Expatriate Medical Insurance

Expats who herald from countries like the US understand the importance of having medical insurance - after all if you don’t have a plan in place in America and you fall ill you quite simply won’t get the care and treatment you deserve.

But British expatriates for example, and those who come from countries where the health system is either free, subsidised or affordable will wonder whether health cover is actually the necessity that all the insurance brokers have you believe - so, let’s take a look and see whether expatriate medical insurance is actually essential for everyone.

If you’re a young, independent expat setting off to see the world, work your way across a continent or take an overseas assignment and you have good health, money in your bank account and no desire to take up extreme sports or anything that could be damaging to your health, you may not see any point in having an expensive expatriate medical insurance policy to worry about. 

At this point a financial adviser or insurance broker will point out your long term need to get something in place and how if can be cheaper to renew a long established policy later in life when your health becomes more of a priority to you than to start a brand new policy from scratch - but if you know your own mind and are comfortable with the decisions you’re making then that’s fine!

Another example of when expat health insurance can probably be forgotten about is if you’re going to be living and working in a country where the health system is either free if you pay your taxation contributions or it’s affordable to you.  In such circumstances the additional expense of taking on a personal health insurance plan may be unnecessary.

There are many, many circumstances and situations where expatriate medical insurance is essential however - but even then there are ways to rein in the cost and ensure you get good cover for a fair price.

If you’re travelling overseas as a family unit that includes children then you really should think about the long term aspects of requiring medical support and assistance for the entire family - especially the children.  Kids can pick up all sorts of bugs and infections and even break bones and worry their parents half to death with any number of relatively minor medical conditions.  These conditions not only stress the parent, they can be very expensive to have treated and the last thing you need to be worrying about if your nearest and dearest are ill is whether you can afford to pay for their treatment!

Family policies can be a cheaper alternative to the expatriate than a series of individual policies - but make sure all conditions that you deem essential are covered and that the excess you will have to pay before the policy pays out is affordable.

Another situation where health cover is important is if you’re going to be living in a country where health cover is either extortionately expensive (Germany or the US for example) or where the services available locally are poor and you may require repatriation in the event of serious illness.

Try and be realistic about your personal situation, what you’re willing and able to afford, what’s available to you in your new overseas country and then seek the independent advice of a financial adviser if you’re still in doubt about whether or not to take out a policy.  If you do decide to take out cover there are some companies who offer specific plans for expatriates which take into account your unique requirements.  GoodHealth is one such company. 

One final point - if you do decide to take out expatriate medical insurance shop around and ensure that your policy covers everything you want it to cover and that it doesn’t have unnecessary features because these just increase the price rather than the value!