Most travelers fall into one of two groups – those who like to plan and those who prefer spontaneity. Regardless of your preferences, purchasing travel insurance should be on your itinerary. With so many policies to choose from, you’ll want to consider which best meets your needs and budget, and whether single-trip versus annual travel medical insurance provides a better combination of coverage and value.
At SentinelMED, we always recommend that travelers purchase travel insurance, and specifically policies that include travel medical insurance. With decades of experience in aeromedicine and long-distance medical transport, we’ve seen firsthand how travel insurance has provided the coverage travelers need to get appropriate medical care, and often medical transport, after a serious accident or illness.
Here are some things travelers should consider when reviewing single-trip versus annual travel medical insurance policies.
When to purchase single-trip travel medical insurance
For a relatively low cost, single-trip travel insurance can reimburse you if your trip is cancelled due to extreme weather events, accident or illness, or long flight delays. But even more importantly, single-trip policies can provide coverage for travel medical assistance, including long-distance medical transport, evacuation, and repatriation.
A single-trip policy can be a good choice if you:
- Plan to be gone for a long time, such as a semester or year abroad, an around-the-world journey, or a long-term work assignment.
- Are traveling with multiple family members, such as children or grandparents.
- Have Medicare, which typically does not cover travel outside the United States.
- Have an existing medical condition such as diabetes or sleep apnea that can be challenging to manage when traveling.
- Want to be able to customize your policy to add coverage for adventure travel or riskier activities such as backcountry skiing, paragliding, or river trekking.
When to purchase annual travel medical insurance
If you think you’ll be traveling multiple times a year, annual travel insurance can be less expensive than purchasing multiple single trip policies. However, you need to make sure your annual policy provides all the coverage you’ll need, especially if you have an underlying medical condition. Some annual travel medical insurance policies have exclusions for pre-existing conditions, so be sure to carefully review and compare any coverage limitations.
With that caution in mind, you may want to purchase an annual travel medical insurance policy if you:
- Are a spontaneous traveler who scoops up last-minute flights or travel packages.
- Are a business traveler who flies frequently.
- Almost always take trips that typically last 90 days or less.
- Plan to travel at least 100 miles from your home.
- Have Medicare and are generally healthy.
- Are aware that annual travel policies sometimes include a monetary cap on trip interruption or cancellation benefits.
About SentinelMED
SentinelMED works closely with individuals and travel insurance companies to provide medical transport, evacuation, and repatriation transport services to people of all ages who become sick or injured while traveling. Our team provides full-service care, coordinating with travel insurance companies and hospital case managers to arrange door-to-door medical transportation and to provide medical escorts to accompany patients to meet their care needs.
SentinelMED’s medical professional understands the complexity of providing exceptional care to patients who need assistance while traveling. Please contact us to learn more about the services that SentinelMED offers or its staff.
