GeoBlue Travel Insurance Review 2024

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 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.

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)
Deep-sea scuba diving and downhill skiing	$25,000

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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 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 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

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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.

GeoBlue’s collection of Navigator plans cater to students and educators, maritime crew members, missionary workers and their families. They all have the same benefits, copay, coinsurance, deductible options and general requirements for eligibility, but with a few minor differences in coverage for “hazardous” activities.

Eligibility: You must be age 74 or younger and plan to to live outside of the U.S. for three or more months out of the year.

Includes coverage in the U.S.: You have access to the Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO network in the U.S. for up to nine months each year.

Unlimited lifetime coverage limits: The Navigator plan provides unlimited annual and lifetime medical maximum.

Deductibles: Choices range from $0 to $10,000.

Coinsurance: There are three tiers of coinsurance:

• 100% outside the U.S.
• 80% in-network in the U.S.
• 60% out -of-network in the U.S.

Pre-existing conditions: The GeoBlue Navigator plans cover pre-existing conditions if you show that you have had 12 or more months of prior health insurance coverage. If you have fewer than 12 months of prior coverage, that time period will be subtracted from the 12-month pre-existing condition coverage wait time.

Here are other key benefits covered by GeoBlue’s Navigator travel insurance plans:

• Preventive care (physicals, vaccinations and related lab work)
• Inpatient and outpatient medical care and services
• Physical therapy
• Diabetic supplies
• Durable medical equipment
• $250,000 in emergency medical evacuation coverage
• Pre-existing conditions covered with proof of prior qualifying coverage
• Flexible plan length
• Contraception services and supplies are covered
• Mental health services are covered
• Illness and injury related to terrorism are covered
• Optional dental and vision available
• Covers prescriptions
• Telemedicine services
• Medically necessary Covid testing and treatment covered
• AD&D coverage of $10,000

GeoBlue Navigator for students and faculty: To buy this plan you must be involved in educational activities. Collegiate sports activities and alcohol impairment-related incidents are covered. The Navigator plan for educators and students meets F1 and J1 visa requirements.

GeoBlue Navigator for maritime crew: The Navigator health insurance plan for crew members covers sailboat racing, scuba diving and alcohol impairment-related incidents.

GeoBlue Navigator for missionaries and humanitarian workers: You must be a member of a humanitarian, non-profit or missionary group to apply for coverage. Organized sports activity is covered.