Recession Good for International Health Insurance Companies

According to a recent news article, the recession could actually be good news for one particular business type – namely the international health insurance business.  Apparently, in a recession people are far more likely to look anywhere and everywhere for an active opening in a job market and are therefore more likely to consider relocating abroad for work.

Those who do so will need international health insurance cover, and therefore expatriate medical insurance policy sales could go up from 2009 onwards.

In addition to this fact, many companies which have already embraced the concept of globalisation will perhaps consider taking their approach to international business one stage further and open up offices abroad where labour is perhaps cheaper, and send some of their local staff abroad to manage these offices – therefore there will potentially be greater demand for international company policies.  So what does all this mean for a would-be expat looking around for a competitive health insurance quote?

Well, it could mean that policy prices will go up as insurers realise that an increase in the number of clients may affects the likely number of claims to be received.  Additionally, insurers may become pickier about the clients they take on as they can afford to be if they have increased interest in their insurance product.  So what it means for expatriates and would-be expats is that they will have to shop around and be savvy when it comes to finding the right health insurance product for their needs.

If you’re thinking about going abroad to work and you will have to arrange your own health care coverage, find out about the level of cover you will need in your country of choice.  Some countries have superior and sophisticated medical services that don’t exactly come cheap, and so it will be essential to have a good policy in place to cover for potentially high costs incurred in the case of illness.  At the same time, some countries have very basic and rudimentary medical services in place that can mean an expat needs to have repatriation insurance as well as health care coverage in place.

Determine from the outset the level of cover you will therefore need, and then begin shopping around for quotes.  It may be that the country you’re moving to has good insurers who will charge less for domestic cover – and this may be something you only find out about after you arrive.  Therefore, try and get on forums and speak to other expats about how they manage their health insurance and who best to approach for a quote on a country by country basis.  Germany for example has many health insurers who will offer different levels of cover for expatriates living in Germany.  Clearly if you then travel back to your nation of origin or even elsewhere on holiday you will need to get a travel policy as well – but it could work out cheaper for you.

Find out about any excesses and exceptions and exclusions when it comes to your cover, and always be prepared to haggle – because if you feel you’re a good risk for an insurer and you can present your case well, it may just be that you will get a more competitive quotation.  Finally, some insurers will charge less if you have your whole family covered by them and/or if you’re prepared to sign up for more than one year.  Remember to also ask any employer abroad about whether they offer medical care benefits as part of an employment package.  In some countries in the Middle East for example, it is par for the course to offer an employee health insurance when negotiating their salary and their subsistence package.