GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A Grand Rapids travel agent recommends considering travel insurance if you're planning a trip whether in the United States or overseas.
Per the federal government, Medicare and Medicaid do not cover medical costs overseas and private U.S. insurance companies may not either.
Travel insurance can cover that international gap, and also many other scenarios if you leave the country or not.
Sphera Travel Co-Founder Sue Ball said, "getting a helicopter to Antarctica is not a cheap endeavor, so you're gonna want the right coverage to be able to get you out of there if necessary."
Ball explained trip protection is different from travel insurance, and only applies to the airline or tour company with which you book it.
Depending on the coverage you choose, Ball said travel insurance can be much more comprehensive.
"I did have some clients this summer who were affected by the fires in Denali in Alaska, and their policy allowed them to, they completely missed the land portion of their tour, and I was able to rework that and have them go to a different part of Alaska where the fires were not existing, and that was $4,000 more than what they had paid for the original trip, and the insurance covered them for that," said Ball.
Examples of what could be covered include breaking your arm, a car accident on the way to the airport, if you get sick before a trip and can't go, or a family member gets sick while you're away and you need to come home early.
Based on the cost of your trip and your age, Ball said your cost for coverage will likely be somewhere between 6-12% of your trip cost.
"I recommend that clients actually figure that into their, when they're budgeting for their trip and figuring out how much they wanna spend, that that's just something that they need to do, and they put that into their budget cost," she said.
Ball recommends getting this coverage within 14 days of making a deposit for your trip so pre-existing conditions are likely covered.