Senior Travel Insurance - 2023 Review

Seniors are a large portion of today’s travelers.

Without the constraints of jobs, seniors are taking long, exotic, or expeditionary cruises to remote regions.

In this article, we discuss the main concerns that senior citizen travelers have.

Tip: Buy Travel Insurance Early

Many travel insurance policies have Time Sensitive Benefits that provide additional coverages if you purchase the insurance shortly after your first payment or deposit.

Typically, the Time Sensitive Period is 14-21 days from the INITIAL trip deposit. The FINAL payment date is not relevant.

One benefit available within this period in many policies is a Pre-existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver.

Travel Insurance Carrier Definition – Pre-existing Medical Condition

Travel insurance only cares about changes in your health 60-180 days immediately prior to buying travel insurance to determine a Pre-existing Medical Condition.

The Travel Insurance Carrier cares about:

• New Medical Conditions
• Changes in the Severity of an old Medical Condition
• New recommendations for treatment
• Changes in medication

If you haven’t experienced any of these in the 60-180 days prior to policy purchase, you don’t have a pre-existing medical condition per travel insurance.

For example, if you have high blood pressure and your medication dosage hasn’t changed in years, it would not be considered a pre-existing condition.

Look Back Periods

Travel Insurance carriers specify a time period between 60-180 days to look back at your medical history to determine Pre-existing Medical Conditions.

The best policies for seniors will have a short 60-day Look Back Period.

With longer 180-day Look Back Periods, you may have trouble remembering all the changes in a condition or medication you’ve had over six months.

Opt for a 60-day Look Back Period, if possible, so there is less chance your pre-existing condition wouldn’t be covered.

Some travelers have a recent Pre-existing Medical Condition. For these travelers, we recommend finding a policy with a waiver to cover pre-existing medical conditions.

How Do I Get a Pre-Existing Condition Waiver?

Many policies offer to waive pre-existing medical conditions if you buy the plan within 14-21 days after your initial trip payment.

If you need to cover pre-existing conditions, choose a policy offering the waiver and purchase it within the time period listed.

What Should I insure?

Insurable Trip Costs are the prepaid, non-refundable travel arrangements like airfare, cruises, and excursions. However, if you can cancel your hotels and not be charged, they don’t need to be included.

You can choose to insure the entire trip amount even if you have only made a deposit.  Many people do this so they don’t forget to insure the entire trip cost later.

However, you can insure just the deposit and increase the trip cost when you incur additional costs. When you need to add more trip costs, let us know and you’ll pay the premium difference at that time.

Trip Cancellation Protection

Trip Cancellation Protection refunds trip costs when the trip must be canceled.

There are three components to trip cancellation:

• Basic Trip Cancellation Protection
• Cancel for Work Reasons
• Cancel for Any Reason

We’ll discuss Basic Cancellation and Cancel For Any Reason protection, but not Cancel For Work Reasons since most senior travelers are not employed.

Basic Trip Cancellation Protection

Basic Trip Cancellation Protection provides coverage in the event of an accident, illness, or death of you, a traveling companion, business partner, or family member. Other reasons such as a natural disaster at home are also covered.

If you cancel for a listed reason, you’ll receive 100% of your trip costs refunded.

Cancel for Any Reason (CFAR) Travel Protection

Many travelers prefer the flexibility to Cancel for Any Reason. The CFAR benefit allows for cancellation for any non-listed reason and receive a refund up to 75% of the trip costs.

CFAR coverage is NOT needed if a traveling companion gets sick and you don’t want to travel alone. Standard cancellation covers this.

Travel Medical Health Insurance

Another essential coverage is Travel Medical Health Insurance.

Don’t assume your health insurance will work internationally. It could be a huge financial mistake!

Most US health insurances, including Medicare, don’t cover travelers internationally. Some Medicare supplements provide limited coverage (usually $50,000 lifetime with 20% co-pays). Also, the US Government won’t pay international medical costs.

How Much Travel Medical Insurance Should Senior Citizen Travel Insurance Include?

TravelDefenders recommends a minimum of $100,000 for Medical Insurance and $250,000 in Emergency Medical Evacuation insurance or $500,000 for destinations farther afield such as Antarctica.  

Medical jets can run $25,000 per flight hour!

What if I Just Want Travel Medical Insurance?

If you don't want to insure your Trip Costs or don’t have any, you can opt for a policy with just Travel Medical Insurance and Medical Evacuation. Simply put $0 for the trip cost when quoting.

Pricing is economical for those just looking for health coverage while traveling.

However, some carriers insist that you insure your entire trip costs to receive a Pre-existing Medical Condition Exclusion Waiver. If a Waiver is needed, bear this in mind.

Primary or Secondary Travel Health Insurance

Primary Travel Insurance will be the only insurance to pay for treatment when traveling.

Secondary Medical Insurance will pay after any other insurance. It usually involves more paperwork. Due to this, we suggest Primary coverage when we can.

Lowest Price Senior Citizen Travel Insurance

When you quote with TravelDefenders, you will find a Travel Insurance Plans from some of the leading trip insurance carriers in the USA.

Have questions? Send us a chat, an email or call us at +1(786) 321 3723.

Safe travels!