Where will I have international health insurance cover?

With a global medical insurance, you have access to private healthcare in multiple countries. That’s why international insurance is an excellent choice for people who live and work abroad, or who spend much of the year travelling for business or pleasure. But what does ‘international’ really mean? Is it all countries, or just some? How can you be confident that you’ll be covered when and where you need it? In this guide, we take a closer look at the different international coverage options you can choose with William Russell. We call these options ‘areas of cover’.

What does ‘area of cover’ mean?

The area of cover means the territorial limits of your cover under your health insurance plan. Each area of cover has clear rules on the countries you have cover in (and how much), and the countries where you have no cover.

All our plans give you international cover

Our health plans are designed for expats, a demographic of people with travel in their DNA. For this reason, all our health plans come with international cover as standard.

International cover is, of course, marvellous! But it creates a challenge for insurance providers: how do we calculate premiums fairly for customers living in different countries?

With fully worldwide cover, it’s entirely possible that two customers in Canada and Vietnam could travel to each other’s country for medical treatment. Yet, it’s far more likely that the Canada resident will stay in Canada for their treatment (where costs are higher) while the Vietnam resident will stay in Vietnam for their treatment (where costs are lower).

So, while both of these customers have the same area of cover (worldwide), the expected costs are likely to be very different. How can we calculate premiums that are fair for both customers living in countries where private healthcare is expensive and customers living in countries where it’s cheaper?

We deal with this challenge by calculating premiums according to the country where you live, so you don’t pay over the odds for the private healthcare available in your country

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Zone 1 (worldwide with limited cover in the United States of America)

Zone 1 means full cover for private healthcare in all countries in the world, except the USA. In the USA, you only have cover for essential emergency treatment covered by your plan that you receive while on a temporary trip of up to 90 days, with a maximum benefit of US$50,000 per period of cover.

Plus, if you suffer a life-threatening or limb-threatening illness or injury where the urgent hospital treatment you need is not available locally, we evacuate you to the nearest suitable hospital.*

*It’s important to note that we don’t cover evacuations from, within or to the USA.

Notes on the areas of cover

You won’t find complete information for our plans on this webpage, nor the full T&Cs, limitations, and exclusions that would apply if you purchase one. You can find complete information in the plan agreement, which we suggest you read together with this webpage. All the benefits on this webpage are per member per period of cover, unless we state otherwise. We show the benefit limits in US dollars, but we can also denominate your plan in dirhams.