Will Your Health Insurance Cover You Overseas?

If you’re planning to move abroad or simply travel, there are many things to consider, from where you’re going to live, to possibly learning a new language or finding a new job.

International private medical insurance (IPMI) can help put your mind at ease about your healthcare cost while living overseas. Some countries may not even allow you to enter unless you have adequate insurance cover in place.

Let’s look at international private medical insurance and some of its benefits for those living or working abroad.

What are the features of international medical insurance?

Wide coverage

International medical insurance usually reimburses the insured's medical expenses around the world, with the exception to a few high-cost countries.?

Policies can always be upgraded if needed and it’s good to check the average healthcare cost in your destination country to see if its high cost and pick the suitable coverage accordingly so you do not have to worry about medical expenses, and you can access a wide range of medical services

Direct billing service

Large insurance companies usually cooperate with many reputable medical institutions around the globe, to enable direct billing of large medical expenses such as hospitalization, this saves you trouble of paying in advance large sum of money and the effort of filing claims for reimbursement.

High sum insured

Different countries have different levels of medical expenses, and to make international medical insurance effective for most circumstances and practical to use, the sum insured are usually up to several millions USD per insured per year.

Why buy international medical insurance?

With the improvement of China's economic level and global cooperation, more people go to visit other countries for business trips, travel, and study abroad or even relocate.?

These people must get travel insurance for short term stays or international medical insurance for longer ones, to cover their medical expenses overseas.

The cost of treatment abroad is higher. For example, in the United States, Japan and other advanced economies, the cost of a small accident may result in a large sum of money to be paid by people without proper cover, which is a big loss. International medical insurance provides sufficient cover and mitigates this risk to ensure financial safety.

How to choose international medical insurance?

International health insurance plans are a perfect solution for expatriates or international travelers.?

Here are the most common features of a quality policy that you should look out for:

1. High level of protection for unpredictable situations and expensive treatment.?

As a broker we always advise our clients to select policies with a very robust protection for unaffordable care. This means selecting at least a full cover with high annual limit for in-patient, covering in full chronic condition (in-patient) and cancer treatment, finally taking a comprehensive evacuation and repatriation benefits should medical treatment not be available locally.?

Verifying exclusions (situation where the cover doesn’t apply) is also essential to avoid any surprise.

2. Ensure that the policy can direct bill the largest medical expenses and that they have established a medical network with reputable medical institutions where you travel.

The essence of health insurance is to alleviate the financial burden in case of large medical expenses.?

As such it is important to verify that you provide has network in your destination country and can direct bill for large expenses (hospitalization, evacuation/repatrition).

3. Getting ill in a remote country with insufficient healthcare services is no longer a problem.?

With a comprehensive international health insurance plan, you’ll be covered for evacuation costs, allowing you to be transported safely to the nearest hospital for immediate treatment, or even back home if that’s necessary.?

Where to get international medical insurance?

Health plans aren't one-size-fits-all. You’ll want to talk to someone who can help match your unique needs with the plan that suits you best.

At Abacare, we help our clients find the right plan with the right coverage.?As a professional insurance broker with 25 years of experience, we can get you quotes from a large variety of health insurance companies, and we do not charge our clients anything for our services, you can always contact us for free consultation

We are offering FREE consultations to help you assess your situation and assist in choosing the right plan?

If you wish to know more, feel free to leave us a comment below or to contact us:

WeChat: JasonCKman

Email: [email protected]

Jason Man - Business Development Manager at Abacare Group Limited