Health Insurance when Starting a New Life Abroad

Those of us who were born and/or brought up in the UK have always known that we have the NHS to rely on if we fall ill and need any form of medical treatment.  This is a great comfort to us of course, but it is also one that many of us take for granted right up until the day we start to consider becoming an expatriate and moving to live abroad.

The trouble with the NHS is that it is so good, free and always there for us and that makes us spoiled and unaware of just how good we’ve got it.  But reality soon bites when we learn about the requirements for health insurance when starting a new life abroad.

The vast majority of countries in the world require their citizens to have some form of health insurance if they are working and can therefore afford to pay for medical cover.  The US, Germany, France – all are examples of countries where British expats end up living, working or living in retirement and all are examples of nations with exceptionally high medical costs that have to be paid out by a health insurance policy unless the sick or injured person in question wants to face an extortionate bill!

If you’re contemplating starting a new life abroad this is what you need to know and do when it comes to medical care, affording treatment, getting covered and ensuring you’re not only acting within the laws or guidelines of the nation, but that you are protecting yourself and your family to the best of your abilities.

First things first you need to be realistic about the cost of medical treatment in your chosen overseas nation - and then there’s the availability and quality of care potentially available…sometimes it’s seriously lacking in which case it can be necessary to be repatriated in the event of requiring serious medical attention, or in the case of a nation like Germany it is exceptionally good in which case you will pay through the nose for it!

Next up you have to face the fact that if you are going to be moving abroad, travelling regularly, retiring overseas or working on assignment internationally you will need to consider getting health insurance cover.  Finally, you have a duty of care to your family and if they are expatriating with you, you have to make sure you have sufficient insurance in place to pay for the childhood ailments, the potential pregnancy of your wife maybe, or even that emergency bone reset when your son or daughter decides to take up skateboarding or snowboarding!!

Okay – so having discussed the fact that 9 times out of 10 you will need medical insurance when starting a new life abroad, the next question on your mind will relate to cost.  When it comes to insurance you also have to think about value though!  Cost is one thing – but what value will a given insurer or policy give you over another.  Just saying which company is the cheapest isn’t sufficient if the cheapest is not the best.  Think about the excess you will have to pay per claim, think about whether you have existing complaints you need to get covered for, what about exceptions and exclusions and where on earth do you even start looking!

We recommend American Express and Goodhealth – you can click here to get a quote – but they are certainly NOT the only providers out there and it’s possible they won’t necessarily be the most ideal for you.  You need to get a range of quotations and then compare them – but ensure you are comparing like for like!  Finally, whichever company you do decide to go with, make sure you read the small print of the policy before you sign up as insurers are well known for hiding dramatically significant facts in the small print