Travel health insurance abroad - that's why it's important

 If you want to travel carefree to distant countries, you should have private travel health insurance in your luggage. Because the statutory health insurance companies only provide limited or no protection abroad.

The essentials in brief:

• It is also worth comparing the prices for travel health insurance abroad. There are special rates for families. Be careful if a deductible is required.
• It is advisable to read the fine print carefully. That's where exclusions can lurk.
• With the most important point: the return transport. It should already be possible if it is medically "reasonable". Under some conditions it must be medically "necessary".

European Health Insurance Card

Even in the EU states and the countries with which Germany has a social security agreement, vacationers can remain at their own expense, either entirely or at least partially. If the European Health Insurance Card is not accepted, the doctor will treat the holiday maker as a private patient at higher costs. If the treatment takes place as a private patient, each treatment must also be paid for immediately. A hospital stay can easily cost several thousand euros.

The return transport from the holiday country is also not part of the catalog of benefits of the statutory health insurance (GKV). The costs can only be reimbursed through private international travel health insurance.

Such policies offer indispensable protection and often only cost a few euros.

Compare prices

Annual contracts are already available for less than 10 euros, but also for multiples. Payment is made for every trip abroad, which - depending on the contract - may not last longer than six or eight weeks. For long-term trips over several months, a special policy is required, which is then also significantly more expensive. This should be considered, for example, by seniors who spend the winter in southern countries or young people who want to spend a year abroad after school.

Many providers also offer special tariffs for families. Some companies have annual contracts starting at around 20 euros. It is therefore advisable to check the scope of the insurance carefully beforehand and to compare it with other tariffs. Above all, attention should be paid to the age up to which co-insured children enjoy insurance cover. Because the insurers have very different regulations.

read fine print

Anyone who takes out private travel health insurance should not only pay attention to the price, but also to the services. Although most contracts are similar, uncomfortable clauses lie dormant in some policies. For example, if a holidaymaker suffers from a chronic illness for which he needs treatment, the insurance company can later refuse to pay. However: Some companies only do not pay for existing chronic illnesses if treatment was required six months before the start of the trip due to acute deterioration or the treatment was already certain due to a medical diagnosis before the start of the trip.

Chronically ill people should sign such a contract.

If you do not receive private insurance coverage, you should speak to your GKV in order to obtain protection in the holiday country, no matter where this is, as an exception.

To be on the safe side, you should ask the doctor treating you for a declaration of no objection before you leave. Some companies also do not pay if accidents happen abroad during competitions or club sports.

advance performance clause

Attention, here only remaining costs are covered for which a statutory health insurance company does not pay. Consequence: It has to be laboriously billed twice later.

Check grace period

It can happen that a sick holidaymaker cannot travel home as planned. Many companies now continue to pay the bills until the insured person can be transported again, even if the insurance cover has already expired. When concluding the contract, care should therefore be taken to ensure that these subsequent benefits are not limited in time or are granted for a long period of time.

return transport

The return transport is one of the most important points on the list of services. According to the insurance conditions, the costs should already be covered for a medically sensible return transport and not only for a medically necessary return transport. As a precaution, people with private health insurance should also pack travel insurance in their suitcases in order to secure return transport in an emergency or - if this is part of the scope of services of the private contract - then to spare their deductible if necessary.

However, you should avoid providers who only pay for return transport if it is "medically necessary and prescribed by a doctor". These requirements are almost impossible to meet. The return transport is only medically necessary if the standard of medical care in the host country is so low that there is no prospect of successful treatment there.

Therefore, you should only choose companies that accept patient transport according to their conditions, if it is medically reasonable and justifiable.

Expensive treatment costs

Before undergoing particularly expensive treatments, patients abroad should have their insurance company confirm by fax that they will cover the costs.

excess

A few insurance companies require customers to pay a deductible for annual contracts. You should stay away from such degrees.

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