Specialist insurance vital for “health tourists”

by Gill Montia

Story link: Specialist insurance vital for “health tourists”

The Post Office is warning so called health tourists that they need to purchase specialist travel insurance before they make a trip abroad for the purpose of undergoing medical treatment.

The number of Britons taking advantage of faster and cheaper treatments abroad is rising by around 30% per annum, with over 70,000 people choosing to have cosmetic surgery or elective medical treatments overseas during 2007.

However, Post Office research found that over 25,000 people put themselves at risk last year by failing to take out adequate insurance cover.

Around one in five respondents to the survey said that it had not occurred to them to check their policy.

Sixteen per cent assumed their existing cover would provide for an additional period of hospitalisation resulting from medical treatment, and a replacement flight home should their trip be extended.

Helen Warburton, head of Post Office Travel Services, says it is “vital” that people purchase additional specialist cover when an overseas trip involves medical treatment.