Even a minor health issue experienced overseas can be extremely costly.
Miami, FL (PRWEB) August 31, 2015
APRIL Travel Protection (http://www.AprilTravelProtection.com) – the new U.S. division of 26-year-old APRIL Travel Group – is embarking on a new campaign to highlight the medical benefits of travel insurance which the company believes makes coverage a no-brainer. The campaign will target a broad spectrum of travelers and enthusiasts from mature market vacationers spending their retirement seeing the world, to adventure travelers seeking thrills in a sparsely populated national park.
“Many insurance companies in the U.S. have focused their message on the importance of protecting one’s travel investment. This is typically sound advice, but fails to drive home some of the other reasons travel insurance is crucial,” said Jason Schreier, CEO of APRIL USA.
“Specifically, it pegs the degree to which consumers view the necessity of travel insurance to the dollar amount spent on flights, hotels and car rental,” Schreier noted. “As a result, a traveler will view a luxury ski vacation to the French Alps in different terms than a business trip to London paid in full by the traveler’s company.”
What this model fails to take into account is that medical emergencies are inherently unexpected and that even a minor health issue experienced overseas can be extremely costly. In fact, medical benefits are often the second-most utilized policy feature after cancellation.
The lesson many vacationers who don’t purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy (or fail to research the coverage provided by a less comprehensive policy) will ultimately learn is that their regular health insurance – whether it’s an HMO or an expensive feature-rich policy – will often not cover them in an international destination. This includes Medicare, the most common health plan for American citizens 65 and older.
“As those with Medicare also tend to be the most frequent travelers, this is a very big deal as the cost of a hospital visit oversees can far exceed the amount spent on one’s trip,” Schreier noted. “Doubly so if medical evacuation is required as is often the case when a cruise passenger becomes ill during an excursion to a remote paradise.”
Beyond highlighting less contemplated benefits of travel insurance – which extend far beyond medical coverage and may include other trip enhancing or disruption minimizing features depending on the policy selected – APRIL urges prospective policyholders to do their research.
“Don’t be lazy and simply check off the box on a vacation wholesaler’s website to ‘add protection’ to your booking. Chances are you won’t receive the highest level of protection that you could were you to invest a few minutes researching other options,” warned Schreier.
In most cases, consumers can click a hyperlink to see exactly what level of protection they will receive when they opt for a policy offered by the booking engine through which they make their travel arrangements.
The next move for savvy consumers is to visit a travel insurance comparison site such as InsureMyTrip.com, SquareMouth.com and TripInsuranceZone.com. These aggregators will allow travelers to compare various aspects of multiple insurance providers – including APRIL – to determine which is right for each individual’s needs.
For example, many policies will provide secondary medical coverage instead of primary medical. While the distinction between the two may not be intuitive to the average person, the reality is that it can make a very big difference.
Secondary medical requires policyholders to utilize their own health insurance policy and is only designed to cover supplemental medical expenses not covered by one’s regular heath insurance provider. In contrast, primary medical is designed to function as one’s health insurance policy during the travel period.
“If this still doesn’t seem like an important distinction, consider the alarming possibility that your regular health insurance provider may not interpret things in exactly the same way as your secondary medical provider,” Schreier explained. “Being stuck between two insurance companies who each claim the other is responsible is the last position you would ever want to be in!”
“In any situation from travel insurance to consumer electronics, a well-researched purchase tends to result in a more satisfied consumer. Do yourself a favor and commit to due diligence when making important decisions that can determine the type of medical care you receive overseas and the personal cost it may have on your health and finances,” urged Schreier.
Beyond its comprehensive coverage areas – which include medical evacuation and primary medical – APRIL’s ‘Stress Less Benefits’ provide instant adjudication – a ground-breaking innovation which pays to resolve covered issues on-the-spot while the vacationer is still traveling.
Every policy sold by APRIL and its supplier partners offers this feature for a wide range of inconveniences that can’t be predicted in advance, including severe weather and natural disasters, injury, sickness, death, job loss or relocations, supplier default, terrorism, military duty, strikes and more.
APRIL is the only insurance company to offer this progressive benefit to U.S. policyholders.
For a list of triggers covered by APRIL's ‘Stress Less Benefits’ or more information on policy options, contact APRIL at 855-277-4587, email info(at)AprilTravelProtection(dot)com or visit http://www.AprilTravelProtection.com.
-----About APRIL Travel Protection-----
APRIL Travel Protection is owned by APRIL, an international group with 45 operational companies in more than 40 different countries. APRIL has yearly sales of more than $1.1 billion.
With its guiding principles to build trust, push boundaries, innovate and keep it simple, APRIL Global Assistance Network benefits from an extensive organizational structure servicing more than six million policyholders worldwide.
The company’s U.S. division is supported by American Modern Insurance Group (an AM Best A+ rated carrier) as its preferred underwriter and is headquartered at 11900 Biscayne Blvd. Suite 600, Miami, FL, 33181.