daunting consideration – prices for the seats that do exist.

The good news – it’s possible to take a summer break without breaking the bank.

When compiling its summer travel research, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics focused on the period of time beginning the Thursday before Memorial Day and ending the Wednesday after Labor Day. Based on its own research, the online metasearch siteKayak has found August to be the least expensive month for summer travels.

Read the rest of the article on Saving on Summer Airfare

Pet Peaves About Air Travel

Even the most even-tempered person can get annoyed while flying in moving metal with 100+ other people. Here is a varied collection of pet peeves and wry observations — along with some polite disagreements and a handful of explanations. Many thanks to the contributors, who shall remain anonymous.

The 8 biggest gripes:

“Seatback in the upright position.” Scores of people asked, “Is a lousy two-inch pitch really going to make much of a difference during takeoff and landing?” (See answer, below.)

Security. My original column came at the height of the London bomb scare, unleashing a torrent of complaints about the new no-liquids policy and the goons rifling through your bags. And why, people asked, can duty-free shops continue to sell items that their clueless customers cannot take on the airplane?

In-flight “snacks. “Why bother to give out half-ounce packages?” asked one reader. “I counted, and there were only eight peanuts in a package. I saved mine so as not to spoil my dinner that night.”

Click here for the rest of the pet peeves about air travel

100 Things To Do Before You Die, 1-50

In a sense, this is a bucket list for traveling, so why not take a look. In fact, if you’re brave enough, maybe you’ll take on the 100 things to do before you die challenge!

Take a look for yourself here!