Travel insurance for elective surgery abroad

Quick summary for busy readers:

• Standard travel insurance generally doesn’t cover elective or cosmetic surgery abroad, or any complications that arise from it (because insurers treat it as a known risk rather than an unforeseen event).
• A small number of specialist insurers, like Medical Travel Shield and Go Insurance, offer cover specifically built for medical tourism (including dental, cosmetic, elective and fertility treatment).
• Even with a standard policy, you may still be covered for things unrelated to your procedure, like lost luggage or flight delays, just not anything connected to the surgery itself.

 

Heading abroad to get elective surgery or a cosmetic procedure done? You’re not alone. Around 15,000 Australians head overseas each year for procedures that range from breast implants to dental work to fertility treatments.

However, you should know that if something goes wrong, standard travel insurance likely won’t cover you. Here’s why and what you’ll need to do to get proper cover.

Is cosmetic or elective surgery covered by travel insurance?

In short, no – at least, not by a standard policy. Travel insurance exists to cover unforeseen events, and travelling specifically for elective or cosmetic surgery is the opposite of that: it’s a planned trip with a known, increased risk attached, which is exactly why most mainstream Australian travel insurers exclude it outright.

So, what are your options? Well, if the entire purpose of your trip is to receive elective surgery, plenty of insurers won’t just exclude the medical side, they’ll exclude your whole policy. Which means you’d have no cover at all for things like theft, cancellation or rental car excess. Not ideal.

Some insurers do take more of a middle-ground approach; they’ll still sell you a policy and cover the usual travel-related benefits, like delays or lost luggage, but they’ll specifically exclude anything connected to your surgery or its complications. And by anything, we mean anything.

Example: If you need to delay your flight home because of a post-surgery complication, that claim would likely be declined.

Never fear, there are a few specialist insurers built for elective and cosmetic surgery:

• Medical Travel Shield is a specialist insurer built specifically for Australians travelling abroad for elective treatment. They cover dental treatment, cosmetic surgery, elective surgery and IVF or fertility treatment, and can also extend cover to a travelling companion if you’re not going alone.
• Go Insurance offers “Dental Tourism” as an optional add-on to their standard policies, designed for travellers heading overseas specifically for elective dental work. It covers things like cancellation if your treatment doesn’t go ahead as planned, emergency dental treatment while you’re away, and cover to return overseas in the event that you require remedial dental treatment.

Even with a specialist policy though, it’s worth understanding that these policies generally cover complications and disruption around your trip and treatment, not the cost of the procedure itself, and pre-existing conditions are still commonly excluded.

If you are going abroad for elective and/or cosmetic surgery, before purchasing any policy you should read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) in full and speak with your insurer directly so you understand exactly what will (and won’t) be covered.

What is the best country to go to for plastic surgery?

There’s obviously no “best” country to go to for plastic surgery; it all depends on you, your circumstances and what you want done.

What we will say is that while certain elective and cosmetic procedures can appear significantly cheaper than the same treatment in Australia, you should factor the costs of flights, accommodation and any possible medical complications into the full cost of your treatment. After taking all those costs into account, you may find that the difference in price is negligible.

You also need to consider the very real possibility of complications and what that would look like being far from home, in a healthcare system you’re less familiar with, without your usual support network nearby.

We’re not saying medical tourism is a flat out bad idea – plenty of people have positive experiences. You just need to do your research:

• Research the specific clinic and surgeon thoroughly, not just the country in general.
• Check their qualifications and accreditation.
• Look up what recourse you’d have if something went wrong, both while you’re there and after you’re back home.

The information in this guide should be taken as general advice only. Always review the full policy details of any insurer to confirm it’s right for your specific circumstances.