Expat Healthcare Insurance
Andrew Coyne considers the trend towards full cover against medical
expenses
The bottom line of medical expenses insurance is that although
it may be annoying to pay out large premiums for something that
- hopefully - you or your family will never need to use, the idea
of having no cover when an emergency occurs whilst you are thousands
of miles away from the good old NHS doesn’t bear thinking
about.
It doesn’t bear thinking about from a health point of view
and nor does it bear thinking about from a cost point of view. As
an expatriate you need to be sure that if anything should happen
to you or a member of your family, high-standard help will be on
hand straightaway. If you accept this premise, then everything else
is just a question of detail.
Expat Healthcare Insurance & Health Plans
It is worth examining that detail, though, because there are a large
number of health plans now available internationally, and such a competitive
environment means that everyone is trying to offer something different.
Shop around and you may get a good deal. However, the key is that
you don’t put you and your family’s health at risk for
the sake of shaving a few pounds off the premiums. To this end you
need to make sure the policy you plump for fills your requirements.
The sort of cover that you need depends on your own particular
circumstances. If you are a single man in your thirties working
for a couple of years in Brussels then it goes without saying that
health cover will be less of a priority than if you are married
man taking your wife and young children to live in Burkina Faso.
Expat Healthcare Insurance $ Medical Facilities
It is generally acknowledged that in many parts of the third world
medical facilities are very basic. If you happen to find yourself
in a country where you don’t want to be treated locally if you
fall ill, then you need to make sure the medical expenses insurance
policy you buy includes an evacuation service, for example. As
with most things in life, the more complicated - or bespoke
- the product you buy, the more it will cost you. If you choose
a package which is beyond the basic - perhaps called something
like Comprehensive or Executive - then your premiums will rise
sharply.
Similarly, you can expect to pay more if you want to be covered
for injuries received when playing sport, dental treatment, reflexology
and a whole host of other options which are seen to be beyond the
norm. And because of the prohibitive cost of local healthcare, expect
to pay more for cover if you want treatment in the US, Canada or
the Caribbean.
Expat Healthcare Insurance & Medical Expenses
Most medical expenses insurers work from a simple menu. At the bottom
you have the set menu which will provide you with all the basic necessities
of health cover. Stray from the set menu, however, and you will pay
more. Often an insurer will offer three grades of medical expenses
insurance, which may be seen as the equivalent of economy, business
and first class seating on an aeroplane. The basic plan -
and bear in mind this will vary by degree according to which insurer
you choose - might cover in-patient and day-care treatment and evacuation
and repatriation to the UK - which is increasingly becoming standard.
The next level up might also cover out-patient cover, and the top
of the range plan should, in theory, cover you for all eventualities
(if it doesn’t you should perhaps question why you are paying
such high premiums).
|
