Mission Trip Travel Insurance: Team Coverage Guide

Mission trip travel insurance is travel medical insurance bought for a short term service trip abroad. Its job is to pay for emergency treatment and for evacuation from places where the nearest capable hospital may be a flight away. Teams of five or more can usually buy one group policy at a discount. The points to check before you pay are the evacuation limit, the exclusions for the work your team will do, and whether the plan covers your destination at all.

Key facts at a glance

• A medical evacuation can cost from 25,000 to more than 250,000 US dollars depending on location, according to the CDC Yellow Book.
• Medicare usually does not cover health care outside the US, according to Medicare.gov, which affects older volunteers on the team.
• WorldTrips offers Atlas Group to mission teams of 5 or more members at a 10 percent discount on its Atlas Travel rates.
• The CDC advises aid workers to review the medical, evacuation and life insurance their sending organization provides, and to check evacuation policies for exclusions such as higher risk countries and conflict zones.
• Travelers should expect to pay up front for care abroad, the CDC notes, and the insurer decides whether an evacuation is medically necessary.
• Several travel medical plans in Ombrela's catalog list the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Uganda as restricted destinations, so confirm the destination before you fundraise.

What does mission trip travel insurance cover?

The core is medical. A travel medical plan pays for doctor visits, hospital stays, surgery and prescriptions for a new illness or injury during the trip, after the deductible and up to the policy maximum. It also includes emergency medical evacuation, repatriation of remains, and usually a set of smaller travel benefits.

The CDC describes three kinds of travel related insurance: travel disruption insurance, which protects the money you paid for the trip, travel health insurance, and medical evacuation insurance. Mission teams most need the second and third. Flights for a mission trip are often changeable group fares, and lodging is often donated or low cost, so trip cancellation cover matters less than it does on a vacation. If your team has paid for nonrefundable charter flights, see trip cancellation insurance explained.

Travel medical plans do not cover routine care, most pre-existing conditions, or pregnancy and childbirth, and many exclude mental health treatment. Team members with chronic conditions should read traveling with pre-existing conditions before they commit.

How much medical and evacuation cover does a team need?

Set the evacuation limit first. Rural clinics can stabilize a patient but may not be able to treat a serious injury, a complicated infection or a heart problem. The CDC notes that evacuation from a resource poor area to a hospital that can deliver definitive care might be necessary, at a cost of 25,000 to more than 250,000 US dollars.

As a reference point, WorldTrips' Atlas Travel policy wording lists emergency medical evacuation up to a lifetime maximum of 1,000,000 US dollars, outside the overall medical maximum. Its mission trip page lists medical maximums of up to 2,000,000 US dollars on Atlas Travel and up to 1,000,000 US dollars on Atlas Group. Benefit amounts differ by plan and change over time, so confirm them in the current policy document.

Two conditions apply to nearly every evacuation benefit. The insurer's assistance team must approve and arrange the transport in advance, and the attending physician must certify that it is medically necessary. A team leader who charters an aircraft independently may not be reimbursed. Our guide to emergency medical evacuation coverage walks through the approval process.

Should a church buy a group policy or individual policies?

For most teams of five or more, a group policy is simpler. One application covers the roster, every member has the same benefits and the same dates, the leader holds one policy number and one assistance phone number, and the group rate is lower. WorldTrips, for example, offers Atlas Group to mission groups of 5 or more at a 10 percent discount on Atlas Travel rates, and Atlas Travel to individuals and smaller groups.

Individual policies make sense in three cases:

• The team is smaller than the group minimum.
• Members travel on different dates, arrive early or stay on after the team leaves.
• A member needs something different, such as a higher maximum, a different deductible, or a plan designed for older travelers.

Check citizenship and residence rules for every member, since eligibility depends on each traveler's home country. Also separate two things that are often confused. A travel medical policy protects each traveler. It does not protect the church or nonprofit from liability claims. That is a question for the organization's own insurer, and many denominations have a program for it. Our article on group travel insurance explains how group rosters and billing usually work.

What is excluded for construction or medical work?

This is where mission trips differ from vacations. Travel medical insurance is written for travelers, and policies can restrict cover for injuries that happen while working. Depending on the wording, exclusions or limits may apply to manual labor, the use of power tools or heavy machinery, work at height such as roofing, and any activity performed for pay.

If your team is building, drilling wells or repairing storm damage, describe the tasks to the insurer and ask for written confirmation that an injury during that work is covered. Do the same for recreation on a day off. Atlas Travel's wording, for instance, covers amateur sports and activities but not those involving exploration of remote or inaccessible areas, and it requires appropriate safety equipment to be worn.

