Short answer: outside the United States your health insurance pays little or nothing and Medicare pays nothing at all. Travel medical insurance pays the hospital, the doctor and the flight home. Get at least $100,000 of medical and $250,000 of evacuation for any trip abroad, and more for a cruise, a remote place or a traveler over 65.
Two ways to get it. Most people get it inside a regular travel insurance plan, next to trip cancellation and lost bags. You can also buy the medical part on its own: enter $0 as the trip cost on our comparison and the cancellation part drops out, or buy a standalone travel medical plan built without it. The two numbers are the same either way: the medical limit, the most the plan pays for doctors and hospitals, and the evacuation limit, the most it pays to move you to a good hospital and get you home.
This page tells you how much you need in four taps, what it costs for five real travelers this month, medical only and with the trip insured, and lists the medical limit, evacuation limit and price of every plan on our comparison. Prices are live quotes and change every month with our Price Index.
Four taps. You get two numbers and the three cheapest plans that meet them, priced for a real trip like yours.
for $100,000 of medical, medical only. That is the middle of what our five sample travelers pay for the cheapest plan with $100,000 of emergency medical when the trip cost is entered as $0. The range is $18 to $66 for the whole party. Insure the trip too and the same cover runs about 3.6 percent of the trip cost (range 2.0 to 6.5).
The medical benefit is priced two ways. Medical only means the trip cost is entered as $0, so the plan has no cancellation coverage and costs a fraction of the full price. With the trip insured means the full trip cost is covered too, which is what most people buy. Age and trip length set the medical-only price; the trip cost sets most of the rest.
Each box below is one sample traveler. The three lines are the cheapest plan with $100,000, $250,000 and $500,000 of emergency medical for that trip. Flip the switch to see the same three lines with the trip insured.
These are sample quotes for five sample trips, not a quote for yours. Texas residents, first deposit the same day, leaving 15 January 2027. Medical-only prices quoted 28 September 2026 with $0 trip cost; with-the-trip prices quoted 26 September 2026 with the full trip cost. Prices are the whole plan for everyone on the trip. Medical limits are per person.
This is every plan we compare, 58 in all, with the two medical numbers next to the price. The plans are sorted by medical limit, biggest first. Tap a column heading to sort by evacuation or price instead. Pick a traveler to see what the plan cost that trip, and flip the switch between medical only and with the trip insured.
Two things to know. Only 16 of the 51 comprehensive plans will sell you the plan with $0 trip cost; the other 35 need a trip cost, so they show “needs a trip cost” on the medical-only setting. And 7 medical-only plans (WorldTrips Atlas, IMG Patriot, BCBS Global Solutions Single Trip, SafeTrip) only appear when the trip cost is $0; they show “medical only” on the other setting.
How to read it. Medical is the most the plan pays for hospital and doctor bills, per person. Pays says whether the plan pays first (primary) or after your own health insurance (secondary). Evacuation is the most it pays to move you to a good hospital and home. Waiver is whether the plan offers the pre-existing condition waiver on that setting; most plans drop the waiver when there is no trip cost to insure. A plan that says None for medical is a cancellation-only plan.
Sample trip: retired couple, 68 and 66, 12 days in Italy, trip cost entered as $0 (medical only, no cancellation coverage), quoted on 28 September 2026 for travel in January. It is a sample quote, not a quote for your trip. Your price will be different.
