Do I Need Expatriate Health Insurance?

When moving abroad the costs soon mount up – trust us, we know – you have to pay to have goods, pets and even people shipped overseas, you have to shell out for accommodation, possibly even a new car and before you’ve finished the unpacking there are additional costs to face from those related to opening a bank account, getting utilities connected or paying to have a TV service for example, so it’s no wonder that the question ‘do I need expatriate health insurance?’ is one that often crops up.

Insurance is dead money after all – a waste of money even – unless you happen to need it that is.  However, not everyone does need expat medical cover and those who do require it may be able to save money by taking the time to understand the differences between policies thus enabling them to find the most applicable and affordable quotation to suit their needs.  This article should answer the question ‘do I need expatriate health insurance?’ for you.

Those who decide to live abroad, work abroad, retire overseas or travel may need expatriate health insurance… 

Different countries in the world have different rules and regulations about health care cover – for example recent rule changes in the UAE will result in it being compulsory for all those working in the emirates to have health insurance whereas countries like the UK and Spain have a national health service that will treat residents of the nation for most conditions for free – so it is essential that you first determine the requirements in terms of insurance cover for the country in which you will be living.

For those who will be residing, working or traveling between countries it is of course imperative to check the rules of each nation or consider taking out a transferable expat health care policy that will cover the individual in multiple nations.

Assuming expatriate health insurance is not compulsory (if it is then the answer to the question posed at the start of this article, ‘do I need expatriate health insurance?’ is relatively simple – i.e., YES!) one has to determine whether it is still advisable to get it.

In America and Germany for example the cost of medical care is so excessively high that a number of families are forced to go bankrupt every year because they can’t meet their health care payments following an illness or an accident.  Naturally enough in nations such as these it will be wise to take out health insurance.  Furthermore in some countries there are few facilities available for the provision of health care and so anyone going to live in a country like that might be better off paying for repatriation insurance so they can get home for treatment if they fall ill.

Even in countries such as Spain, the UK and France where there are state run, free health services many people opt to buy expatriate health insurance so that they can avoid the huge waiting lists and have access to superior services and facilities.

Hopefully this information will guide you towards the answer to the question ‘do I need expatriate health insurance’ and if your answer is ‘yes, unfortunately’ then the good news is that your coverage needn’t be excessively expensive.  Most insurers offer the choice of taking out a sort of ‘budget’ version of their insurance that covers emergencies only, or opting for a comprehensive level of care that will cover everything from a visit to the GP or dentist to maternity cover for example.

Those who opt for the latter level of care can reduce their premium by removing extras such as maternity care, repatriation or access to a 24 hour multilingual help line for example, if they are unlikely to need such protection afforded them…naturally enough the less the policy covers then the less it costs! 

One final note - be careful to understand what a policy doesn’t cover as well as what it does so that you don’t run up a costly bill for laser eye surgery or root canal work and later find out that you will personally have to pay for it.