Medical teams have a separate gap. A travel medical policy covers the clinician as a patient. It does not cover professional liability for the care the clinician provides abroad. Doctors, nurses and dentists should ask their malpractice insurer whether volunteer work outside the US is included, and check the host country's licensing rules.

Does it cover unrest, kidnapping or a security evacuation?

Sometimes, and with conditions. Using Atlas Travel's policy wording as an example:

• Political evacuation pays up to 100,000 US dollars for transport to the nearest country of safety or home, but only if the State Department issues a level 3 or higher travel advisory after you arrive, the cover was already in force, and you contact the insurer within 10 days.
• Terrorism cover is limited to 50,000 US dollars of eligible medical expenses and carries its own advisory conditions.
• Crisis response for kidnapping pays up to 10,000 US dollars on the base plan, with a higher optional rider, and excludes a list of named countries.

The practical lesson is that an advisory already in place before you travel usually removes the benefit. Check the State Department advisory level for your destination when you plan the trip and again before departure.

Which mission destinations are hard to insure?

Some plans will not cover certain countries at all. In Ombrela's plan catalog, IMG's Patriot International plans and WorldTrips' Atlas International list the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Uganda among their restricted destinations. Trawick's Safe Travels International lists Haiti, along with several other countries. Uganda and Haiti are frequent mission destinations, so this catches teams out.

Restricted lists change, and they differ by insurer. Confirm the destination with the plan administrator before you collect deposits from volunteers. If your destination is restricted on standard plans, ask your denomination or sending agency whether it holds a policy written for higher risk locations. For regional background, see travel insurance for Africa.

What health preparation should the team do?

The CDC's guidance for humanitarian aid workers is a sound model for mission teams. It recommends a visit to a travel health provider before departure so that routine and destination vaccines are up to date. It advises travelers with chronic conditions to carry enough medication for the whole trip, stored in two separate allotments in case of loss or theft.

The CDC also flags road travel as a major hazard, noting that motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of injury deaths among US citizens abroad, and suggests traveling in daylight where possible. Finally, it recommends registering with your country's local consulate so that officials know where the team is. US citizens can do this through the State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program.

Download our free Mission Trip Team Checklist below. It gives team leaders a single page covering policy choices, the questions to ask about work exclusions, emergency contacts and health preparation.

How to get covered

Start with the roster: ages, citizenships, travel dates and destination. Then decide on the medical maximum and evacuation limit, and ask the insurer about your team's work tasks in writing. Ombrela compares travel medical plans, and the plan finder shows which plans are open to a traveler's citizenship and destination. Group applications and trip cancellation policies are arranged with the insurer directly. Premiums depend on age, trip length, policy maximum and deductible, so compare live quotes instead of relying on a figure from a previous year.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need travel insurance for a mission trip?

No law requires it for most destinations, but most sending organizations do, and the reasoning is sound. Domestic health plans often pay little abroad, Medicare usually pays nothing, and the CDC puts an evacuation at 25,000 to more than 250,000 US dollars. A short term travel medical plan with a high evacuation limit addresses the largest financial risk a volunteer faces.

How many people do we need for a group policy?

It depends on the insurer, and five is a common minimum. WorldTrips offers Atlas Group to mission groups of 5 or more members at a 10 percent discount on Atlas Travel rates. Smaller teams buy individual policies with the same dates. Ask whether members can be added after purchase, and whether travelers with different return dates can stay on the group policy.

Does mission trip insurance cover construction work injuries?

Not automatically. Travel medical policies can exclude or limit injuries from manual labor, power tools, heavy machinery or work at height, and wording varies by plan. Describe your team's actual tasks to the insurer before you buy and ask for written confirmation of cover. Require protective equipment on site regardless, since some policies make cover conditional on using it.

Are short term missionaries covered for pre-existing conditions?

Generally no. Travel medical plans exclude pre-existing conditions, and many offer only a limited benefit for a sudden, unexpected flare up, often with age limits. Atlas Travel, for example, looks back two years before the effective date. Volunteers with chronic conditions should see their doctor before the trip, carry full medication supplies, and consider whether a remote posting is appropriate.

A team that knows its evacuation limit, its exclusions and its emergency number before departure is far better placed than one that buys the first policy it finds. Build the roster, confirm the destination is covered, and use the plan finder to see which travel medical plans fit your team.