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Across borders

International plans.

Coverage stops at the border more often than people expect. Here is what your existing plan is likely to pay outside the United States, what the international products actually cover, and how to pick the right category.

Talk to a licensed agent

International coverage is not one product. It is four, and the right one depends less on where you are going than on how long you will be there and whether you need real health care or protection from an emergency. Start by naming the situation, then match a policy to it.

01Travel medical

Short trips outside your home country

Bought for a specific trip and priced by age, destination, length, and the limit you choose. It is built around emergencies: sudden illness or injury, hospitalization, emergency evacuation, and repatriation. It is not designed for routine or planned care.

Ask about travel medical coverage
02Visitor medical

Family and guests visiting the United States

Coverage for parents, relatives, or business guests who are in the country temporarily and cannot buy a domestic plan. Limits, deductibles, and how pre-existing conditions are treated vary widely between products, so the exclusions matter more than the headline price.

Ask about visitor coverage
03Student and scholar

Studying or researching across a border

Schools and visa programs usually set minimum benefit levels a policy has to meet before they will accept it. Check the requirement first, then match a plan to it, rather than the other way around.

See student health plans
04Expatriate and global

Living or working abroad long term

Annual, renewable coverage designed to work like a real health plan in more than one country, including routine care, maternity, and chronic condition management rather than emergencies alone. Usually the right category once a stay runs past a few months.

Ask about expatriate coverage

What a travel medical policy typically covers

  • Emergency treatment for a sudden illness or injury while you are away
  • Hospital room, surgery, and physician charges connected to that emergency
  • Emergency medical evacuation to the nearest facility that can treat you
  • Repatriation of remains
  • Urgent prescriptions related to a covered emergency
  • Access to a 24-hour assistance line that can find a local provider and arrange payment

What these policies typically leave out

The exclusions are where international products differ most from each other, and they are the part worth reading twice.

  • Routine, preventive, and elective care, including checkups and dental cleanings
  • Conditions you already have, or a limited acute-onset benefit only, depending on the policy
  • Care you travelled specifically to receive, which most policies exclude outright
  • Maternity and newborn care on most short-term travel products
  • High-risk activities such as mountaineering or motor racing, unless a rider is added
  • Care in a country the policy names as excluded, including sanctioned destinations

Questions to settle first

How long will you be away?

Days to a few weeks points to travel medical. Months to years, with a real address abroad, points to an expatriate or global plan that covers routine care rather than emergencies alone.

Does someone else set the minimum?

A university, a visa program, or a consulate may specify minimum benefit levels, an insurer financial strength rating, and a maximum deductible. Get that requirement in writing before you shop, because a cheaper policy that misses one line of it is worthless.

Do you need evacuation?

Emergency medical evacuation is the benefit people skip and regret. If you are travelling somewhere remote, or somewhere the nearest capable hospital is in another country, it belongs on the list.

How are claims paid?

Ask whether the insurer can pay a foreign hospital directly or whether you will pay and then seek reimbursement. Direct billing and a live 24-hour assistance line are worth more in an emergency than a slightly higher benefit limit.

Tell us where you are goingSee student health plans

Talk it through

International coverage is not quoted from a ZIP code. Send us the destination, the dates, and who is travelling, and a licensed agent will come back with options.

Contact a licensed agent

Coverage at home

If you also need a domestic plan, start with your ZIP code.

Good to know

Common questions about coverage abroad.

Does my United States health plan work overseas?
Usually very little of it does. Most domestic plans are built around a network of contracted providers in the United States, and a hospital abroad is by definition out of network. Some plans pay something toward emergency care overseas and nothing toward routine care, and many pay nothing at all. Even when there is a benefit, you normally pay the foreign provider up front and file for reimbursement afterward, in the local currency, with translated documents.
What about Medicare?
Original Medicare generally does not cover care outside the United States, with a small number of narrow exceptions. Some Medicare Supplement plans, specifically plans C, D, F, G, M, and N, include a foreign travel emergency benefit that pays 80 percent of the cost of emergency care after a $250 deductible, only for care that begins in the first 60 days of a trip, up to a $50,000 lifetime maximum, and it does not include medical evacuation. Some Medicare Advantage plans add a worldwide emergency benefit. Check your own plan documents before you travel, and consider a travel medical policy for the gap.
Is travel medical insurance the same as travel insurance?
No, though they are often sold together. Travel insurance is mostly about the trip: cancellation, delays, and lost baggage. Travel medical insurance is about your body: treatment for illness or injury while you are away, evacuation, and repatriation. If you only buy one, the medical piece is the one that protects against a catastrophic bill.
Does an international plan satisfy United States coverage rules?
Generally no. Travel medical and visitor policies are not Affordable Care Act plans and are not minimum essential coverage. They can decline applicants, exclude pre-existing conditions, cap benefits, and leave out entire categories such as maternity or mental health. If you are living in the United States and eligible for a domestic plan, a marketplace plan is normally the better fit, and an international policy is a supplement rather than a replacement.
What do visa programs require?
It depends on the visa and the country. As one example, exchange visitors on a J visa in the United States must carry coverage meeting Department of State minimums, currently at least $100,000 in medical benefits per accident or illness, $25,000 for repatriation of remains, $50,000 for medical evacuation, and a deductible no higher than $500. Many countries in the Schengen area require proof of at least 30,000 euros in medical coverage for a short-stay visa. Requirements change, so confirm the current figures with the consulate, the school, or the program sponsor before you buy.
What should I do before a trip?
Call the number on your member ID card and ask exactly what your plan pays outside the country and whether it includes evacuation. Note the plan international assistance line and save it in your phone. Carry your policy number and the assistance number separately from your phone. And check whether your destination expects payment up front, because evacuation alone can run into six figures without coverage.

Domestic coverage

Need a plan for life in the United States too?

Enter your ZIP code for domestic plans, or contact a licensed agent for travel, visitor, and expatriate coverage.

For travel, visitor, and expatriate coverage, contact a licensed agent instead.