Do You Need This Coverage If You’re Healthy?

The assumption behind the question is that travel insurance is primarily about pre-existing conditions or chronic illness. It isn’t.

Accidents and unexpected illnesses can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any age. A broken leg from a fall while hiking, a severe allergic reaction at a restaurant, appendicitis on a cruise ship, a car accident in a foreign country – none of these have anything to do with your baseline health. They’re unpredictable events that can result in enormous out-of-pocket costs if you’re not covered.

Your domestic health insurance is unlikely to help much. Most U.S. health insurance plans offer limited or no coverage outside the country. Medicare does not cover medical expenses abroad at all. If you need hospitalization or surgery in a foreign country, you could be facing bills of tens of thousands of dollars – payable upfront, before you’re discharged, in some cases.

Travel insurance also protects your financial investment in the trip itself. Even if you never visit a doctor, a cancelled flight due to severe weather, a family emergency at home or a natural disaster at your destination could force you to abandon a trip you’ve already paid for. Trip cancellation coverage ensures you don’t lose that money.

The bottom line is straightforward: travel insurance is not about whether you expect something to go wrong. It’s about making sure that if something does go wrong – as it occasionally does for even the healthiest, most careful traveler – you’re not left managing a financial crisis on top of an already stressful situation.