Travel
Travel medical insurance: what it is actually for
Treatment abroad costs many times more than the policy. What medical cover includes, how Light, Standart and Full differ in practice, and when to call assistance instead of a taxi to a clinic.
People buy travel cover “for the visa” and remember it when a tooth hurts in Prague or a child picks up an infection in Turkey. The medical part of the contract is not a PDF souvenir. It is access to assistance that organises a clinic and the invoice.
What basic medical cover includes
Acute conditions, injuries, necessary diagnostics, prescribed medicines, hospitalisation. The sum insured must be realistic for the country: the EU and the US are different price leagues. A minimum “stamp” policy can run out after one MRI.
- outpatient visits and tests
- emergency dentistry within a limit
- medical evacuation to Ukraine in higher programmes
What cheap programmes often exclude
Chronic flare-ups without a threat to life, planned surgery, late pregnancy, active sport without an add-on. Skiing or diving needs a specific extension. Otherwise the event is treated as an exclusion.
Light, Standart, Full — limits, not slogans
The junior programme covers basic medicine. The middle one adds luggage, flight delay, sometimes tourist liability. The senior one brings evacuation, a higher limit and fewer exclusions. Compare the cover table, not the pack name.
Travel medical cover can also have a deductible. Ask whether you pay the first tens of euros at the clinic desk.
How to use the policy
Save the assistance number in your contacts and on paper. Give the policy number, country and symptoms. Do not pay the clinic yourself if you can wait for a guarantee letter — reimbursement after the fact is slower and needs receipts. Exception: a real threat to life — help first, then the call.
Photograph referrals and invoices. After return, some costs you still paid may be reimbursed under the contract.