While most business travel and personal accident policies provide protection to employees and their families in the event of an accidental death or disability, the coverage may not cover minor illnesses or injuries that employees typically suffer while traveling.

To ensure that employees' ordinary medical needs are met while they are out of the United States, employers also should purchase an international medical benefits plan, experts say. Such plans not only cover the cost of medical care, but also provide access to pre-screened medical provider networks that include English-speaking doctors who practice Western-style medicine like that which U.S. employees are used to receiving.

Several years ago while on a trip to Jordan, a traveling companion of Allen Koski, Wilmington, Del.-based vice president of Cigna Corp.'s global health benefits, became ill. Being unfamiliar with the local health care system, he made a collect call to Cigna's Medical Benefits Abroad and was directed to a clinic with a medical provider who not only spoke English, but also administered the style of medical care with which the companion felt comfortable.

“When you get sick in a foreign country, you don't want to go to a health care system that the hotel concierge would send you to. You want someone who speaks English and provides Western-style medicine,” said Mr. Koski.

Moreover, because of the time difference between the United States and limitations on the use of U.S.-based toll-free phone numbers while traveling internationally, “you need assistance 24/7, the ability to call collect, and you want to speak to someone who has a thorough knowledge of provider locations in your area so that you don't have to travel across town,” Mr. Koski said.

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These are the scope of services typically available via international medical benefits programs like Cigna's, he said.

“You need the business travel program but, in addition, you also need a health care program,” Mr. Koski said.

“The vast majority of incidents” that employees experience while traveling internationally “tend to be mundane, like losing bags, last-minute travel changes or minor illnesses,” said Chris Holt, consulting director of Towers Watson & Co.'s newly formed crisis management team in London.

“What if someone gets sick and has to go to a hospital? Is the hospital accredited and equivalent to a U.S. hospital, or is it 'third world'?” asked David Mair, managing partner at Champlin, Minn.-based Soter Healthcare Inc., who also consults on security assistance for corporate, scholastic and leisure travelers. “Doctor networks like we have here in the U.S. don't exist” in other countries, he said.

Say an employee is traveling to the Middle East and is injured in a car accident. He or she might call his employer in the United States “who is thousands of miles away and doesn't speak the language or know the local health care situation,” said Dominick Zenzola, employee benefits manager for Chubb Corp.'s accident and health division in Chicago.

“That's where business travel insurance will have a travel partner who can arrange to get that person to the nearest hospital. But there are some hospitals where you have to pay before you get in. You also want to make sure the hospital is equipped with the appropriate facilities to treat the employee's condition,” he said.

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“Personal health insurance may cover medical expenses, but health insurance typically doesn't cover the cost of emergency evacuation,” which is covered under business travel and personal accident insurance policies, Mr. Zenzola said. The “ideal solution is to combine the two coverages, especially for a midsize employer moving into the international market.”

Alternatively, employers can purchase international business travel package policies that combine accidental death and dismemberment, medical, property, general liability, auto liability, foreign voluntary workers compensation, and even kidnap and ransom, said Robert Callard, managing partner of Robert Callard & Associates L.L.C., an international insurance consultant based in Seattle.

“Most large insurers offer this coverage. Their policies are package policies with many sections that the company may purchase some or all. They cover many types of international travel risks,” he said.