Learn How to Find Medical Care While Living Abroad
Moving abroad to a new country is a big endeavour for anyone thinking of moving abroad or already living overseas. It is important to finding medical care abroad for you and your family while living abroad. This can be done before you become an expatriate or after making the big move. It is important that you make preparations such as ordering medicine from your existing doctor, being fully up to date on all your medical conditions and history, as well as understanding how local health care coverage works in your new country. However, an important concern for most expatriates is going to be how to find medical care in your new country or region. Click below to receive a quote on an international medical healthcare plan today!
Finding a Hospital or Doctor Overseas
There are quite a few ways to find excellent healthcare while living abroad. You should do some searching online via Google and reputable websites and directories, especially those that your expat employer or embassy may provide online. We have put together a small listing of hospitals abroad that often serve expatriates, but note that there are many excellent doctors, clinics, pharmacies that are not on our listing and you should do your research both before and after you move abroad.
For a list of International Hospitals by Region click here
Researching Medical Care Abroad Tips
Here are four tips for expatriates on how to find medical care abroad:
- Look into providers before leaving – it will help in a time of crisis to have a general knowledge of the closest medical providers in relation to where you are staying. Mainly all insurance companies will have a detailed list of accredited international hospitals that you will have access to.
- Know the cost of medical care in your country. It will be very important to have a general understanding of how much medical care will cost. Knowing the difference in pricing may help you determine whether you would like to access a private or public hospital.
- Discuss your medical care plan with your health provider in your home country before leaving. Have a detailed understanding of all your needs and medical history to avoid any unplanned circumstances.
- Collect all necessary health care contact information before you leave – i.e. insurance policy information, insurance providers’ contact information in case you need to contact the insurance company in moments of emergency and your countries embassy information.
How to Access Medical Care Abroad
Step One: Purchase international health insurance before you go abroad. Expat Financial offers several different international health insurance plans for expatriates across the world. We offer plans from several different international health insurance companies that are designed for foreign nationals living outside the country for which they hold a passport or some local national living outside the US or Canada. If you have questions about our international medical insurance plans or you want to discuss your needs and produce a customized quote, please contact us or complete the quote form.
Step two: There are a few different options in which you have when it comes to choosing a hospital & clinic. Your best option will be to seek out the hospitals or clinics with which your specific insurance company deals directly – this will allow facilitated admission and policy payments without having to deal with reimbursements. Your second option is to attend a hospital that is not on your insurance company’s list, and either pay upfront with a later reimbursement or have your insurance company call the hospital and guarantee payment.
Step three: Make sure that you have your policy insurance number with you when arriving at the hospital or clinic. Having this information readily available will facilitate the process of admissions, as well as help you overcome the difficulties of the payment systems in place. You should also download our international health insurance guide!
