What is expatriate insurance?

Many consumers don’t know what expatriate health insurance is. If, for example, an American citizen had a heart attack in another country, the cost of flying that person in to evacuate him would cost a lot of money. This large sum of money could range anywhere from $50,000 to $300,000.

If you think that this citizen had it rough, you’re wrong. They had expatriate insurance, which will cover the cost of emergency medical evacuation to Western hospitals, which contain the necessary equipment and expertise to take care of whatever needs to be taken care of.

Now, consider this scenario: a woman who contracted a serious tapeworm while being in another country and later developed a deadly brain infection.

She had to return to the United States in order to receive expert care. The only problem is that she bought her health insurance from a company that was foreign while being abroad, and it didn’t cover treatment in America.

If she knew that this would happen, she would’ve bought an expatriate health insurance plan that would cover medical care both home and overseas.

Expatriate insurance is also known as international medical and global insurance. This type of insurance is specifically designed to help people on extended stays outside of the United States. People, who leave their homeland for extended periods of time, usually for more than six months or many years, are known as expatriates.

Expatriate insurance addresses the other special needs of travelers who must deal with foreign care systems besides eliminating problems with the closed provider networks set by U.S managed care plans.

“It is wise to review your health insurance policy before you travel. In some places, particularly at resorts, medical costs can be as high as or higher than in the United States. If your insurance policy does not cover you abroad, it is strongly recommended that you purchase a policy that does. There are short-term health insurance policies designed specifically to cover travel”, the State Department warns.

“Although some health insurance companies will pay customary and reasonable hospital costs abroad, very few will pay for medical evacuation to the United States. Medical evacuation can easily cost $10,000 or more, depending on the location and medical condition,” claim the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

If you are a constant traveler, you might want to consider expatriate health insurance in order to avoid any problems. Look for a policy that is right for you and don’t travel without it