Should I Buy the Cheapest International Health Insurance?
Learn How to Save on International Health Insurance Policies While Avoiding Cheap Coverage Pitfalls
Living abroad can be cheap or expensive, depending on which expat destination region or country you reside in. One of the most important and sometimes expensive costs that expats incur is international medical coverage. We often hear this question, what is the cheapest international health insurance? In this article, you will learn about the least expensive international health insurance plans and how current and future global citizens can access the best possible healthcare insurance at a reasonable cost.
Inexpensive International Health Insurance Providers
It is not easy deciding on which international health plan you should choose. Do I get the cheapest plan or the most comprehensive global medical plan? It can depend on your budget and needs. Is your employer paying for the plan? Certainly, if your company is getting the coverage, they need to meet their duty of care and provide the best possible coverage at a reasonable cost.
From our many years of experience in dealing with international citizens around the world, you almost always get what you pay for when it comes to buying cheapest international health insurance. If you get a cheap plan, it is probably a bad plan and vice versa.
The Problem with the “I am Healthy – I Will get a Cheap Plan” Philosophy
We often hear this from some global nomads and expatriates and we get it. You may be young and healthy so why do you need a higher quality and thus more expensive plan? Well, all we can say is that you have to remember that these individual global medical plans are usually medically underwritten and if you are poor health, you will get an exclusion, premium loading or decline. You are only healthy until you are not – that is why you want a great international health insurance policy to be there when you need it.
Consequences of Getting Cheap International Health Insurance
Perhaps the best question for international citizens to ask themselves when shopping for cheapest international health insurance, is what are the consequences for buying cheap health insurance? Here are just a few consequences of buying cheap global healthcare when living abroad:
- You are more likely to have a claim denied, leading to potentially large out of pocket expenses for you
- Maybe the medical network the cheap plan offers is small and you are more likely to have to pay out of pocket instead of the hospital being paid directly
- Possibly the insurer or provider goes out of business or withdraws from the market leaving you without coverage. We have had expats come to us with this problem – it does happen.
- The cheap global health plan is simply that – cheap and probably doesn’t cover much.
You Get What You Pay for When Buying International Health Insurance
We strongly encourage our customers to buy the best coverage possible from one of our global health insurance providers – we would rather sell fewer plans that are providing superior coverage and service than selling a lot of cheap plans. Why? Because we don’t want the trouble and worry associated with bad global health plans. We want satisfied customers who will be with our providers in the long run. If you are going to be living abroad, you want the best possible coverage when you need it.
What Are Some Great International Health Insurance Plans?
Remember what is cheap or expensive is highly subjective when buying international health insurance. What is inexpensive to you may be expensive to someone else. The three providers we offer via our international health insurance page are quite reasonable:
Cigna – A very well known global insurance company that has the Global Health Options plan. You can select from a variety of coverage levels and options.
Allianz – Another large and respected insurer with excellent capabilities. You can make the plan even more affordable by choosing their more entry-level options.
Geo Blue – A plan for American expats only. Not the cheapest plan out there, but American expats do like it.
IMG – In our opinion an inexpensive plan, but claims service and coverage are more basic than the above providers.
How do I Save Money on My International Health Insurance?
There are lots of strategies that expats can use to get the right global health plan at a price that they can live with. We have provided some great examples and strategies in our other blog article on this subject, but here are just a few ideas:
- Get a larger deductible
- Choose the silver or entry-level plan
- Use coinsurance to reduce the premium
- Talk to an expatriate insurance expert via our Contact Page.
- Exclude the out-patient and dental options
We hope that the above information will help you in your quest for cheapest international health insurance coverage – whether you are already living abroad or about the make the big move. Make sure you don’t just go with the cheapest global health plan – choose the one that meets your unique needs and requirements and make sure you are getting what you paid for.
