If you are planning to travel abroad for work, education, or leisure, you may be wondering what insurance you will need to protect your health. For instance, will your private health insurance cover you abroad? Or is travel insurance still necessary if you have private health insurance cover?

In this article, we will explore how health insurance works when it comes to travelling abroad.

Does private health insurance cover me abroad?

Health insurance traditionally provides cover for healthcare in the UK only and is not meant to cover treatment outside the UK. However, there are some types of insurance which are designed to offer health protection when travelling abroad, such as international health insurance and travel insurance.

If you are living or working in the UK, you might choose to buy private medical insurance to help you pay for private treatment. Having private medical insurance means you can get treated in private hospitals in the UK for unexpected, short-term, curable conditions and the health insurance provider will pay the bills for eligible claims, partly or fully, depending on your policy. Even though some insurers might give you a list of authorised hospitals where you can have your treatment, private medical insurance usually only covers private hospital across the UK.

Most private medical insurance policies won’t provide cover for treatment outside the UK. This is because each country has their own healthcare system which might work differently from the UK’s system and the prices of treatments might be very different too. For example, the USA is known for high hospital costs.