Travel Insurance Now Available on eHealth.com Mobile for On-the-Go Access

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/06/09 -- Today, eHealthInsurance (NASDAQ: EHTH), the leading online source of health insurance for individuals, families and small businesses, provided advice for consumers debating whether or not to purchase travel insurance before taking a trip outside the United States this summer.

As a travel insurance retailer, on its mobile site (www.ehealth.com/m) and through its customer care center (toll-free 1-800-977-8860), eHealthInsurance answers questions about travel insurance on a daily basis. eHealthInsurance recommends that consumers review the following tips before they decide to make a travel insurance purchase.

1. Understand how travel insurance supports your existing health coverage: Once you leave North America, your regular health insurance company may cover fewer services than they cover in the United States. Health insurance policies differ, so it's a good idea to call your insurer and find what's covered if you get injured in a foreign country. Find out if they'll cover long-term hospitalization costs for illnesses or injuries that prevent you from flying home to receive care.

2. Speak the language: If you purchase Atlas Travel Insurance at eHealth.com, the agents at Atlas offer translation services in approximately 200 languages. If you're traveling to a country where English is not the official language, its wise to be fluent in the native tongue if you're going to opt out of travel insurance. A good travel insurance provider will have agents fluent in the language of your destination country and be able to converse with your insurance company and the medical staff providing your care to bridge the gaps between languages and time zones.

3. Have a plan for covering "up front" costs: If you're in another county, you may need to pay for your medical costs out of your own pocket, and then submit a claim to your insurance company and await re-imbursement. If you don't have a credit card with a high limit, or some other form of cash readily available to cover up-front costs, travel insurance will cover those costs. The basic coverage plan offered when you research travel insurance from eHealth on your mobile phone, comes with a $2,500 deductible. But, plans are available with deductibles starting at $0.

4. Evaluate your itinerary: The cost to cover a bad case of food poisoning or the flu can be enough to justify the cost of travel insurance, but if your vacation only includes fine dining and bird watching, you may not need to add a sports rider to your package.