“pregnancy, childbirth, or elective abortion, other than Complications of Pregnancy;”
And this exclusion language (from Travelex’s Travel Select plan description):
“normal pregnancy or resulting childbirth or elective abortion;”
So, if normal pregnancy is specifically excluded from coverage, what coverage does travel insurance provide for pregnancy?
Is medical care covered?
First, let’s look at the timing. Just as an existing pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition by health insurance providers, and therefore not covered, an existing pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition by travel insurance companies if the insured is pregnant before the travel insurance plan’s effective date. Makes sense, right?
If you have to make a claim, the travel insurance company – just like any health insurance company – will ask for doctor’s records to determine whether there was a pre-existing medical condition. Therefore, if you’re already pregnant when you purchase your travel insurance plan, you’ll need to purchase a plan with coverage for pre-existing conditions or add that as an upgrade to your plan.
Even then your travel insurance medical coverage will only provide coverage for medical conditions that are defined as complications of pregnancy, a term that’s defined differently by each travel insurance provider, but in essence is defined as:
“Complication of Pregnancy means a condition whose diagnosis is distinct from pregnancy but is adversely affected or caused by pregnancy.”
That means while the pregnancy itself isn’t covered, you will have coverage (up to the plan limit) for medical expenses that result due to complications as long as the plan you choose has medical coverage and complications of pregnancy are covered events. (Review the details of medical coverage.)
See Does Travel Insurance Cover Premature Delivery? for more details.
Is trip cancellation covered?
Not all travel insurance plans allow you to cancel if you become pregnant. In fact, most consider pregnancy not to be a covered reason to cancel. After all, many women travel during their early pregnancies just fine. There are, however, some plans that do allow cancellations due to unexpected pregnancies.
Travel Insured International’s Worldwide Trip Protector Gold plan includes pregnancy as an unforeseen event that qualifies as a covered reason for trip cancellation benefits. See the following covered reason for cancellation language:
“Your or Your Traveling Companion’s normal pregnancy as long as the pregnancy occurs after Your or Your Traveling Companion’s Effective Date of coverage and can be verified by medical records.”
Of course, note the language indicates that the pregnancy must occur after the policy’s effective date of coverage and it must be verifiable. Again, any health insurance provider would expect the same level of verification. (Review the details of trip cancellation coverage.)
What about trip interruptions?
Covered reasons for trip interruptions are inclusive of the covered reasons for trip cancellation, so whatever coverage you have for trip cancellations is likely to determine your coverage for interruptions.
If you experience a medical condition due to a complication of pregnancy, for example, and are hospitalized, that trip interruption will be covered up to the plan limits. For some plans, that means return air only and for others that means you’ll be refunded your unused pre-paid trip costs as well. (Review the details of trip interruption coverage.)
We hope this clears up the questions you have about pregnancy and travel insurance. If you have questions about your travel insurance plan’s coverage for pregnancy, it’s a good idea to spend a little time reviewing the policy description, which is available online at the travel insurance company’s website or in your e-mail with your policy purchase details.
Lala21 says
Hi,
I am in a unique situation. I am pregnant and expecting Sept 14. We are planning to take a family trip to Malta approx. 5 weeks after baby will be born for my brother’s wedding. We would be leaving Oct 17-Oct 31. We are in a bit of a dilemma as we want to purchases the tickets now but we are worried about if the baby is over due, doesn’t get her passport in time or if there are possible complications with my pregnancy, etc. I know this is cutting it close but it is my only brothers wedding, so we would really like to go but we also don’t want to spend all that money and have something unexpected happen and not be covered. Is there a type of coverage that would cover our situation? I have looked around but haven’t found much yet & the language around pregnancy is never really clear to my specific situation. Thank you for any help you may provide!
Anna Radjanova says
Please, I’m looking for the information relative to the insurance for the pregnant women.
I would like to by the insurance for my daughter(DOB 28-AUG-2014), she is pregnant of 29 weeks and would like to have a holyday in Thailand Her pregnancy is going well. She lives for the moment in Rassia and will travel from ROSTOV (Russia) to PHUKET (Thailand)and will be on place from the 1st to 13th of March, thus from 30th week to 32 weeks of pregnancy.
Could you help me to take the correct policy in order to cover any medical problem during the travel? Many thanks in advcance.
Virginia says
Hi Anna,
Please read this article: http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/2011/10/04/how-travel-insurance-covers-pregnancy/ to understand how travel insurance covers pregnancy and let us know if you have additional questions.
Edward says
My wife and one-year old daughter are heading out on vacation overseas in about two weeks. We’ve been making our own travel arrangements online (i.e. no travel agent). We purchased our airline tickets in the early part of June and within the past week we have reserved (payment not made) our hotel reservations.
My dilemma is that we found out my wife is pregnant in early July and now I am trying to find an adequate travel insurance policy. Prior to finding out she was pregnant, I was already shopping around for basic travel insurance but with her being pregnant, what is the right travel insurance to buy? We do have good medical insurance from my employer that covers the whole family. My thought is that I should buy a policy that would cover for the standard and basic eventualities as well as being able to bring my wife back to the U.S. if there were any problems with the pregnancy.
Virginia says
Hi Edward, first allow us to send our congratulations. Next, please take a look at these links for information that should help:
– http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/2013/04/15/should-pregnant-travelers-get-travel-insurance/
– http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/2011/10/04/how-travel-insurance-covers-pregnancy/
If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!
Diane Ferguson says
My daughter is a US citizen and also has residence status in the UK. She is covered by a policy in the UK. Currently she is visiting us in Hawaii and is 8 months pregnant. She is considering staying here in Hawaii to have the baby, homebirth is her preference. However we think some medical insurance coverage in case of complications in delivery or afterwards for her and the baby is a wise choice. Do you know of any insurance coverage available for this situation?
Virginia says
Hi Diane, please read the article carefully and you’ll see that travel insurance is not designed to cover what you’re looking for. We wish you and your daughter all the best and a happy and safe delivery.