| Plan | Medical | Pays | Evacuation | Waiver | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SafeTrip (UHC) Intl. Travel Medical Premium | $1,000,000 | Secondary | $1,000,000 | No | $90 |
| IMG Patriot International Platinum | $1,000,000 | Secondary | $1,000,000 | No | $231 |
| Seven Corners Trip Protection Choice | $500,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | No | $144 |
| USI Affinity Diamond | $500,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| HTH TripProtector Preferred | $500,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| IMG iTravelInsured Travel LX Basic | $500,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| IMG iTravelInsured Travel LX | $500,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Tin Leg Gold | $500,000 | Primary | $500,000 | No | $74 |
| Generali Premium | $250,000 | Secondary | $1,000,000 | No | $116 |
| AXA Explorer Elite | $250,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | Yes | $225 |
| HTH TripProtector Classic | $250,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| John Hancock Gold | $250,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Travelex Ultimate | $250,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Tin Leg Silver | $250,000 | Secondary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| WorldTrips Elevate | $250,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| AXA Explorer Select | $250,000 | Primary | $500,000 | Yes | $123 |
| USI Affinity Ruby | $250,000 | Primary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Seven Corners Cruise | $250,000 | Secondary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Trawick Pathway Premium | $200,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | Yes | $154 |
| Berkshire Hathaway LuxuryCare | $150,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| WorldTrips Explore | $150,000 | Primary | $750,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Generali Preferred | $150,000 | Secondary | $500,000 | No | $96 |
| SafeTrip (UHC) Intl. Travel Medical Plus Premium | $150,000 | Secondary | $250,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Tin Leg Adventure | $100,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | No | $131 |
| Detour Insurance Access | $100,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Arch RoamRight Pro Plus | $100,000 | Primary | $1,000,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Travel Insured FlexiPAX | $100,000 | Primary | $500,000 | Yes | $68 |
| IMG iTravelInsured Choice | $100,000 | Primary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| IMG iTravelInsured Choice Cruise | $100,000 | Primary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| John Hancock Silver | $100,000 | Primary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Tin Leg Platinum | $100,000 | Secondary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Trawick Pathway Plus | $100,000 | Primary | $350,000 | Yes | $114 |
| Seven Corners Trip Protection Basic | $100,000 | Secondary | $250,000 | No | $66 |
| Tin Leg Luxury | $100,000 | Primary | $250,000 | No | $86 |
| Go Ready (Aegis) Go Ready Cruise | $100,000 | Primary | $250,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Tin Leg Cruise | $100,000 | Primary | $250,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Berkshire Hathaway WaveCare | $75,000 | Primary | $750,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| HTH TripProtector Economy | $75,000 | Secondary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| WorldTrips Atlas International excl US | $50,000 | Secondary | $1,000,000 | Acute onset | $116 |
| IMG Patriot International Lite | $50,000 | Secondary | $1,000,000 | No | $120 |
| WorldTrips Atlas Premium International excl US | $50,000 | Secondary | $1,000,000 | Acute onset | $162 |
| BCBS Global (GeoBlue) Single Trip Gold excl US | $50,000 | Secondary | $500,000 | No | $156 |
| BCBS Global (GeoBlue) Single Trip Platinum excl US | $50,000 | Secondary | $500,000 | No | $164 |
| Go Ready (Aegis) Go Ready Pandemic Plus | $50,000 | Primary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Berkshire Hathaway ExactCare | $50,000 | Primary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Generali Standard | $50,000 | Secondary | $250,000 | No | $67 |
| John Hancock Bronze | $50,000 | Primary | $250,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Go Ready (Aegis) Go Ready Choice | $50,000 | Primary | $250,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| WorldTrips Escape | $50,000 | Secondary | $250,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Tin Leg Basic | $50,000 | Secondary | $200,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Tin Leg Standard | $30,000 | Secondary | $200,000 | No | $34 |
| Arch RoamRight Pro | $25,000 | Primary | $500,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Trawick Pathway Essential | $25,000 | Primary | $250,000 | No | $83 |
| Travelex Essential | $25,000 | Secondary | $200,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| Tin Leg Economy | $20,000 | Secondary | $100,000 | No | $33 |
| Berkshire Hathaway ExactCare Value | $15,000 | Secondary | $150,000 | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| IMG iTravelInsured Travel Essential | None | Secondary | None | n/a | needs a trip cost |
| battleface Discovery | None | Secondary | None | n/a | needs a trip cost |
Limits as shown on the comparison, per person; medical-only plans that let you choose a limit are shown at the limit the comparison quotes by default, and two of them (IMG Patriot Platinum, SafeTrip Premium) drop to a lower limit for travelers over 65 or 70, which the tool at the top allows for. Plans marked None for medical are cancellation-only plans; they are on the list so you can see what the cheapest price actually buys. Every plan here is priced for your own trip on the comparison. For a medical-only price, enter $0 as the trip cost.
