How Travel Insurance Helps When Your Guests are Sick and Stuck Abroad
COVID may be in retreat, but it’s not eradicated, and the fear of getting sick when traveling overseas may be with us for some time.
Getting sick abroad with something like COVID-19 is a multifaceted fear. There’s the sickness itself, which can be life-threatening, but then there’s everything your guests have to do and spend to deal with the disease, and finally, the financial impact on their travels.
Let’s look at these various aspects of dealing with COVID-19 or another disease while traveling, and what it might cost – with and without travel insurance. We’ll also see how Travel Assistance Services, that are included with our plans, can come to your guest's aid when they need it most.
If A Traveler Is Hospitalized
The amount your guests spend on medical expenses to treat COVID-19 while traveling can vary tremendously based on where they get sick and how sick they get.
Also, if your guests get sick in a remote location or have to be transported to a different medical facility, the cost of that transfer can hit six figures. Fortunately, all of our travel insurance plans can provide reimbursement for emergency medical and evacuation expenses.
If a traveler is insured and needs to be hospitalized, here’s what you can expect:
Evaluate Care
Our team of medical experts will collect medical information, establish a point of contact with the treating medical facility, speak with the traveler and analyze the quality of care that the patient is receiving.
Covered Expenses: If the plan your guest purchased includes Medical and Dental, the plan can provide coverage for medical costs that are not covered by the their primary health insurance.
Assess Treating Facility
Depending on the quality of care, severity of the condition and other factors, our medical experts will determine if medical evacuation or repatriation is necessary to properly care for the traveler’s condition.
Covered Expenses: With Emergency Assistance and Transportation coverage, the plan can provide coverage for the traveler’s medical evacuation or repatriation costs.
Monitor
If necessary, the patient is transported to an appropriate medical facility. Our team of medical experts will monitor the traveler’s hospitalization until they are released and follows national travel guidelines to arrange the traveler’s return trip home.
Self-Isolation
Whether or not your guest needs to be hospitalized, if the traveler or their traveling companion tested positive for COVID-19 they may need to isolate before returning home. The costs of isolation can vary greatly depending on the country and facility where they’re isolating.
Fortunately, if your guests are diagnosed with COVID-19 or another sickness and are insured, they can be reimbursed for certain additional unexpected expenses on their trip, such as lodging if the plan terms are met.
This really comes in handy in a scenario like the following: It’s the last day of their vacation, your guests are being tested prior to departure, and someone in their traveling party tests positive.
It’s a not-uncommon scenario, unfortunately, but the good news is that travel insurance can help. If a self-isolation period is necessary before the traveler can return home, we will arrange local accommodations.
Covered Expenses: Travel Delay coverage can reimburse your guests for additional costs, such as accommodations and food. This also applies if a traveling companion is diagnosed with COVID-19, and your guests are not, but they still have to pay for additional lodging at their destination.
We will also check in with your guest throughout the self-isolation period to ensure that their condition is stable and in case they require medical treatment.
Extension of Coverage
Travel insurance doesn’t just end if a trip is unexpectedly extended beyond the scheduled return date. The insurance coverages will be extended if the entire trip is covered by the plan and the return is delayed by unavoidable circumstances beyond your guest's control. If coverage is extended, coverage will end either on the date your guest reaches their originally scheduled return destination or seven days after their scheduled return date, whichever comes first.
Return Home
If COVID-19 forces your guest to extend their stay and they have to rebook flights, your guest could be at the airlines’ mercy. A last-minute flight could cost a lot more than what your guest paid for their ticket originally.
Luckily, with one of our plans, we can help arrange the traveler’s return trip home.
Covered Expenses: With Trip Interruption coverage, your guest can be reimbursed for unused, non-refundable, pre-paid trip costs and additional transportation costs to return home or rejoin their group.
Considering all that can happen if your guest is sick and stuck abroad these days it’s clear that travel insurance can be valuable – and with COVID-19 raising the odds of that possibility, it’s more valuable than ever.
If you have questions about how our travel insurance plans can provide coverage for COVID-19, read the FAQs.
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