Best Travel Insurance for Seniors: A Plain-English Guide for Over-60 Travelers

The one thing every older traveler should know

Take one fact from this guide. Your regular Medicare almost certainly won't cover you once you leave the country. A fall on a cobblestone street in Rome can mean a five-figure bill you pay yourself. So can a bad reaction on a cruise. Unless you bought travel insurance first. The good news? It's usually cheap, and choosing well is simpler than it looks.

The Medicare gap: your coverage usually stops at the border

Original Medicare (Parts A and B) usually doesn't cover health care while you're traveling outside the U.S. There are only a few narrow exceptions. They rarely help a normal vacationer:

• You're in the U.S. when an emergency happens, and a foreign hospital is closer than the nearest U.S. hospital that can treat you.
• You're traveling through Canada by the most direct route between Alaska and another state, an emergency hits, and a Canadian hospital is closer.
• You need care on a ship in U.S. territorial waters (generally within six hours of a U.S. port).

That's it. For a normal trip to Europe, Mexico, or a Caribbean cruise stop, assume Original Medicare pays nothing abroad.

The four kinds of coverage — and which ones matter most

“Travel insurance” bundles a few separate protections. After 60, two of them do the heavy lifting:

1. Emergency medical — pays for treatment if you get sick or hurt abroad. This is the one that fills the Medicare gap. Make it your top priority. Look for a high limit (think $100,000+).
2. Emergency medical evacuation — pays to move you to good care or back home. This is the sleeper cost. An air ambulance from a remote area can run tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes over $100,000. Almost nothing else covers it. The State Department urges travelers to buy it.
3. Trip cancellation & interruption — refunds prepaid, non-refundable costs if you cancel or cut a trip short for a covered reason, like illness or a death in the family. Most useful on pricey, prepaid trips like cruises and tours.
4. Baggage & travel delay — the smallest piece. Nice to have. Not the reason to buy.

Pre-existing conditions: the look-back window and the waiver

This is where older travelers get tripped up. Many policies won't cover a claim tied to a pre-existing condition. That's something you were treated for, or had symptoms of, during a “look-back” period (often 60 to 180 days) before you bought. But most insurers will waive that exclusion if you buy soon after your first trip payment. The window is commonly 14 to 21 days, and you insure the full cost of the trip. So the takeaway is simple: buy early, right after you book. Rules vary by policy, so confirm the terms with the insurer before you count on coverage.

What does it cost — and what drives the price?

A full travel-insurance policy commonly costs about 4% to 10% of your prepaid trip cost. Age is the biggest factor. Premiums climb in your 60s, 70s, and 80s, because the medical coverage is the pricey part. To keep it reasonable: insure only the non-refundable part of your trip, skip extras you don't need, and compare a few insurers. A medical-only policy is cheaper if your big worry is a hospital bill abroad, not a cancelled tour.

A quick checklist before you buy

• A high emergency medical limit ($100,000+) and medical evacuation coverage ($250,000+ is common for international trips).
• A pre-existing condition waiver — and buy within the window to get it.
• Coverage that fits where you're going (remote or higher-risk destinations need more evacuation coverage).
• “Primary” medical coverage if you can get it, so the insurer pays first rather than chasing other plans.
• Whether the plan covers your activities (a scuba excursion, an e-bike tour) and any age caps — some policies limit or exclude older travelers.
• The 24/7 assistance line — the people who actually arrange care and evacuation when something goes wrong far from home.