Just like shopping for a house takes into account your personal wants and needs, so does shopping for medical insurance. Some insurance plans require you to have everything approved and referred by a primary doctor, and some plans only cover a certain host of local providers. Depending on how much you travel, you may need to make sure your insurance will cover you if you are out of town, state or country.

It has happened to all of us. We plan a big vacation, travel hours to get there, and there is a sudden sickness that wasn’t planned for. So, what are you supposed to do if you need to go to a doctor while you are out of town or on vacation?

According to “Rx for Travel Health,” a national travel survey of 1,000 men and women, 63 percent of travelers reported that they or a travel companion have gotten sick while on vacation.

A good idea before you travel is to speak to your primary doctor and check if your insurance coverage has out of town benefits. If you get ill out of town, typically you will have to pay out-ofpocket costs to be seen, but sometimes it is possible to file a claim with your insurance company for partial reimbursement when you return.

Dr. Kenneth R. Dardick, a family physician and online national travel health expert, travelers should take time to talk to their doctors before they travel. “All it takes is a brief visit – or, in some cases, a simple phone call – to your doctor a few weeks before your trip,” Dardick said.

Teresa Day, corporate communications senior writer for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, said, “For many of our plans, if you go to a provider in another state or country, your plan will pay for covered care at an in-network benefit level, as if you were at home. For other plans, like HMOs and point-of serviceplans, your plan will pay for covered care at an out-of-network benefit level, which means you may pay more out of pocket, if you have one of these plans.”

No matter where your travels may take you, emergency coverage is generally worldwide, but there are specific coverages as to what constitutes an emergency. Minor aches and pains and simple illnesses are not typically covered under emergency care.

Day said, “If you have a true emergency, you should go to the nearest emergency room without regard to your network.

A true emergency is an illness, injury, symptom or condition so serious that a reasonable person would seek care right away to avoid severe harm.”

If it is not an emergency and simply an illness, there are options as well.

Day said, Many of Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s insurance plans “include BlueCard, a national program that allows our members to get health care services while traveling or living in another Blue Plan’s service area. The program links participating health care providers with the independently owned Blue Plans across the country and in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The home plan (where the member lives) and the host plan (where the member is visiting) work together to process a member’s claim according to his or her plan. Our members are covered as much as their plan will allow when they travel or work away from home,” Day said.

So before the vacation begins, here is a quick checklist that may help:

• Make a copy of your current insurance cards and pack them in a safe place;

• Fill prescriptions needed before you travel to make sure you have an adequate supply;

• If you suffer from any serious ailments, it is a good idea to travel with your original medication bottles and medical history;

• Speak to your primary doctor about your travel plans if you are currently under care;

• Know your insurance company’s customer service phone number in case of an emergency;

• Research local doctors in the area of your vacation that accept your insurance;

• Research the town or country you are visiting before you leave so you can know the location of the local emergency room and hospital;

• Possibly invest in travel insurance before traveling overseas. Travel insurance is relatively inexpensive and can be bought for weeks or months at a time.