Yes, travel insurance is worth carrying for a trip to Westerly, a Rhode Island shore town best known locally for Watch Hill, and the honest reasons here are cost and seasonal weather rather than any unusual danger. US hospital care is excellent but expensive for anyone without domestic coverage, and that gap matters as much on a quiet New England coastal visit as it does anywhere else in the country, even for a short weekend by the shore.
Westerly and the surrounding area have local hospital services for routine care, with Providence, Rhode Island's capital, and Boston, Massachusetts, available as larger regional hubs for more serious or specialized treatment, both a reasonably short drive away. Confirm your policy covers treatment and transfer to a larger US facility, and check whether it settles directly with a provider rather than requiring you to pay upfront and claim reimbursement later.
The Rhode Island shore has real hurricane exposure, most famously during the 1938 New England hurricane, which struck this stretch of coast, including Westerly's own Napatree Point, with severe and well-documented force. Modern hurricane season, roughly June through November, is far less commonly a direct hit on this part of New England than the Caribbean or Gulf coast, but coastal storms and flooding remain a genuine seasonal consideration for anyone visiting Westerly's beaches during the warmer months.
Keep any clinic or hospital invoices, prescription receipts, and documentation of any storm-related travel disruption if you need to file a claim. Many policies treat hurricane-related trip delay or cancellation as a standard weather claim, so check how the wording defines it, and confirm whether your existing health cover extends specifically to the United States before assuming a standalone travel policy is unnecessary for a coastal New England trip like this one, especially if your visit falls within the peak hurricane months.