A New Website Demystifies Travel Safety and Health Issues

I was a bit worried, when I heard about Trip.USTIA.org, the brand new site from the US Travel Insurance Association, that taking advice from this site would be a little like consulting wolves on the care of chickens.

Photo by Tessa Watson

Cynical me. In fact, the site offers well-researched, impartial information on a host of travel safety and health issues. That's the case even when its dealing with when insurance will help and when it may be useless. In a piece on whether or not regular health insurance covers travelers abroad, the site notes that a good 50% of Medicare recipients will not have their health issues covered when abroad, a good heads up for those who might assume otherwise. But then it further points out, pretty bluntly, that some of these folks may not be eligible for travel health insurance if they're looking to cover pre-existing conditions.

Other topics covered on the site include hotel safety, protecting checked luggage from thefts, tips for navigating civil unrest, how the US State Department can and can't help you and more.

Take a look at the site; its a nice new addition to the growing library of useful travel information on the web.