If you’re looking for a policy that protects you in the event of an unexpected illness or injury while traveling abroad, then you need to learn about stand-alone travel medical insurance. This type of insurance can be provided by the benefits of certain premium travel credit cards, but the coverages can be both limiting and low in value.

Emergency medical coverage is included within some comprehensive travel insurance policies but can also be purchased on its own. Even if you have a primary U.S. insurance plan, including Medicaid or Medicare, odds are it will help very little (or often not at all) while out of the country.

Checking all the different sources of information can get confusing, and it's easy to misunderstand what type of medical insurance you have when traveling or accidentally duplicate your coverage by purchasing a policy when you already have those benefits covered from another source. Here’s everything you need to know about travel medical insurance so you can choose the best option for your trip.

What is travel health insurance?

Travel medical insurance provides reimbursement for emergency medical expenses, including medical evacuations, while you’re traveling. These policies do not provide coverage for routine expenses.

So, if you break your leg while you're on vacation internationally, emergency medical coverage will protect you. However, if you decide to get a teeth cleaning while you’re abroad, you will not be covered. Travel medical insurance is meant to protect you in case of emergency.

Expats, frequent business travelers or individuals who spend significant periods of time living outside the U.S. can purchase a comprehensive travel health insurance policy meant for long-term travelers (more on this below). These policies offer routine medical coverage for those living abroad (generally for one year or longer) rather than vacationers. Long-term international travel health insurance policies should not be confused with travel medical insurance.

Travel medical insurance products and comprehensive policies may also include coverage for family members who are traveling with you, or coverage for a family member to visit you if you become hospitalized. The definition of "family" can vary, but it commonly includes your spouse, children, siblings, parents, grandparents and more. So if your travel companion gets sick or injured during the trip, trip cancellation benefits may kick in. Or if you get hospitalized in a foreign country, the insurer could pay for a flight and hotel accommodations for a designated family member to visit you.

Although natural disasters that impact your plans are usually covered, travel medical insurance policies often exclude pandemics from coverage or those countries that have a ‘Level 4 Do Not Travel’ advisory issued by the U.S. Department of State. If U.S. citizens travel to those countries, travel medical insurance services may not be available. It's important to check the fine print of your policy to determine what may or may not be covered.

Travel insurance vs. travel medical insurance

A comprehensive travel insurance policy will include more protections than stand-alone travel medical insurance.

Travel medical insurance plans will have protections related to emergency medical events, while comprehensive trip insurance policies cover everything from medical care to trip cancellations.

Here are how those differences generally shake out.

With travel medical insurance, there are no trip cancellation benefits, so the cost of the trip is irrelevant. This makes the policy cheaper compared to purchasing comprehensive travel insurance, where you’ll need to include the entire nonrefundable cost of your vacation when calculating your quote.

Although travel medical plans can include coverage for benefits like trip interruption, the covered amounts will usually be limited.

What does travel medical insurance cover?

You will be reimbursed for unplanned, emergency medical costs that you incur during your trip. We reviewed several travel medical insurance plans on InsureMyTrip and found that they offer the following protections:

Since we reviewed several policies in the chart above, these limits show a wide range.

Different types of travel medical insurance plans

Both the type of trip and type of coverage determine which travel medical policy makes the most sense. You’ll need to become familiar with four terms: primary coverage, secondary coverage, single trip and multi-trip.

Primary vs. secondary coverage

Travel medical insurance plans will refer to medical coverage as primary or secondary.

Primary means that you can submit a claim to your travel medical insurance company before submitting to any other insurer.

When the policy is secondary, you will need to submit your claim to your primary insurance provider before you can submit a claim to the travel insurance provider.

For example, say you break your leg on vacation and have to go to the emergency room right away. If your travel health insurance is primary, you can pay your medical bill with your credit card and then submit a claim directly to the travel insurer.

However, if your travel medical coverage is secondary, you will first have to submit this claim to your U.S.-based medical insurer even though they may deny the claim (because the policies limit coverage abroad). You may even be required to include the refusal notice from your primary insurance along with your claim to your secondary travel health insurer.

Single-trip vs. multi-trip

Whether you’re a frequent traveler or go on vacation only once a year, you can choose a policy that is tailored to your travel needs. You can purchase either single- or multi-trip coverage, and it's important to know the difference between the two types.

Single-trip coverage: You leave home, travel internationally and return home. You can visit as many countries as you like while traveling, but when you return home, the coverage ends. These plans are purchased for each trip, whether you’re gone for four days or four weeks.

Multi-trip coverage: You can leave, travel and return home as many times as you want during the covered period. You can, for example, leave home, travel to France for a week, return home for a month, travel to Panama for three weeks and return home. The coverage continues no matter how many times you return home as long as each trip does not exceed the allowable period (usually 30 to 90 days). These plans must be purchased on an annual basis, and they require you to have health insurance in the United States.

Multi-trip coverage makes sense (and is usually more cost effective) if you travel frequently and do not want to purchase a single policy each time you go on an international trip. However, if you do not have medical insurance in the U.S., you will not be covered under multi-trip plans.

Do I need to have primary health insurance in the U.S. to be eligible for travel medical insurance?

The answer to this question is: maybe. It depends on the type of coverage you have. If your single-trip plan refers to your medical coverage as primary, you don’t need another health insurance policy. However, if the coverage provided under your single-trip plan is secondary, then you must have primary health insurance.

As noted above, all multi-trip plans require that you have primary medical insurance coverage in the U.S.

How to purchase travel medical insurance

You can search for medical travel policies on insurance comparison sites like Squaremouth (a NerdWallet partner), InsureMyTrip or Travel Guard. Policies differ by state, and availability may change during or after the pandemic, so verify that the state you reside in offers travel medical insurance in light of coronavirus.

Who needs travel health insurance?

If you plan on traveling and your existing medical insurance will not cover you in the country you are traveling to, buying a travel medical insurance plan could make sense. You could either purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy or one that only provides medical coverage.

Purchasing a policy strictly for travel medical insurance is a good idea for those who want emergency coverage while traveling but:

Have a premium travel card that already provides trip cancellation and trip delay coverage the individual deems sufficient.

Do not need trip cancellation, trip delay or the other benefits provided by a comprehensive policy because the traveler will remain in one location for a while and is not worried about a canceled trip.

If you do not have a travel card with trip cancellation benefits and you also want emergency medical coverage, then you’re better off with a comprehensive travel insurance policy.

How much does travel medical insurance cost?

The cost of the policy varies based on a number of factors including:

The country you’re going to.

Your age.

The state you’re from.

Coverage provided.

We did a search on InsureMyTrip for a one-month trip to Italy in November 2024 for a 36-year-old, and found one policy that offered medical coverage.

While we only got one result for this search, $31.80 is around the typical price you're likely to see for basic medical travel insurance for a trip of this nature. This is because travel medical insurance does not include other travel insurance benefits.

How do I use my travel health insurance?

If you encounter a medical emergency while traveling, contact your travel insurance provider about how to proceed.

You will likely need to pay for your medical expenses using your credit card and subsequently file a claim for reimbursement with the insurer.

Some coverage (e.g., emergency evacuation) may need to be arranged by your travel medical insurance provider to be eligible for reimbursement.