On Monday, the Consulate-General of India in Dubai urged travelers from India to avoid devastating medical bills by securing travel insurance when traveling to the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“The Consulate keeps receiving various requests from Indians visiting UAE seeking assistance to meet unforeseen medical expenditure or repatriation expenses due to a medical condition or accident,” read an advisory sent out via Twitter by the Indian consulate on Monday. “In all such cases, the Consulate tries to help distressed Indians within the means provided by the Government of India. Many expenditures, however, do not fall under our scope.”
Many travelers may not know that their domestic health insurance in their home country most likely will not cover them while traveling internationally. This means that if a visitor falls ill, is injured in an accident, needs urgent health services, emergency transportation or repatriation back to their home country, the traveler or the traveler’s family will be responsible for the subsequent medical bills.
Though the Consulate mentioned in their statement that they make an effort to help Indian travelers with unforeseen medical bills in Dubai, they aren’t able to fully cover all requests. Additionally, medical costs in Dubai are significantly higher than many other parts of the world, making the need for travel medical insurance even more pronounced.
“As travel grows worldwide, so too will the number of travelers becoming ill or injured while abroad,” said Rajeev Shrivastava, CEO of travel insurance website VisitorsCoverage.com. “This statement from the Indian Consulate in Dubai is another reminder to travelers to take control of their health and finances and purchase a comprehensive travel medical insurance plan before leaving home.”
Purchasing a comprehensive international travel insurance plan can not only help to ensure you are covered in the event of an unforeseen medical emergency, but can also help assist with travel-related mishaps including lost luggage and passports, and trip delay, missed connections and cancellation.
