Don’t forget to pack your health insurance

Don’t
forget to pack your health insurance

Family
& Lifestyle

Stay
protected abroad, and save thousands, with travel medical insurance.

Now that
you’ve retired, you’re finally booking that tour of Southeast Asia you’ve been
planning for years. You’ve plotted your itinerary, updated your passports and
arranged for a pet-sitter – you may have even purchased trip cancellation
insurance in case some unforeseen event interferes with your trip.

But what if
that unforeseen event is a medical emergency?

Medicare
doesn’t cover medical care received abroad, nor do many U.S.-based health
insurance plans. Many providers will require cash up front for medical
services, which can result in thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. Even
if your destination has nationalized healthcare, that service may not be
available to nonresidents.

Enter travel
medical insurance, an industry that’s booming as more older adults plan trips
abroad. The global travel health insurance market is predicted to more than
double in the next five years, topping $63 billion by 2030. Even Cigna and
FloridaBlue have gotten in the game, launching insurance products geared toward
retirees, expats and international travelers.

Different
types of coverage

Travel
insurance policies run the gamut. You can buy trip interruption insurance,
travel medical insurance, or comprehensive travel insurance, which includes
both.

Before
deciding on a policy, be sure to check any existing coverage to make sure you
don’t double up. If you have a premium travel credit card, you’re likely
covered for trip disruptions and lost luggage, so a stand-alone travel medical
insurance policy may be sufficient. Some cards even include medical coverage,
but they generally have lower limits and fewer protections than a stand-alone
policy.

Here are
some different types of coverage to consider:

• Emergency medical coverage pays
  for unexpected medical expenses like doctor and hospital visits.
• Medical evacuation insurance
  covers transport to the nearest suitable medical facility if adequate care
  isn’t available locally.
• Repatriation coverage pays for
  transport home if medically necessary, or the return of remains to the
  United States.
• A pre-existing condition waiver
  can cover medical issues that existed before you booked your trip, like
  diabetes, hypertension or asthma.

These types
of coverage can be purchased separately or as part of a comprehensive travel
insurance policy.

Other
considerations

When
purchasing travel medical insurance, pay attention to whether your policy
offers primary or secondary coverage. With a primary policy, you can submit a
claim directly to the travel insurance company. If the policy is secondary,
you’ll need to submit your claim to your U.S.-based health insurance provider
first.

If you’re
planning to take more than one trip in the near future, multi-trip insurance
might be more cost-effective than buying multiple single-trip policies.
Multi-trip insurance covers you for a predetermined period – usually a year –
during which you can leave and come home as many times as you like, to and from
as many different destinations as you like. So, for example, you could spend
two months exploring Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, come home for a few months,
take a 10-day trip to the UK, come home for a week, then spend three weeks
traveling around South America – and be covered whenever you’re abroad. It’s
worth noting that multi-trip policies require you to also have U.S.-based
health insurance.

Between
booking flights, packing bags and planning your itinerary, the last thing you
need to worry about is a medical emergency abroad. A travel medical insurance
policy can help you focus on the adventure ahead. Hopefully you’ll never need
it, but if you do, you’ll be glad it’s there.

Pendle Hill
Advisors is proud to contribute to the Montgomery County News with our weekly
curated financial news and topics. If you have any questions about the markets,
your financial plan, or anything, please feel free to reach out to our office
for a no cost initial consultation.

Kent Pendleton, AAMS®

Financial Advisor, RJFS

Pendle Hill Advisors LLC

14375 Liberty St, Ste 109 | Montgomery,
TX 77356

T 936-297-8267

Kent.Pendleton@raymondjames.com | www.raymondjames.com/pendlehilladvisors

Material
created by Raymond James for use by its advisors. Securities offered
through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment
advisory services are offered through Raymond James Financial Services
Advisors, Inc. Pendle Hill Advisors is not registered broker dealers and is
independent of Raymond James Financial Services.