International Health Insurance

Global health insurance (also known as international private medical insurance) gives you access to private healthcare around the world.

International health insurance policies are designed to cover you for medical treatment when you’re admitted to a hospital, plus cover for serious issues such as cancer and mental health around the world. The exact nature of cover depends on the policy you buy and the insurance provider you buy it from. Some policies include cover for everyday visits to your doctor or pharmacy.

Generally speaking, plans with higher levels of cover will come at a higher cost. Most private health plans don’t cover pre-existing medical conditions (i.e., conditions you had before you took out the plan) as standard.

To make sure your William Russell plan suits your needs, you can customise it with a range of optional extras, such as cover for dental treatment.

Whilst international health insurance prices vary a lot, they are generally more expensive than local domestic or travel policies. Local health insurance only gives you cover in a single country.

While most domestic health plans only cover you in one country, international health plans cover you in multiple (or even all) countries. They’re great for people who live and work abroad, or who spend lots of time travelling. Some international medical plans also include emergency medical evacuation cover so you can access urgent treatment even if it’s not available in your location.

The premium you see is the amount that you’ll pay each month for your health plan. Once you’ve selected a health plan to personalise, you can choose a different payment frequency.

You can choose to pay your premiums annually, half-yearly, quarterly or monthly by direct debit or credit card. You can also pay by cheque or bank transfer, but monthly payments won’t be available if you choose one these payment methods.

Paying annually is the cheapest option overall.

Payments are subject to the following administration surcharges: 3% surcharge if you pay half-yearly and a 5% surcharge if you pay monthly or quarterly.

It depends on the area of cover you choose. The area of cover is the geographic or territorial limits of your plan. It specifies in which countries you’re covered and which countries you’re not.

With Zone 2, you’ll have full cover in Vietnam and most other countries, with freedom to access the best hospitals and doctors.

In certain countries where the cost of private healthcare is high (eg China, Singapore), your cover will be limited to accident & emergency treatment up to US$100,000. There is no cover at all in the USA.

Once you’ve selected a health plan to personalise, you can choose Zone 1, which gives you full cover worldwide.

In most cases, we can only provide insurance to expats. By expat, we mean people living and working outside of their country of nationality (e.g., a Dutch national living in Taiwan or a Canadian national living in India).

Typically, our members reside permanently in a foreign country. But we can sometimes provide cover to people expecting to spend at least 6 months of the year living or travelling abroad. In certain countries, we can cover people living in the same country that issues their passport. These countries are Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Mauritius, Estonia and Malawi.

We can provide plans to people of all nationalities in most countries around the world. You must be under age 70 when your plan starts, and you must be living or working in a country different from your country of nationality.

A pre-existing condition is an illness or injury you’ve already have received medications, advice or treatment, or for which you have experienced symptoms of – or tests, medication, treatment or advice for – before taking out your health insurance policy.

Having a pre-existing condition doesn’t mean you can’t take out international insurance – it just means you won’t be covered for that condition unless it has been agreed.

If you have a global health plan from William Russell, you’re covered for the treatment of COVID-19 as you would be for any other viral infection. This is provided that the plan you have selected covers the treatment and you don’t have personal medical exclusions on your certificate of insurance that would apply.