Travel insurance for Seniors

It varies by the state you live in.

Go to Insuremytrip and compare different companies. Then buy directly from the insurance company you choose.

I have an annual travel policy with Allianz. I've had them for years. I've never made a claim but the give me the coverage I need.

I am 76, my wife is 74 ... I don't think there is a "best" option for seniors. That said, we have travelled yearly for many years and have always purchased travel insurance to cover our pre-paid travel expenses and provide medical and evacuation coverage. Trip cancellation for cause (i.e. serious illness, death of a family member, etc.) and trip interruption are always included as a standard feature. Trip cancellation "because I've changed my mind and don't want to go" adds a significant premium to the price. We use insuremytrip.com to find our policy of choice. You put in some basic information, and the site comes back with a list of travel insurers and policy options. Then it's up to you to compare and decide which policy suits you the best. As you compare, make sure you notice which policies provide primary versus secondary medical coverage. Hope this helps.

Do a search on this board and you'll see a lot of opinions. Here's one thread that outlines my opinion on the advantage of getting a term policy for the duration of your trip. As you can see, other people have a different opinion.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/budget-tips/travel-health-insurance-maybe-avoid-annual-policies

I also use insuremytrip to compare plans. They have been very helpful answering my questions via chat

have always purchased travel insurance to cover our pre-paid travel expenses

There is a subtle, but important distinction here for the independent traveler.

Travel insurance is often priced by the cost of the trip, provided by you. It is easy if you are taking a fully inclusive tour, it is mostly what you had to fork over to the tour company.

But if traveling independently, with hotels that can be cancelled, meals you will not pay for, other money you will not spend if you have to cancel, then your liability, or risk, is much lower. Insurance only pays for actual losses, not estimated cost. So while you may be looking at spending $10,000 for a two week trip, worst case, you may only have an exposure of a couple thousand. No need to pay premiums on $8,000 you in no way can lose.

You may even want to check things like credit card benefits for cancellation protection/trip insurance. It is possible that there are other ways to mitigate loss of travel expenses, and then purchase a policy specifically for Medical and Evacuation, rather than trip insurance with a side benefit of medical.

As mentioned above, what drives the price of the premium is for the most part the amount of cost you want to cover in case of cancellation.
If all you lose is your plane tickets (assuming there is no way to get it refunded or changed for a small penalty) state only the expected loss you will actually lose in case of cancellation.
The important thing is to cover emergency medical expenses and evacuation costs (which are expensive, but not necessarily likely to happen). Since the probability of a medical emergency or evacuation tends to be low, the insurance companies evaluate that risk as low, much lower than the probability of having to cancel a trip, therefore the cost to cover medical and evacuation costs is not that huge, but of course it changes with age, so the older you are the higher the risk of getting hospitalized abroad, and the higher the premium.

Below are some notable names:

Faye
Generali
Travelex
AIG
Allianz
IMG
World Nomads
Geo Blue

You should also consider Evacuation Insurance. MedJet will get you home instead of "to the nearest facility." If you had to pay out of pocket, the cost skyrockets to over $100,000
https://medjetassist.com/aarp-discount
.
Fortunately, I have never had to file a claim (except for a unique bad experience with Travel Guard and I will never use them again). Post covid, I have bought Allianz Prime or Premier comprehensive travel insurance, sometimes an annual policy, sometimes a one-trip policy depending on trip dates. Allianz has been recommended on the forum many times. I always buy a MedJet evacuation policy, but now that I'm 75, there is a surcharge and additional documentation needed. I will use them for my September trip.
https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/find-a-plan

BCBS Global Solutions (formerly GeoBlue) has been recommended on the forum also. I had an annual medical policy two years ago because I could buy at any time without losing pre-existing coverage. I bought a small Allianz Basic annual policy to cover trip cancellation/interruptions. BCBS is basicly only medical. I also bought MedJet annual too. Overkill, but I travel solo and that's my comfort level.
https://bcbsglobalsolutions.com/individuals-and-families/

The devil is in the details. Read the policies carefully.
There are lots of conversations about travel insurance on the search feature. This link is for the past year:
https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=1y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=travel+insurance&utf8=%E2%9C%93

Buon Viaggio!

I've purchased MedJetAssist before trips to locations where the medical care was iffy. But now that my partner is older, I think it's an excellent idea, for the reasons mentioned above.....they will fly you back to your HOME hospital, not merely cover you when you are in a hospital in or near, the scene of your accident or illness....

I've never used it, though. thank goodness. Would love to her from people who have.....

There are 2 other things to consider when previewing policies. For most policies, you have to get the policy within a certain time period (2 to 4 weeks) of your first covered trip purchase. The second consideration is pre-existing conditions. Some policies require purchase 180 days before departure to cover pre-existing medical conditions. Any new medical condition is covered once you purchase, i.e. for cancelation purposes.

Last year I turned 75 and our insurance costs more than doubled.

Leonard, I think your timing is off.

Most travel insurance will cover pre-existing health conditions IF bought within +/- 14 days of the first money paid for the trip. You don't need to buy insurance until you have a non-refundable purchase, ie hotel, plane. Example: I bought refundable plane tickets and reserved five cancellable hotels without paying a deposit so there is nothing for insurance to cover. Today I paid a one-night non-refundable deposit on the sixth hotel. The clock is now ticking to buy travel insurance to cover pre-existing conditions. The 180 days is the company's look back period for pre-existing conditions.

If you miss the deadline to cover pre-existing conditions, you can still buy travel insurance but without that rider. As I said in my earlier post, BCBS Global will cover pre-existing almost anytime before your departure. I researched and bought an annual policy two years ago; other policies may vary.
As always, read the policy details carefully. Every company and type of policy is different.