GeoBlue specializes in international health insurance plans and travel medical insurance. Its Voyager Choice plan can be a great fit for people who frequently venture abroad, especially for longer stays, and whose primary concern is global healthcare coverage.
Standard travel insurance benefits are limited, so those looking for trip delay and trip cancellation benefits should look elsewhere.
About GeoBlue Travel Insurance
GeoBlue specializes in travel medical insurance and global health insurance plans. The company works with a network of physicians in more than 180 countries. GeoBlue offers plans that cater to international travelers, business travelers, expats and non-profit and humanitarian groups doing overseas work. It also has health insurance plans designed for teachers, students and maritime crews working outside the U.S.
Though GeoBlue is a licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, you don’t have to be enrolled in a Blue Cross and/or Blue Shield medical plan to buy GeoBlue travel insurance.
GeoBlue Travel Insurance Plans
GeoBlue sells plans for single-trip, multi-trip and long-term coverage. It offers specialty plans for various groups, such as educators, missionaries and maritime crews.
The primary focus of GeoBlue’s plans is travel medical expense coverage and international health insurance for those who plan to go overseas for an extended period of time. If that’s you, GeoBlue is worth considering. If it’s not, check out other providers from Forbes Advisor’s list of best travel insurance companies.
If you’re looking for robust travel insurance coverage, look to other providers for a comprehensive policy that includes trip cancellation insurance, along with benefits for travel delays.
GeoBlue’s Single Trip Travel Medical Insurance: Voyager Choice
To buy GeoBlue’s Voyager Choice plan, you must have a primary U.S. health insurance plan and be traveling outside the U.S. for no more than six months. GeoBlue says the Voyager Choice plan is ideal for vacations abroad, missionary work or business trips.
Voyager Choice travel medical insurance can compensate you up to your policy’s limits for emergency medical bills and for reasonable charges for some non-emergency medical expenses, minus your deductible. While there is downhill skiing and scuba diving insurance, other extreme sports activities are excluded. For instance, skydiving, parasailing, hang gliding and mountain climbing when gear is used are not covered.
Other exclusions apply, so review the policy to avoid any unpleasant surprises. For example, elective and cosmetic surgery, fertility treatment, dental implants and joint replacement are not covered.
GeoBlue’s Voyager Choice plan has the following choices for medical coverage maximum benefit per person:
- $50,000
- $100,000
- $500,000
- $1 million
You can choose from the following deductible amounts:
- $0
- $100
- $250
- $500
The Voyager Choice plan provides the following percentage reimbursement after your deductible amount is met.
GeoBlue Voyager Choice reimbursement rates
| Service | Portion paid after deductible is met |
|---|---|
Surgery, anesthesia, in-hospital doctor visits, diagnostic X-ray and lab | 100% |
Office visits, including X-rays and lab work billed by the attending physician | 100% |
Surgery, X-rays, in-hospital doctor visits | 100% |
Inpatient medical emergency | 100% |
Ambulatory surgical center | 100% |
Ambulance service (non-medical evacuation) | 100% up to $1,000 |
Outside the U.S. outpatient prescription drugs | 100% of reasonable charges up to $5,000 |
Dental care required due to an injury | 100% of reasonable charges; $500 maximum |
Dental care for relief of pain | 100% of reasonable charges; $250 maximum |
Physical and occupational therapy | $100 maximum per visit (up to six visits) |
Voyager Choice benefits that don’t require a deductible
Emergency medical transportation: Medical evacuation insurance pay for emergency transportation to the nearest adequate facility when you require treatment beyond what’s available at local hospitals.
Following a medical emergency evacuation, benefits can also pay for your return flight home, to a hospital near your home, to your original destination, or to the location where you had your emergency. GeoBlue’s Voyager Choice plan provides $500,000 in emergency medical transportation benefits.
Accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D): This benefit provides $50,000 for loss of limbs and death from accidents. AD&D insurance does not cover death and injuries from natural causes or illnesses.
Baggage and personal effects coverage: Baggage insurance compensates you for the depreciated value of your luggage or personal items if lost, damaged or stolen during your trip.
GeoBlue’s Voyager Choice plan provides $500 of coverage per trip period, per person, with a maximum benefit of $100 per suitcase and per item.