The question underneath every travel medical question is the same: if I get hurt over there, who pays, and do I have to pay first? Here is the honest answer for each kind of coverage people already have.
The short version: Medicare pays nothing abroad. Most health plans pay something for a true emergency, but you pay first and nothing flies you home. A travel insurance plan is the only thing that pays the hospital and the flight home.
| What you have | Outside the United States | On a cruise ship |
|---|---|---|
| Medicare | Outside the United StatesPays nothing, apart from a few narrow border cases. | On a cruise shipPays only while the ship is in a US port or within six hours of one. After that, nothing. |
| Medigap plans C, D, F, G, M and N | Outside the United StatesPay 80 percent of emergency care in the first 60 days of a trip, after a $250 deductible, up to $50,000 in your lifetime. No evacuation. | On a cruise shipSame rule once the ship is more than six hours from a US port. |
| Medicare Advantage | Outside the United StatesVaries by plan. Some pay for emergencies abroad, many do not, and none pay for evacuation. | On a cruise shipSame as abroad. |
| Employer or marketplace health plan | Outside the United StatesMost cover a true emergency abroad, but you pay the hospital first, get paid back at US rates, and nothing pays to fly you home. | On a cruise shipShip medical centers do not bill health insurance at all. The visit goes on your stateroom account. |
| A travel insurance plan | Outside the United StatesPays the hospital and the doctor up to the plan’s medical limit, and pays to move you to a better hospital and home under the evacuation limit. | On a cruise shipSame, and it is the only thing that does. |
Do you have to pay first? Sometimes. For a hospital admission, the insurer’s assistance company can usually arrange to pay the hospital directly. For a clinic visit or a prescription, you pay and claim it back. The first call, before any bill, is to the 24-hour number on your policy.
A good travel card is not travel medical insurance. The best cards pay a little toward medical bills, and a few now pay for an evacuation, always with strings attached. Most cards pay nothing for either. Checked against the card benefit guides in September 2026.
| Card | Medical | Evacuation | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Sapphire Reserve | Medical$2,500 after a $50 deductible, secondary | Evacuation$100,000, including the flight home | The catchTrip of 5 to 60 days, 100 miles from home, part of the trip on the card, and the evacuation must be arranged by the card’s provider or nothing is paid. |
| Chase Sapphire Preferred | MedicalNone | Evacuation$100,000 (new in 2026) | The catchSame strings as the Reserve. |
| Amex Platinum, Delta Reserve, Bonvoy Brilliant | MedicalNone | EvacuationMay pay, no stated cap | The catchOnly if Amex approves and arranges it, to a hospital Amex chooses. |
| Amex Gold | MedicalNone | EvacuationCoordination only | The catchThey help you find care. They do not pay for it. |
| Most other cards | MedicalNone | EvacuationNone | The catchTrip cancellation and baggage, if anything. |
The gap is the hospital bill. A week in a foreign hospital passes $2,500 on the first day. Use the card benefits for what they are good at, delays and bags and rental cars, and get the medical limit from a plan.
Primary coverage pays first. You file the claim with the travel insurer and you are done. Secondary coverage pays after any other insurance you have, which can mean filing with your health plan first, waiting for its answer, and then filing the rest with the travel insurer. Outside the United States, where most health plans pay nothing, the secondary plan ends up paying the whole bill anyway. Primary is faster and involves less paperwork, and it is worth having, but a $250,000 secondary limit protects you better than a $50,000 primary one. The Pays column in the table above shows which is which.
