Choosing International Health Insurance - Some Considerations

These tips are offered as general advice when it comes to selecting the most appropriate international health insurance. Much of it is common sense and will be familiar to long term expatriates.

• Deal with a broker who offers a sufficiently wide range of plans - there should be no additional costs and you are much more likely to find a plan that suits your individual requirements. This is particularly the case if any "special circumstances" apply. A specific example is Australian expatriates looking for health insurance that provides for re-entry back into Australia without the "waiting periods" that normally apply to new health fund members.
  
  
• Always arrange your health insurance well in advance of proceeding overseas and avoid last minute decisions - they could be costly and "stress inducing".
  
  
• Avoid purchasing solely on the basis of premiums; a large discrepancy in premiums usually means that there are corresponding differences in coverage. You need to closely examine issues of comparable coverage and the size, claims paying ability and reputation of the low(er) cost insurer.
  
  
• If you already have international health cover be very careful about changing insurers; they may not cover the pre-existing conditions which are covered by your present insurer.
  
  
• Be very honest regarding any pre-existing conditions and discuss these with your broker, if appropriate. Insurers have a very strict attitude to pre-existing medical conditions and there is a risk that you might lose your entire cover and the right to any payments.
  
  
• If you are planning to have children in the near future, make sure that your broker is aware of this and carefully check yourself that any health plan covers maternity. Many international health plans either don't cover maternity costs at all, or only after a prescribed waiting period on a capped basis. Child birth costs can be very high in a number of countries, particularly if there are complications. Correspondingly, some health plans include maternity benefits as part of the base cover, and you may be able to reduce premiums considerably by excluding maternity cover.
  
  
• If you are already pregnant most health plans - both individual and corporate - will view it as a "pre-existing condition" and you will not be covered for these costs although you will be covered for other conditions.
  
  
• Medical problems often occur very suddenly and do not confine themselves to office hours - additionally, expatriates will often be travelling outside their host and base countries. You should satisfy yourself that any insurer has a 24 hour help desk and emergency capability - with English speaking operators. Most insurers will issue you with a wallet card providing your account code and international call numbers - you should carry them with you everywhere.

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