Even those traveling abroad on a gastronomic tour cannot do without medical insurance.
The Price of Health
Medical insurance is mandatory when visiting almost all countries of the world. Purchasing a policy is a necessary condition for obtaining a visa. Each country sets a minimum amount of required insurance coverage and a list of risks to be included in the insurance policy. The price of medical services in each state thus directly affects the price of the policy purchased by the visitor. Domestic insurers, as a rule, divide foreign countries into two main territories within which there is relative uniformity of prices for medical insurance. One territory is all countries of the world except the countries of North and South America, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Libya. Here the minimum amount of required insurance coverage is $15,000. The other territory is all the above-mentioned countries except Libya, for which the sum insured starts at $30,000, sometimes reaching $100,000.
The cost of insurance purchased by a traveler is also affected, besides the price of medical services within a certain territory, by the duration of his stay abroad. The longer the policy term, the lower the insurance cost of each day of stay. For example, if a medical insurance policy is purchased for a year, then each day during this period will cost the insured about half as much as a day in a two-week policy.
The pricing rules described above, however, apply only to the minimum set of risks covered by the insurance policy. These risks correspond to a minimum set of services provided to the insured. Payment for treatment, transportation, evacuation home or repatriation. In addition to such a minimum package, domestic companies offer clients policies that include an extended list of services, for example, payment for a close relative's visit in an emergency, services provided by a dental clinic, as well as (which is usually included in an expensive business package) assistance in finding luggage and legal assistance.
When purchasing a policy other than the minimum standard one, one should inquire about the system of discounts and surcharges applied by each insurance company. Benefits, as a rule, are provided by insurers to regular customers or groups. Surcharges are established for insuring elderly people, as well as for risks associated with professional or amateur sports. In the latter case, the amount of the surcharge will increase depending on which sport the client prefers, rising from inexpensive golf to expensive martial arts.
Meeting Place
According to experts, up to 90% of all medical insurance policies for travelers abroad are sold by insurers through travel agencies. Given that most of our compatriots go abroad as tourists, this system of selling their products by insurance companies is quite justified.
Travel companies, especially small ones, as a rule, offer insurance policies with minimum coverage and a standard set of services. If the client's requests go beyond the standard package, then he should contact the insurer directly. It is also worth doing this for those who, without claiming an expanded range of services, are going to save money. The savings achieved, however, will not be too great, but still. Travel companies sell insurance policies as part of a package on the basis of commission or agency agreements with insurers. In addition to the commissions due under these agreements, travel agents earn on the difference in the cost of medical insurance policies sold. Usually, prices for such policies are calculated by travel companies based on about $1 per day. The rates of the insurers themselves are often one and a half to two times lower. A personal visit to an insurance company will save a thrifty traveler a few dollars.
Those who go abroad not on a travel agency voucher but independently - on a private invitation or on a business trip - should also contact the insurer directly, because purchasing a medical policy is a necessary condition for obtaining a visa. True, in this case it is not necessarily about visiting the insurance company's office directly: near the buildings of consular services of the countries most visited by our citizens, as a rule, insurance agents are on duty, ready to issue the necessary policy on the spot.
Instruction for the user
Domestic insurance companies selling medical insurance policies valid in different countries, of course, do not have a huge network of representatives around the world. This is not necessary. Both our and foreign insurers use the services of service companies to serve the interests of their policyholders. When purchasing a policy at a travel agency or at the insurer's office, first of all, attention should be paid to the partner of this company. If it is well-known, has a central office in one of the major international centers and has an extensive network, then this is a guarantee of proper service, even if its domestic partner is a small insurance company.
If the need to use the services provided by the insurance policy does arise, the time a service company takes to make a decision on a specific case can play a significant role. If the policyholder does not speak a foreign language, it will be difficult for him to conduct a conversation with his agent or receive qualified advice. Therefore, it is very important to make sure that the service company has an accessible Russian-speaking dispatch service abroad. Our companies have such offices in a limited number of countries, while most dispatchers speak their native language and English.
If it becomes necessary to receive medical services, you should contact the service center. As a rule, the cost of a call to the dispatcher is reimbursed by the insurer. In an emergency, a different sequence of actions is often possible: the policyholder can immediately seek help from a medical facility and then notify the service company about it. The permissible delay period is determined by the terms of the insurance contract, and only clients of the world's largest service companies, whose name is known in medical facilities, can contact any clinic directly without calling the dispatcher first.
When a policyholder applies to the service company, the insurance compensation is paid by non-cash settlement between this company and the medical facility. However, often our clients, who are not properly informed about the established procedure, especially when purchasing a policy from a travel agency, pay for treatment themselves, counting on insurance compensation upon returning home.
What is possible and what is not
The set of risks covered by the medical insurance policy for traveling abroad is limited. You should not expect that the insurance will cover all health-related troubles: the list of circumstances that do not relate to insured events is quite extensive. It includes exacerbation of chronic ailments, dental diseases not related to emergency care, prosthetics and plastic surgery, trips abroad with the specific purpose of receiving treatment, and the insured person's refusal to be evacuated to their homeland.
The insurer is not obliged to compensate the policyholder for expenses related to the consequences of consuming alcoholic substances. Accidents related to driving while intoxicated are also not insured events. If the traveler self-medicates or uses non-traditional treatment methods not officially recognized by medicine, then he bears the costs of restoring lost health himself. As well as in the case when his ailment is caused by the effects of solar radiation. You can, of course, go to a psychoanalyst, but you will still have to pay for these visits yourself.