This part is for the reader with nothing prepaid to lose: a long stay abroad, a visitor to the United States, a student, a trip on points, or someone whose flights and hotel are refundable. You do not need cancellation coverage, so do not pay for it. There are two ways to buy the medical part on its own.
Way one: a comprehensive plan with $0 trip cost. Enter $0 as the trip cost on our comparison and the cancellation part drops out. 16 of the 51 comprehensive plans will sell this way, and the price falls to a fraction of the full plan (the medical-only prices on this page). You keep the same medical and evacuation limits, the 24-hour assistance line and the claims process. What you lose is the pre-existing condition waiver on most plans, because the waiver needs a trip cost to insure.
Way two: a standalone travel medical plan. These plans were built without cancellation in the first place. You choose the medical limit and a deductible, they are priced by the day, and most cover longer trips than a comprehensive plan will. Some cover visitors to the United States, which a comprehensive plan does not. The trade-off: no waiver, a limit that often drops at 65 and again at 70 or 80, and a smaller benefit for a sudden flare-up of a known condition (an “acute onset”) instead of full cover.
Seven standalone plans are already on our comparison. They appear when the trip cost is $0, next to the comprehensive plans, priced for your ages and dates: WorldTrips Atlas International and Atlas Premium, IMG Patriot International Lite and Platinum, Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Solutions Single Trip Gold and Platinum (the GeoBlue product, with the Blue Cross network abroad), and SafeTrip by UnitedHealthcare Global. They are in the table above on the medical-only setting.
Plans we sell as an agent, not through the comparison. Seven Corners is the company we point people to for the cases the comparison does not fit. These links go to Seven Corners with our agent number attached; the price is the same as buying from them direct.
Seven Corners Travel Medical. Pick a limit from $50,000 to $1,000,000 (up to $100,000 at 65 to 79) and a deductible from $0 to $1,000. Trips of 5 to 364 days, extendable while you are away. Pays up to $50,000 for a sudden flare-up of a known condition under 65.
Seven Corners USA Visitor. For a parent, relative or friend coming to the US for weeks or months. Health insurance from home does not work here and a comprehensive plan will not cover a non-resident. Choose the limit and deductible, and check the benefit for a sudden flare-up of a known condition at the visitor’s age.
Seven Corners Travel Medical Annual Multi-Trip. One policy for a year of trips, each up to a set number of days. Worth pricing against a plan per trip once you travel abroad several times a year. Medical only; no cancellation.
An expat health plan, not travel insurance. GeoBlue (BCBS Global Solutions) sells these with the Blue Cross network abroad; they include routine care, not just emergencies, and they renew.
What to check on any standalone plan: the medical limit at your age (many cut it at 65 and 70), the deductible, whether it pays anything for a known condition, whether evacuation is included and at what limit, the maximum trip length, and whether it can be extended from abroad.
| Comprehensive plan | Standalone travel medical plan | |
|---|---|---|
| What it covers | Comprehensive planCancellation, interruption, medical, evacuation, delays and bags, all in one. At $0 trip cost the cancellation part drops out and the price with it. | Standalone travel medical planMedical bills and evacuation abroad. Little or no cancellation coverage. |
| Who it is for | Comprehensive planAnyone with prepaid, non-refundable money on the line. At $0 trip cost, anyone who wants the medical part only. | Standalone travel medical planSomeone with nothing prepaid to lose, a long stay abroad, a visitor to the United States, or a student. |
| How it is priced | Comprehensive planBy the trip cost, the trip length and the travelers’ ages. With no trip cost, by length and age only. | Standalone travel medical planBy the day, the medical limit you choose, the deductible and your age. Often a few dollars a day. |
| Medical limit | Comprehensive planFixed by the plan: none to $500,000 on the plans above. | Standalone travel medical planYou choose it. Seven Corners Travel Medical, for example, goes up to $1,000,000 for travelers under 65. |
| Pre-existing conditions | Comprehensive planA waiver removes the exclusion if you buy within 14 days of your first payment and insure the trip cost. With $0 trip cost most plans drop the waiver. | Standalone travel medical planNo waiver. Some plans pay a limited amount for a sudden flare-up of a known condition (an “acute onset”). |
| Where to buy | Comprehensive planOn the comparison, priced side by side. Enter $0 as the trip cost for medical only. | Standalone travel medical planSeven of them on the comparison at $0 trip cost. Seven Corners Travel Medical through the links above. |
What it does not pay for: routine care, a check-up, a condition you already knew about and were treating (unless the waiver applies), and anything that started before you bought the plan.
