While travel exposes you to new sights and cultures, it can also bring challenges and difficulties when it comes to your health and well-being. If you’re dreaming of traveling abroad, it can be helpful to consider the potential expenses associated with getting hurt or becoming seriously ill while in a foreign country.

Travel medical insurance can help offset those costs so you don’t have to worry about wiping out your budget because of an unexpected medical emergency. Here’s how health insurance for traveling abroad works.

Travel medical insurance helps cover the cost of many emergency medical treatments during a trip. If you’re traveling and have an unexpected illness, medical condition or injury that’s covered by your travel medical insurance, you typically will be reimbursed up to the plan limits.

Generally, most domestic health insurance policies are not accepted abroad, so there is a benefit to purchasing travel medical insurance as a supplement to your health insurance coverage. The travel medical coverage is only valid while you’re traveling.

Medicare usually doesn’t cover health care while you’re traveling outside the U.S. There are some exceptions, including some cases where Medicare Part B (Medical Insurance) may pay for services that you get on board a ship within the territorial waters adjoining the land areas of the U.S. However, Medicare won't pay for health care services you get when a ship is more than 6 hours away from a U.S. port.