Many international health insurers annually adjust their premiums from April onwards; and if early birds InterGlobal are anything to go by, (they are the exception to the rule as they have already increased their premiums for 2011 – 2012), inflation in the health insurance industry is going to be running above 10% this year.
For expats this is worrying news – inflation is already affecting them, job insecurity is concerning them, currency fluctuations are impacting on them and economic instability is unsettling them. Now we have the news that health insurance premiums are set to increase by over 10% - and expats everywhere are likely to be asking whether they can now actually afford the ‘luxury’ of medical insurance.
In this report we’re going to show you how you can beat the high-predicted health insurance inflation rates for 2011. After all, we all need to know how to save every penny we can – and insurers have been getting away with pushing prices up year-on-year when no one else in the world enjoys a pay increase every year without fail!
The health insurers claim that inflation in the medical industry is to blame – they say that costs for services have increased. They also like turning the tables on their insured clients, accusing them of actually making claims on their insurance! Who would have thought it possible hey? Someone actually making a claim on their insurance? But we’re not here to laugh at the justifications the big bosses use to push your premiums up, we’re here to help you overcome the universal greed of insurance companies full stop.
First things first, did you know that some insurers have now divided the world up differently? In the beginning there was Europe, North America and the rest of the world….but now, for the likes of Bupa International for example, there are multiple so-called ‘zones’ around the world for which you can purchase insurance.
For the insurers who have adopted this zoning, the motivation was to offer more competitive and fairer pricing structures for expats. After all, health care costs in Tunisia may be much more affordable than in Hong Kong for example, so with the above three zone model an expat living in Tunisia would basically be subsidising someone who lives in Hong Kong by paying the same price as them for insurance.
With more zones comes a fairer pricing model – so it will pay you to call and shop around for quotes between the big insurance companies to see whether you actually live in a cheaper zone according to the way each individual company divides the world up.
Other insurers offer different tiers of insurance – these are basically different levels of insurance that will cover you for different ranges of conditions and/or services. So you may be able to save money by cutting back on the level of cover you have (although never go under insured) – and even by increasing the excess you pay whenever you make a claim.
Insurers ‘reward’ those who will pay a higher excess because they feel they are less likely to claim, and if they do claim of course they will be paying more and thus saving the insurer more.
When you have compared and contrasted quotes it’s time to haggle with your current insurer – you can tell them that you can get the same insurance elsewhere for less, or you can explain that you can get a better tailored policy for you elsewhere for less. You may be fortunate and your insurer may endeavour to be more competitive – but if nothing else, you will have made your voice heard and perhaps force your current insurer to also consider re-zoning and offering different tiers of insurance cover.
When it comes time to renew there is nothing holding you back from taking the most competitive quote…but before you do, there is one other way you may be able to save on your expatriate health insurance cover – and that’s by going local instead of international…
If you’re living and working in one country, your family are settled there and you only ever holiday out of the country for a couple of weeks of the year, why are you paying for international insurance? You may be able to get good cover locally from a national insurer in you nation of residence.
Expats may need a decent level of local language skills to get insured up with a national provider of course – but you could also speak to colleagues or friends to help you research your local options if you’re not fluent enough in the local language to properly compare cover. In many cases expats can save big when they opt for a local insurer. The only negative considerations to keep in mind are the reputation and scope the insurer has – i.e., will they actually pay out if you make a big claim? (But some local businesses are back by big global names anyway – check!) And if you travel elsewhere out of your country you will probably then need travel insurance that will cover any potential medical costs.
We really hope that our expat readers can avoid the predicted 10+% increases in health insurance costs this year…and we really hope that the international health insurance industry keeps working on ways to make things better and more affordable for expats everywhere.
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Comments
Andrew Williamson
Says:
Thu, July 21, 2011 at 04:29 PM
I agree totally that it’s often better to find out what types of insurance are available from the countries insurers rather than using an expat healthcare provider.
John Degtev Says:
Thu, July 21, 2011 at 01:47 PM
Health insurance in Cyprus has shot up over the past few years another 10% is the last thing anyone needs.