Trip interruption travel insurance: GeoBlue’s trip interruption insurance helps pay for a return flight home or for airfare to the next destination in your itinerary if your trip is interrupted or cut short due to:
- Illness or injury
- A travel warning issued by the U.S. State Department
- A terrorist or safety threat documented by the U.S. State Department
- A Covid or variant warning issued by the U.S. State Department or The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Voyager Choice travel insurance plan provides only $500 in benefits for trip interruption and does not cover:
- Events or safety warnings that happen before your trip
- Airline-related delays, including those for bad weather
- Expenses like meals and lodging if you’re quarantined outside of a hospital
GeoBlue’s Single Trip Travel Medical Insurance: Voyager Essential
GeoBlue’s Voyager Essential plan includes the same benefits as the Voyager Choice plan but has lower limits for certain coverage.
Here’s how the Essential plan differs from the Choice plan:
- A U.S. health plan is not required to buy a policy.
- Treatment for pre-existing conditions is only covered after 180 days.
- AD&D benefits provide up to $25,000 in coverage (instead of $50,000).
- Outside of the U.S., outpatient prescription cost is reimbursed at 50% (instead of 100%).
GeoBlue’s Multi-trip Travel Medical Insurance: Trekker Choice and Trekker Essential
GeoBlue’s Trekker Choice and Trekker Essential annual travel insurance plans are for people taking multiple trips of 70 days or less within a 12-month period.
You must have a primary U.S. health insurance plan to buy GeoBlue’s Trekker Choice and Trekker Essential travel medical insurance plans. Both cover pre-existing conditions.
The Trekker Essential travel medical insurance plan is similar to the Trekker Choice plan but has lower policy limits, most notably $500,000 in medical expense coverage instead of $1 million.
For those between ages 70 to 95, medical expense coverage is only $100,000 with both plans.
Both plans cover reasonable costs for emergency and non-emergency medical expenses. However, exclusions apply, so be sure to read the policy details to know what’s eligible for a claim and what isn’t.
Comparison of GeoBlue Trekker Choice and Trekker Essential
| Coverage type | Trekker Essential/$200 deductible | Trekker Choice/$100 deductible |
|---|---|---|
Medical expenses | $500,000 | $1 million |
Co-insurance level | $100% of reasonable costs | 100% of reasonable costs |
Emergency medical evacuation | $250,000 | $500,000 |
AD&D | None | $25,000 |
Repatriation of remains | $15,000 | $25,000 |
Outpatient drug reimbursement | 100% up to $2,500 | 100% up to $5,000 |
Dental care for relief of pain | 100% of covered expenses/$100 maximum per trip | 100% of covered expenses/$300 maximum per trip |
Baggage loss and personal effects | None | $500 per trip/$100 maximum per item |
Long-Term Travel Medical Plans: GeoBlue Xplorer Premier and Xplorer Essential
GeoBlue’s Xplorer medical insurance plans provide annual coverage for individuals and families who typically live outside of the U.S. for at least three months out of the year. Applicants must be age 74 or younger.
Highlights of Xplorer health insurance plans:
- No annual and lifetime medical coverage maximum
- Pre-existing conditions can be covered with proof of prior health insurance
- Choice to see any health care provider outside the U.S.
- Options that include access to the Blue Cross Blue Shield BlueCard PPO network in the U.S.
- Deductible waived for office visits, preventative care, prescriptions and more
- Includes prescription coverage with optional enhanced prescription benefits
- Optional dental and vision coverage
- Telemedicine services included
- $250,000 per person in emergency medical evacuation benefits
Both of GeoBlue’s Xplorer plans offer a choice of deductibles ranging from $0 to $10,000.
GeoBlue Xplorer Premier
GeoBlue’s Xplorer Premier plan includes coverage in the U.S. through Blue Cross and Blue Shield PPO providers as well as coverage abroad.
The GeoBlue Xplorer Premier plan has three tiers of coinsurance:
- 100% outside the U.S.
- 80% in-network inside the U.S.
- 60% out-of-network inside the U.S.
The total, annual out-of-pocket maximum is calculated by adding the deductible and coinsurance maximum together.
GeoBlue Xplorer Essential
GeoBlue’s Xplorer Essential plan covers most services outside the U.S. at 100%.
You can also buy an upgrade to add basic benefits for short trips home to the U.S. This optional benefit provides coverage for emergency medical care, illness, accidental injuries and prescriptions when you’re temporarily back visiting the U.S. The number of visits covered is limited to three per calendar year, each for 21 days or less.
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