How International Health Insurance Work for Expats?

You always hear about the importance of international health insurance for expats who are moving abroad or living overseas. Comprehensive insurance generally provides coverage during a medical emergency or routine medical examination. But to ensure you’re properly covered, one must understand how international health insurance work.

You may be reading this because you have received an amazing opportunity to live, work, or study abroad. If that’s the case, you have made the right decision to buy international health insurance. The advantage of having comprehensive coverage is that it generally ensures you and your family can access health care wherever you are around the world. Similarly, many plans include repatriation, which means you can return home to access treatment if it is not available in your expat destination. But first of all, let’s find out how international health insurance work.

What Does International Health Insurance Plan Cover?

The first thing you need to find out is what exactly does global health insurance cover. Depending on your individual policy, a typical international health insurance plan generally provides coverage for outpatient and inpatient treatments in hospitals, extensive cancer coverage, maternity care, evacuation coverage, dental and vision care, and wellbeing care. Furthermore, the plan also allows you to choose the hospital and doctor of your preference. At Expat Financial, we can tailor your international health insurance plan with flexible and global coverage.

Find out the level of international healthcare coverage you need

The second step in understanding how international health insurance work is to find out the level of coverage you need. There are several factors you have to consider when choosing your best plan. It depends on your age group, pre-existing conditions, and additional requirements you may need as an expat.

1. Age group

You can become an expat at any point in your life. As such, you want to be able to choose the coverage that is suitable for your needs. For example, if you live abroad and plan on starting a family, it is best to include maternity coverage for yourself or your partner. Do note that it takes 12 months for maternity coverage to activate. Similarly, if you are an expat planning on retiring abroad, consider additional health coverage.

2. Pre-existing conditions

It is important to disclose any pre-existing conditions you have during the application process. It has an impact on the kind of coverage you require. When it comes to individual health insurance for expats, insurers will either exclude a previous medical condition, ask for an additional premium, or decline the application. On the other hand, an insurer might even wait a few years to see if your pre-existing condition is triggered again. If it does not, they might include it in your plan.

3. Additional Requirements

There are many advantages to having international health insurance, from having the freedom to choose your own doctor, avoiding long line ups to not having a language barrier. But it is important to think about your needs while you’re abroad. Some ex-pats will opt for a plan that only covers in-patient or hospital care. One way to have international health insurance work for you is to know what you require in your expat destination. If you’re an expat moving to a high-risk country, then you may have to look for higher insurance coverage for the period you are abroad.

4. Lifetime Coverage for Retired Expats

Note that global insurance plans are primarily geared to covering expatriates and global nomads living outside their country of citizenship. Some plans in the market have a maximum age limit, so you should keep this in mind if you are planning to live abroad during your retirement. The Cigna international health plan we offer online can cover you as long as you are an expatriate – so lifetime coverage. There is also no age limit!

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Summary

Most expats living and working abroad assume local health insurance in their expat destination would suffice. Unfortunately, such plans are usually not tailored for an expat who is constantly moving from one country to another. Similarly, some expats also choose to rely on local government plans due to the low cost.

These plans generally don’t provide private medical coverage. As healthcare systems vary from one country to another, the standard of medical care also differs. Most expats will want peace of mind when going through a routine medical checkup and not go through hassles during a medical emergency. Not to mention the risks of paying out of pocket. Therefore, comprehensive international health insurance is critical to protecting your financial wellbeing.