Compare Travel Medical Insurance Plans & Prices

Ideally, yes, and it’s especially important to have travel insurance while traveling abroad.

Many people assume their health insurance works as normal overseas, but not every plan will cover you while you are out of the country. Domestic policies are designed to work “in-network”, which is typically limited to U.S. hospital systems. This means your health insurance will rarely cover foreign medical treatment, dental interventions, or expensive emergency medical evacuations to international hospitals. This is where travel insurance can bridge the gap and keep you protected.

The majority of travel credit cards offer medical limits that are insufficient for travel abroad, and some may not even pay for medical bills at all.

Most credit cards offer travel coverage focused on reimbursing trip purchases made with the credit card, and only a handful of credit cards offer medical protection that comes remotely close to a third-party travel medical policy.

Yes, you can buy both primary and secondary travel insurance plans even if you don’t have a primary health insurance policy. In this case, a secondary policy can function as a primary insurance when you go to make a claim by simply informing your provider that you have no primary health insurance.

Be sure to review the policy certificate before buying, as some secondary policies require you to have a primary health insurance plan for certain coverages to apply.

Retirees and senior travelers typically have fewer plan options due to age restrictions on some policies, but Squaremouth offers several medical-only and comprehensive policies for travelers over 70 and seniors over 80.

These policies typically come with higher medical limits, pre-existing condition protection, strong evacuation coverage, and can protect you on trips abroad, where Medicare and Medicaid are not accepted.

No, medical tourism is excluded from nearly all travel insurance policies. If you plan to travel for medical tourism purposes, it’s best to contact your domestic health insurance provider to understand how your coverage may assist you abroad, and to speak with the foreign hospital about insurance options available to you locally.

Medical travel insurance is not usually mandatory for most countries; however, there are a few destinations that require travel insurance for entry. That said, we always recommend buying travel medical insurance when traveling abroad, as Medicare, Medicaid, and traditional U.S. health insurance are not accepted overseas.

Yes, all plans sold on Squaremouth include medical coverage for COVID-19 and treat it as any other illness.

Usually, travel insurance excludes pre-existing conditions from coverage, but some plans can offer coverage for these health issues if you purchase your plan in time to qualify for a pre-existing conditions waiver. Here is a list of our top recommended plans that cover pre-existing conditions.

Some medical travel insurance plans will include emergency dental coverage, whereas others may exclude it. When getting a quote via Squaremouth, you can select and filter by plans that offer emergency dental coverage to ensure your plan has this coverage.

If you become sick or injured while traveling and incur medical expenses, you'll need to file a claim with your travel insurance provider. This process varies by insurer, but typically includes the following steps:

1. Contact Your Provider: Squaremouth doesn't process your claims, so you should contact your insurance provider. They will be able to confirm your coverage and explain the next steps for filing your claim.
2. Gather Documentation: You'll need proof to support whatever claim is made against your policy. Collect relevant medical records, itemized bills from healthcare providers, proof of payment, doctor's notes, and any other documents that might be relevant to your claim.
3. Complete a Claims Form: This step can often be completed through your provider's website or mobile app. Fill out the form accurately and attach all required documentation.
4. Submit Your Claim: Review and submit your claim. Be sure to monitor its progress and look for requests for additional information. Medical claims often take 4-6 weeks to process.
5. Appeal (If Necessary): If your claim is denied, you have the right to appeal. There is no guarantee that an appeal will be successful. Squaremouth can act as a claims advocate and mediator if you need assistance with your appeal.

Squaremouth’s comparison tool offers a Schengen visa filter that lets you see only plans that meet the Schengen visa requirements. Our tool is the quickest way to sort through hundreds of travel insurance policies to find the ones that are valid for Schengen Visa applications across travel to 29 countries.

It includes policies with at least €30,000 of emergency medical and medical evacuation coverage for countries in the Schengen area. These policies also come with a Schengen Visa letter to present to visa officials that outlines your coverage, dates, and countries covered.

Most standard travel medical policies have no deductible, but many offer the option to add a deductible if you want to reduce the overall cost of your policy.

Deductibles are more common on annual multi-trip policies, but if you need an annual travel insurance plan with no deductible, Squaremouth offers several options.

Emergency medical coverage is designed to pay for emergency medical expenses and treatment abroad, whereas emergency medical evacuation coverage is designed to transport you to the nearest appropriate medical facility or pay for repatriation home if medically necessary.

These two benefits are typically sold together, but medical evacuation limits are usually much higher than emergency medical limits due to how expensive medical repatriations are. Some policies break out sub-limits for different medical coverages, such as reimbursing emergency medical expenses versus emergency dental expenses.