Travel medical insurance pays your doctor and hospital bills if you get sick or hurt on a trip, and pays to move you to a better hospital and home if you need it. It comes two ways: as the medical benefit inside a regular travel insurance plan, or as a standalone plan that covers only the medical side.
At least $100,000 of emergency medical for a trip outside the United States, and $250,000 or more for a cruise, a remote destination or a traveler over 65. The evacuation limit is separate: $250,000 as a floor, $500,000 or more for a cruise or a remote trip.
Medical only, with the trip cost entered as $0, the cheapest plan with $100,000 of medical on our comparison cost $66 for a retired couple on 12 days in Italy and $18 for a 52-year-old on a week in the US in September 2026. With the trip insured the same cover runs 2 to 6.5 percent of the trip cost, because the cancellation part is most of the price. Age and trip length drive the medical-only price; the trip cost drives the rest.
Yes, two ways. Enter $0 as the trip cost on the comparison and 16 of the 51 comprehensive plans will sell the plan without cancellation, at a fraction of the price. Or buy a standalone travel medical plan, which was built without cancellation and lets you choose the limit and deductible. Either way you give up the pre-existing condition waiver on most plans.
The insurer’s assistance company can often arrange to pay the hospital directly for a large bill, especially an admission. For a smaller bill, a clinic visit or a prescription, you usually pay and claim it back with the receipts. Either way, call the 24-hour number on the policy before you pay anything you can avoid paying.
Primary pays first, with no need to file with your health insurance at home. Secondary pays what your other insurance did not, which can mean filing with your health plan first and waiting. Abroad, where most health plans pay nothing, secondary coverage ends up paying the whole bill anyway; primary is simply faster and involves less paperwork.
No, apart from a few narrow border cases. Some Medigap plans pay 80 percent of emergency care in the first 60 days of a trip, after a $250 deductible, up to a $50,000 lifetime limit, and never for evacuation. On a cruise, Medicare stops paying once the ship is more than six hours from a US port.
Almost never in a useful amount. The Chase Sapphire Reserve pays $2,500 of medical after a $50 deductible; most cards pay nothing. A few cards now pay for an evacuation, but only if the card’s provider arranges it. The hospital bill is the gap, and that is what the medical limit in a travel insurance plan is for.
Inside a comprehensive plan, yes, if you insure the trip cost, buy within 14 days of your first trip payment and insure everything you have paid: 53 of the 54 plans we compare waive the exclusion. Medical-only and standalone travel medical plans have no waiver, though some pay a limited amount for a sudden flare-up of a known condition.
Some standalone plans can be bought after departure, and a few package plans are built for it (Travel Guard Pack N’ Go and Berkshire Hathaway ExactCare Lite). All of them cover only things that happen after you buy. Nothing bought after you are already sick or hurt will cover that illness or injury.
Plan limits and prices from the CoverTrip comparison, quoted 26 September 2026 (with the trip insured) and 28 September 2026 (medical only, $0 trip cost); Medicare and Medigap rules from medicare.gov and CMS publication 11037; card benefits from the card issuers’ benefit guides, read September 2026; Seven Corners plan details from the plan documents. Limits change; the plan document governs.
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