UnitedHealthcare Travel Insurance Review

UnitedHealthcare Global provides a wide range of travel insurance coverages. However, it does not appear that coverage applies if the traveler's host or business partner falls ill. The standard policy excludes injuries sustained while participating in extreme sports, but a rider can be purchased to insure against such harm. Coverage is currently excluded in Afghanistan, Antarctica, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, and Syria.

UnitedHealthcare is the sixth largest company in the United States and the largest health insurer in the world. It gets high ratings from the big three financial ratings agencies. The company's finances appear to be very sound.

UnitedHealthcare is not rated by the BBB or TrustPilot. It has, however, been the subject of 1,333 consumer complaints to the BBB in the last three years. The company has generally responded to these in a pro forma manner, saying the HIPAA regulations forbid the company from addressing the consumers' complaints but promising they would contact the consumer. This approach makes it difficult to ascertain whether those complaints have been adequately addressed. As the largest health insurer in the United States, the company has naturally been the target of various lawsuits. One that particularly affected consumers was a class action in which 50,000 customers claimed the company improperly denied mental health benefits. The case was settled before trial and the company amended its policy rules to pay previously-denied claims. Compared to the 115 million people UnitedHealthcare insures, these numbers are tiny. However, the way the company has handled these consumer complaints suggests that while the vast majority of its customers are content with its service, there is a small minority whose concerns have not been properly addressed.

UnitedHealthcare Global provides nearly all of the types of non-insurance services the travel insurance industry offers. These include handling many of the practical and logistical issues faced by travelers abroad when they meet with the unexpected. The company doesn't offer the concierge services that some of its competitors do, but within the universe of medically-related travel services, its benefits are better than those offered by many of its competitors.