Preserving the pearls

Don’t forget about your teeth when buying PMI cover, says Peter Phillipson
Private medical insurance (PMI) is virtually an imperative for expats. You can’t necessarily count on local healthcare facilities to sort you out.

But it’s a cruel tooth, sorry ‘truth’, that routine dental treatment tends to be excluded from most basic international PMI contracts.

It is usually the case that most fundamental things, such as hospital cover, will be totally covered by even basic PMI packages, while more routine things like dental cover will (usually) not be. Other exclusions from basic PMI deals are such things as psychiatric care and pregnancy cover.

The differences are well worth paying attention to. Research shows that 70 per cent of all claims are for out-patient treatment – the stuff that is more likely to come under policy exclusions. And if you smash a front tooth while out skiing, you do not want to be landed with what can be very expensive dental bills.

But there can be wide variations within PMI categories, for example; with emergency evacuation and repatriation, does the benefit include both travel and accommodation costs? Some policies only cover travel costs - not accommodation costs. Does the policy cover both outward evacuation costs as well as the return costs? Some policies only cover you one way. Does the policy cover travel and accommodation costs of family members or a business colleague to accompany you? Some policies do, some don't.

When it comes to dental work, the m ain question to ask your provider is what level of cover is included for routine work, and what level for emergency. It might be worthwhile paying for emergency cover (the great skiing tooth-knock-out) and leave routine work (a nasty toothache) to chance. And your own wallet if it comes to it.

For example, Denmark based IHI launched its modular Hospital Plan in January 2000 as a core module that provides comprehensive in-patient benefits. It can be taken out on its own or with one or more supplementary modules: non-hospitalisation benefits; medicine and appliances; medical evacuation; dental and optical cover. In October 2003, critical illness and personal accident modules were added, which provide lump sum payments. “The critical illness component will pay out for the diagnosis of any one of 11 conditions from cancer to loss of sight,” says Ed Watling, UK & Europe IHI sales manager. The maximum sum assured is £1m (US$1.5m/E1.5m).

IHI policy holders can also utilise the new (and free) Optimyse lifestyle modules: Self care; Online doctors; Bonus. “Drugs can be ordered online through us or you can set up an online real-time oncologist (cancer) consultation, for example,” explains Watling. “Following a personal health target plan may result in a bonus in the form a premium reduction.”

Children

Experts say that full refunds on out-patient care and routine dental cover are good ideas if you have children – they get bumps and knocks, and their adult teeth have not come through yet. If you have children, paying a PMI premium for even routine dental work might make good sense.

Is it likely that dental cover will become routine in PMI policies? Quite possibly, if the international world follows the onshore world. In the UK, private medical cover for dental care is a booming market. Although this is in large part to do with the UK’s parlous NHS dental service (there are just not that many dentists working in the state sector in any case) it is also because private medical insurance for dental work is becoming more attractive for consumers.

Did you know?

Nearly one third of UK adults have 12 or more fillings Roughly 5 million people visit their dentist with toothache each year* Tooth decay remains the most common chronic disease among children ages 5-17 with 59% affected.

44% of dental care expenditures are paid out-of-pocket.
Responding to the 2003 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index survey, 34 percent of teens and 42 percent of adults chose the toothbrush first when asked to select the invention they could not live without from among five choices. The other four: the personal computer, automobile, microwave and cellular phone.

Top of the American teeth stakes in the poll for greatest looking teeth, 2004, were Hollywood actors Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.

The average toothbrush contains about 2,500 bristles grouped into about 40 tufts per toothbrush.

According to some fairly unreliable research, the average woman smiles about 62 times a day. The average man eight times.