Why do expats buy international health insurance?
Many expats and global nomads may wonder why they need international health insurance when living abroad. In fact, as a foreign national, you and your family will most likely not be covered by free healthcare in the country where you are residing.
Despite the fact that the overall quality varies from country to country, you also need to consider hospital coverage, outpatient treatment, assistance and evacuation charges, dental care, accidental death and invalidity or life coverage.
After all, the peace of mind of knowing that you and your family have access to the best healthcare is very important. Therefore, you need to create tailored expatriate health insurance that meets your unique requirements.
Should You Use Local Coverage?
Some expats will rely upon the local health schemes because of the low cost, but that plan may not allow you to obtain medical treatment at more satisfactory private clinics and hospitals. Local plans will also not provide medical coverage while you are travelling out of the country or when you go back home. Also, local plans in many developed countries may only provide fundamental medical coverage that may not be suitable for most expats.
Maintaining Health Abroad – Global Medical Is Key!
Maintaining your health overseas means having medical coverage that provides access to first-world medical care and helps you address medical problems before they become serious issues. A global medical plan can also include prescription drug coverage, which will help you or your loved ones maintain their health.
Vaccination coverage is also important if you live in areas where diseases are more common, and it is especially critical if you have young children. Before moving abroad, check what vaccinations are required and recommended via a reputable source. This is why obtaining an out-patient medical option is a good idea if you and your family live overseas.
Accessing the Expat Insurer’s Medical Network
An expatriate health insurance plan can let you select the hospital, doctor or another medical service provider that best suits your needs. The policy is flexible and worldwide. Expat Financial and its insurance partners have an extensive network of medical service providers in almost every country in the world. With most of our insurers, you will enjoy direct payment when you claim via their medical network, so you may not have to advance your medical expenses first.
Choosing an expat medical provider with a large global medical network and the ability to guarantee medical payments to hospitals is important. If you are claiming outside the medical network in a hospital, you can request a guarantee of payment (GOP) and most hospitals should accept this. Sometimes, in developing countries, a hospital simply doesn’t want to deal with an international medical provider. For small claims at a local doctor’s office outside the medical network, you can pay and submit to the insurer for reimbursement.
What About Expat Employers?
While this article has mostly dealt with the critical nature of global medical coverage for individual expats, the same issues exist for expatriate employers who send employees overseas. An expat employer is legally responsible for their expat employees, and healthcare is a critical feature of any expat package. A plan that will provide excellent medical coverage for the expat employee and his or her family is vital, and an international group insurance plan can provide better coverage and premiums for the employer versus having the employee purchase his or her plan. A high-quality group plan will also help expat employers retain and attract employees in a competitive marketplace. Sure, you can ask employees to seek their own policy, but then you are faced with:
- Higher costs
- Employees have to provide medical evidence for individual plans, whereas group plans can often cover employees without underwriting
- Inconsistency of coverage – most expat employers want consistency in coverage, costs and insurers.
- Lack of control and poor administration – only a group plan can give an global mobility manager control over costs and administration.
A global benefit plan can easily address the points above and help human resource managers meet their duty of care responsibilities when sending employees abroad on long-term assignments. While it may be tempting to get the cheapest global health plan possible, it really is not worth the risk and blowback. Dealing with an experienced global benefits brokerage via Expat Financial to help understand, explain and search the market for the best possible coverage is really worth it.
Some Final Thoughts for Global Healthcare Plans
The cost of international health insurance will vary by plan. Expat Financial offers several different international health insurance plans for expatriates of any nationality across the world. We also offer excellent service before and after you purchase your international health insurance plan.
If you have questions about our international medical insurance plans or if you want to discuss your needs and produce a customized quote, please get in touch with us or complete the quote form. As noted above, it really does benefit individual expats and their employers to buy excellent global medical coverage that will not only give you peace of mind but will help you maintain your health!
