Best Travel Insurances for the United States [Discounts + Comparison]

Why buy an insurance to travel to the USA

Although having a travel insurance isn't a mandatory requirement to enter the United States, we strongly recommend you to take it out. It'll be a small part of your budget and in return you'll be able to travel with peace of mind if anything happens to you.

Here are the most important reasons for having a travel insurance to the United States:

The high cost of healthcare in the USA

Although the United States is considered a safe country in terms of disease transmission and its medical care is pioneering, you should keep in mind that the American Health System is neither universal nor free. This means that in order to be attended in the United States you must have a private medical insurance, otherwise you'll have to pay aberrant amounts of money and prove in some way that you have it.

Here are some examples of approximate healthcare costs in the United States to give you an idea, bearing in mind that they vary from state to state:

• Ambulance: from $1,500 to $2,500
• Medical visit without diagnostic tests: $300-$600 depending on the specialty
• Hospitalization day: $3,000
• Easy surgery (e.g. appendicitis): $14.000

For us, this is the main reason to travel to the United States with a medical insurance: anything that can happen to you will mean a high amount of money.

Natural disasters in certain regions of the USA

In the United States, there are areas at risk for hurricanes and tornadoes during certain months of the year. If you're going to travel to any of them during those months, register in the Traveler's Registry of your country. If anything happens, it'll be known that you're there at that time.

The hurricane season in the U.S. Atlantic, which affects Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and the Gulf Coast of Mexico (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama) runs from June 1 to November 30. The most problematic period is between August and October. It's recommended to follow the forecast during this period, you can use this link for more information. As for tornadoes, the risk areas are Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma. The season goes from April to September, with a peak during the months of April to June.

You should be aware that evacuation orders issued by local authorities in the event of an alert are mandatory to follow and may affect hotels (forcing them to close and evacuate their guests). It's also possible that airlines may cancel flights and road transport may be dangerous. Power and water outages can last for several days after a hurricane.

Accidents that may occur in the USA

If you plan to visit National Parks in the United States and do outdoor activities, there's a chance of having an accident (such as a fall). For instance, Yosemite National Park and Zion National Park have exposed and demanding trails such as Upper Yosemite Fall and Angel's Landing. We haven't had any medical problem in the U.S. yet, but one of us sprained his ankle hiking in the Canadian Rockies forcing us to go to the hospital.

Other reasons could be surfing in places like California or having an accident on the road if you plan to rent a car in the United States for your itinerary.

Insecurity in some parts of the USA

In the United States there is a risk of crime in almost all the marginal neighborhoods of large cities. In addition, with the large drug addiction problem in some cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle or New York, the risk increases.

For this reason we recommend not to carry large amounts of cash with you if you plan to visit cities. What we do is to carry the minimum necessary and pay as much as possible with the Wise card to avoid fees.

On the other hand, if you're traveling with a laptop or any other electronic devices, we recommend to take out a travel insurance to the USA that includes damage or theft of this type of equipment.

Here are the areas to avoid in major U.S. cities:

New York

It is recommended not to walk at night in the neighborhoods of Harlem, the Bronx (especially the area south of Mott Haven and Port Morris), East New York and Brownsville in Brooklyn. Areas far from Manhattan and parks, including Central Park, should generally be avoided at night. The areas with the highest rate of reported robberies due to the large influx of tourists are Times Square, Hell's Kitchen and Broadway.

💡Recommended: Where to stay in New York City

2. Los Angeles

The eastern part of Downtown Los Angeles is considered dangerous because it's an area frequented by homeless people. In the Southcentral region there are some slum areas where the danger index is medium-high.

3. San Francisco

Cases of theft from tourists on the street and in vehicles rented by tourists have increased in recent years. The most affected areas are the most touristic ones: Alamo Square, Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, Palace of Fine Arts, Russian Hill (Lombard St), Twin Peaks and Union Square.

Caution is recommened in the neighborhoods with high amount of homeless and drug addicts: Tenderloin, Civic Center, SoMa and Mission District.

💡Recommended: Where to stay (and where not to) in San Francisco

4. Miami

In some areas of the city, such as Downtown Miami or the parking areas of Miami Beach, robberies may occur.

5. Washington DC

Problem areas are the northeast, southeast, the Anacostia neighborhood and areas near train stations.

6. Boston

The Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan neighborhoods are dangerous due to crime and the presence of youth gangs. It's recommended to avoid the Chinatown area.

7. Chicago

It's recommended to avoid the area south and west of the city. If you are going to make the Route 66, it's best to take extreme precautions at the height of St. Louis (Missouri) as there have been several robberies.

Best travel medical insurance for the USA

Don't feel like reading? We've analyzed the travel insurance market and we've made for you this comparison table with the 3 insurances for the United States that we recommend. You'll find the main coverages of each one and the price for a hypothetical 15 days trip to the United States.

The prices are calculated by applying our discounts and the coverages are in € or USD depending on the insurance company. If you want more information, we'll talk in more detail about each of these insurances later on.

1. Heymondo Top, the best health insurance to travel to the USA

Heymondo Top Travel insurance is, from our point of view, the best medical insurance for USA due to its value for money:

• High medical coverage of $5.000.000 (something really necessary for the United States).
• Basic sports coverage (including trekking up to 3.000m, snorkeling, surf and winsurf). You have the option to add and advance sports coverage.
• Good extra coverage for items such as luggage and you can also add electronic equipment.

In any case, if you want a higher medical coverage for your peace of mind, Heymondo Premium Insurance offers you $10.000.000 for 92€ or $108 (the prince depends on your residence country).

Heymondo also has a very competitive mobile app. The highlight is the 24/7 medical assistance chat, which let you talk to a doctor at any time (even make a video call) and resolve concerns quickly without the need to go to a hospital.

Through this same app you'll be able to call the insurance company from anywhere in the world and not have to spend money on an international call. Moreover, with Heymondo you'll never have to pay any money upfront, as they take care of all the payments from the beginning.

2. Go World Intermundial Insurance

In the second position you can find the Go World Intermundial Insurance, the one of the three that offers less medical coverage (500.000€). Taking into account the price, we think that Heymondo is a much better option!

Apart from that, you don't have any basic adventure sports included, neihter you have the option of adding the electronic equipment.

Regarding the Intermundial app, it also has a medical chat option with video call in case you want to talk with a doctor for a non urgent matter.

3. Iati Star Insurance

The last option is the Iati Star Insurance due of its cost, as it's the most expensive one. The medical coverage is 1.000.000€ (with Heymondo is $5.000.000) and the difference in the price is considerable. You can increase the medical coverage up to 4.800.000€, but the final cost is 145€.

The good points are that the dental and the damage luggage coverages are higher if you compare with Heymondo.

Keep in mind that Iati doesn't cover electronic equipment, but it does cover adventure sports. You even have the option of extending the sports coverage by taking the 'Adventure Sports Premium Pack' (in this case the insurance would cost 135€).

Another advantage of Iati is that it also has a chat in its app to have 24/7 medical attention from 72 hours before your trip, including pediatrics and gynecology services. However, unlike Heymondo, it's not possible to make a video call.

We hope you've found useful this comparison between travel insurances forUnited States!