Travel Insurance Options for Full-time Travellers and Digital Nomads
A lot of issues have been raised regarding health insurance in the U.S. during the last couple of years. As if that wasn’t complicated enough, things get even trickier when talking about people who live nomadic lifestyles. If you decide to go on a short holiday, you simply take a travel insurance to cover for you during that period of time. So, following that logic, if you decide to go away to a foreign country for a few months, you simply take insurance that covers that, right? unfortunately, nope..
There are a couple of different types of travel insurances:
Emergency: In case you become sick, and need medical assistance, this type of insurance should cover for any expenses you might come across. It doesn’t matter in which country you find yourself in.
Accident: Sometimes, general health insurance doesn’t cover for sports related injuries, so make sure you get to the bottom of this, before choosing the plan for you.
Search and Rescue: If you are an adventurer that likes to visit places that aren’t terribly safe, you should really consider acquiring this type of insurance. You would want to have it, if for example you get stuck in an avalanche.
Routine treatments: Some people like to take care of their body with regular checkups, and just because they find themselves in a foreign country, it doesn’t mean they have to give this up.
We would advise you to pick carefully, and figure out what would be the best combination for you. Usually, the best way to go is to combine travel insurance with the one from your country. You will be paying a little extra money, but at least you will have a piece of mind, and in the case you need it, you will put yourself in the best possible position to get a full repatriation. Also, there are a couple of options you can have, and now will discuss some of them.
Credit Cards Have Free Travel Insurance
Certain credit cards offer free travel insurance, and a lot of people are tricked into thinking that it’s all they need. Only when they find themselves in a situation where they need to use it, do they realize they didn’t pay attention to the fine print. Unfortunately, in most cases, this won’t cover for your bills, and it can put you in a tough spot. We wouldn’t recommend this to be your first choice.
This is probably the most popular type of insurance for digital nomads out there. Just like we already mentioned before, it is best when combined with the medical insurance at home. Because so many people use it, you can find all sorts of reviews, from excellent to very negative, but as with most cases, the truth is somewhere in the middle. It is not terribly expensive, and it even covers some of the stuff you wouldn’t expect, such as contact sports related injuries. This might be your best choice.
Just in case you weren’t satisfied with what the previous insurance had to offer, Global Rescue is there to cover for basically everything. It covers all sorts of scenarios, from medical extractions to evacuation insurance. They even cover for the most extreme cases, such as security extractions. You might guess that it doesn’t come cheap, and you would be absolutely right about that, but you have to pay big money if you want to have the best service available.
Other Big Names
Other companies such as AIG or Allianz also offer a lot of insurance options, depending on the country where you’re from. They offer a lot of different packages, so try going to certain websites, such as Insuremytrip.com, in order to compare them, and find the one that suits your needs.
Going without Insurance?
This is something that young and healthy people would sometimes say, as they can feel invincible at times. Instead of choosing an insurance company to their liking, they opt out to carry some extra cash, and pay for the procedures in this way. It is not something we would recommend, but it is one of the options, if you decide to take a chance. Just not a very smart one.
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