Every year, millions of travellers fall ill while abroad, and most aren’t dealing with drastic emergencies. They’re fighting off a nasty flu, seeking relief for a sinus infection, or managing a minor injury. But without easy access to trusted local care, these seemingly low-risk issues often escalate into high-cost claims, according to Adam Feiler, SVP Global Sales at Air Doctor.
In fact, a growing portion of outpatient claims costs come from avoidable emergency room visits for non-urgent care as policyholders don’t know where else to go and it’s costing the industry billions.
Driving up loss ratios
The global traveller market is booming. According to the Journal of Travel Medicine, international trips are expected to hit 1.8 billion annually by 2030. Over 40% of travellers to developing regions fall ill, but most of those illnesses are non-emergency and highly treatable.
Still, insurers see average outpatient claims costs rising sharply. In the U.S., a non-emergency hospital visit costs roughly $2,000. In 2024, average insurance payouts jumped 37%, from $1,900 to $2,600. These are not life-threatening events; they’re actually logistical failures.
Why Policyholders head to ERs over doctors while abroad
Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about patient behaviour. It’s about barriers to access like:
Language gaps make it hard to explain symptoms or ask the right questions. Lack of local knowledge means travelers don’t know who to trust or where to even start. Fear of low-quality care keeps them from seeking out unfamiliar clinics. Unclear reimbursement or claims processes create hesitation and delay.
Faced with uncertainty, many travellers default to the one thing they recognise: the hospital. It feels safe, central, and immediate.
But what feels like the safest choice for the traveler turns into the most expensive outcome for the insurer; especially when the issue could’ve been resolved with a quick outpatient doctor’s visit.
What if the first point of care was the right one?
But imagine this: a traveler gets sick abroad and, instead of heading straight to the ER, they find a local, trusted doctor in minutes. No language barriers. No guesswork. No upfront costs or forms to fill out later.
That’s what the Air Doctor app is doing right now. Its global network of 20,000+ vetted doctors delivers on-demand care via clinic, hotel, or video consultations, and multi-lingual medical care in 90+ countries. This all comes with expeditious service. The headlines being under 15 minutes to schedule a video visit; and under 45 minutes to schedule an-person visit.
Ultimately, Air Doctor provides a seamless, cashless, claimless experience that travellers trust
When the first point of care is the right point of care, everybody wins: faster treatment for the traveller, lower costs for you.
When travellers are guided to the right care from the outset, the entire value chain benefits—travellers recover faster with less stress and fewer complications, insurers avoid high claims costs from unnecessary ER visits, and assistance teams reduce time spent on complex case management. Partners working with us are already seeing results, with assistance handling costs cut by up to 40% and outpatient claim costs reduced by up to 52%. It’s a solution that delivers both care quality and cost efficiency without compromise.
The bottom line
In a world of rising travel volumes and soaring medical costs, insurers can’t afford to overlook the growing drain of non-emergency claims leakage.
The solution isn’t just better technology. It’s smarter access to trusted, local care that policyholders can access when they need it.
At Air Doctor, they’re not just digitising access — we’re reshaping the first point of care to be faster, easier, and more cost-effective for everyone involved. Why? Because when policyholders are cared for better, your bottom line follows.
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