Travel Insurance: What You Need to Know Before You Go

When you're planning a trip—whether it's for leisure, medical care, or recovery—travel insurance, a policy designed to cover unexpected medical, trip, or baggage issues while you're away from home. Also known as international health coverage, it's not optional if you're crossing borders, especially when you're carrying prescriptions, recovering from surgery, or seeking treatment abroad. Most people think it's just for lost luggage or flight delays. But if you're heading overseas for a procedure, like a knee replacement in Thailand or a heart scan in Germany, your real risk isn't a missed connection—it's being stuck with a $50,000 hospital bill because your home insurance doesn't follow you.

That’s where medical tourism, the practice of traveling to another country for affordable, high-quality healthcare. Also known as health travel, it's growing fast—but without proper coverage, you're gambling with your health and finances. Countries like Australia and the U.S. don’t cover you abroad, and even Medicare abroad, the limited coverage the U.S. government provides for seniors receiving care outside the country. Also known as overseas Medicare benefits, it only kicks in in rare emergencies, like a heart attack while on a cruise. If you're taking something like Wegovy or semaglutide, or you’ve had open-heart surgery, your meds might not be legal in the destination country. That’s why a medication passport, an official document listing your prescriptions, dosages, and medical conditions for customs and pharmacy use. Also known as travel health card, it’s not a suggestion—it’s a requirement in places like Australia, Canada, and the EU. Without it, your pills could be confiscated. Without insurance, your treatment could bankrupt you.

What you’ll find here are real stories and facts from people who’ve been there—whether it’s figuring out if Ozempic is covered abroad, how to appeal an insurance denial for weight-loss drugs, or why Mississippi became the top U.S. state for medical tourists looking to save money. You’ll see how travel insurance connects to everything from heart transplant recovery timelines to whether IVF babies are covered under international plans. This isn’t theory. These are the questions people ask when they’re sitting in a foreign hospital, holding a bill they didn’t expect. The articles below give you the exact details you need to avoid those moments.