SHORT-TERM TRIP INSURANCE

Adequate planning for the physical well being of those working cross culturally is good stewardship of your human and financial resources. In almost every case it is possible to know the kinds of physical challenges that a cross cultural worker will face. Are they in good health? Do they have any health challenges that need to be considered? What will you do if there is illness or accident?

Your current insurance plan may have some coverage for illness or accident that occurs overseas. However, it likely does not assist you in accessing those services mentioned below and probably only offers reimbursement for some losses. Does your plan arrange for treatment, evacuation or advice on health risks in your intended location of travel? When you experience a health emergency it helps to have travel medicine experts working for you.

Adequate short term insurance will include:

  • medical treatment coverage overseas and at home for accident or illness which occurred overseas during the covered period
  • access by phone to an English speaking medical doctor or nurse, who can speak in the local language to the local medical provider and then advise you on treatment options
  • advise on health threats such as malaria in the area you will be working and advise about preventative measures
  • evacuation for medical treatment which includes making the arrangements for that travel and offering to pay for a companion to travel with the ill or injured person
  • life insurance and payment for various physical loss of function
  • repatriation of bodily remains to the home country, including assistance with the legal process required to do so

Many local churches are sending volunteer teams to countries all over the world with whom we are working. It’s an exciting time to participate in these wonderful experiences. However, since there can be some uncertainty, and even actual risk involved in international travel, we encourage local churches that are sending teams on short-term mission trips to consider investing in some type of short-term mission trip insurance. The cost of the coverage is reasonable and the benefits of having volunteers covered in case of medical emergencies occurring abroad far outweigh the cost. The cost for $50,000 coverage with a $250 deductible for a seven-person team traveling for two weeks is $134.26.  Depending on which plan is selected, the cost for this type of insurance plan, per person, per day, ranges from $1.10 to $1.73.

There are many different short-term insurance plans and you are free to use any company you chose. Vineyard Missions has researched a couple of different coverage options and one available insurer is Good Neighbor Insurance.  It provides comprehensive coverage and is very “user friendly”. You may sign up on line and purchase coverage in about 10 to 15 minutes. There are 9 different options in the plan with a variety of coverage types and various deductibles to choose from. To apply for the insurance you will need to provide:

  • the number of people traveling, their names and dates of birth
  • a name for the team e.g. "Vineyard Sudan Team, Tucson, AZ"
  • the dates they will be traveling
  • credit card to be billed, or you can send a check
  • the date you desire coverage to begin

If you are interested in seeing the details of the customized Vineyard insurance policy that is available currently though Good Neighbor, click here

If you choose to purchase this short-term missions trip team insurance, please make sure you read the agreement carefully so you are clearly aware of what is covered by the policy and what is not.

Below is a list of important items to note if you decide to use this policy:

  1. Non-emergency treatment must be pre-authorized by calling Specialty Risk
    International’s 24 hour number - 317-818-2808.
  2. Pregnancy and any related complication is not covered.
  3. Accidental-death beneficiaries cannot claim for the accidental-death settlement if the death was caused by a disease contracted out of country (i.e . hepatitis, malaria. etc.)
  4. You may add, cancel, or make corrections on Medical ID cards. If you need to add another person to the team at any time after you have applied for the original team, just input them into the online application site and use the same team name. If you need to cancel or make a name correction to a team, you will need to contact Good Neighbor via fax or e-mail the changes to: Nelma@gninsurance.com.
  5. As with all travel insurance, your "Seven Corners" short-term team coverage becomes the primary coverage only when your team member does not have USA-based insurance. If the member has domestic health insurance, that insurance company will be considered the first and primary insurer. The Seven Corners’ policy, for medical coverage, will function as supplemental coverage.  However, the special benefits for international health insurance, e.g., medical evacuation, repatriation, medical reunion, lost luggage, and trip cancellation will generally be the first responsibility of your Seven Corners’ plan.

    Here is how a claims person from Seven Corners explained it: Travel insurance always becomes the secondary carrier if a person has a major USA policy. Thus Seven Corners will pay claims that the primary carrier will not cover. If there is no primary carrier, then the Seven Corners travel policy will kick in immediately and cover up to the maximum of the policy. So the insured will always need to get an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from their primary carrier and submit that to Seven Corners in order to get reimbursement for claims.

  6. Seven Corners will cover no medical care received in the USA if the team member has not FIRST received medical care outside the USA for an injury or sickness. Team members need to get documentation from the medical facility outside the USA proving that the medical problem originated outside the USA and that they received their initial care outside the USA. This is the only way Seven Corners can be sure that the medical problem was trip-related.
  7. Qualified terrorism coverage is provided for. The SRI short-term team policy follows the benefits listed in the “Liaison International” (an individual policy that can be applied for online at www.missionaryinsurance.org). Thus your short-term team policy does cover terrorism with this qualification – “Usual, reasonable, and customary to the selected policy maximum.”  Thus if your team policy provides a maximum coverage benefit of $50,000, injuries due to terrorism will be covered up to $50,000.
  8. Benefit Period for Seven Corners Coverage. This insurance provides coverage for six months from the time of the injury.  If a person is injured outside the USA and wants to receive medical care in the USA for the injury he must keep the following in mind: (1) He must give proof of having received his initial medical care outside the USA; (2) If he is med-evaced back to the USA he will be covered up to a maximum of $50,000; (3) If he returns to the USA apart from being med-evaced back to the USA then the medical costs in the USA will be covered only up to $5,000.

    It is important to remember that this insurance assumes that the insured has US domestic health insurance. This insurance functions as a supplement to the individual’s US health insurance plan.

  9. Other things to keep in mind.It is highly recommended that you double-check your work for spelling errors and dates of birth before you confirm your order.  Quite often a name is spelled wrong and we have to jump through hoops to get a new Medical ID card reprinted with the correct name.

    Also please note that if you have team members with different travel dates they may be enrolled at one time. Once you have entered each individual’s information you may change the travel dates by putting your cursor over the dates you wish to change and entering the new dates. Thus you can have people with different travel dates all on the same online application. You don’t need to make separate application for team members that have separate travel dates.

    If you want to sign up for this short-term plan for one of your mission trips, click here for instructions.  Please visit the Good Neighbor Insurances website for any other general information.