Hospital cover for expats

Choosing international health insurance gives you total peace of mind – knowing that your hospital stay will be covered. That way, you can relax and focus on your treatment, rather than worrying about the cost.

With ambulance transfers, medical procedures, drugs, and nursing included in your policy, plus a hospital cash benefit to cover your expenses, you’ll be able to call on the level of support you need, when you need it.

Our hospital care insurance promises you a stay in either a semi-private (Bronze and SilverLite) or private (Silver and Gold) hospital room with en-suite facilities, so you can experience the benefit of added peace and dignity during your stay.

While we can’t promise you “better” care, we can promise the highest possible standard in any given situation.

Hospital insurance does not cover the cost of specific treatments. These will be covered by other parts of your health insurance policy, according to the level of cover you have taken out.

For instance, if you receive cancer treatment while at a hospital, this will be covered by your cancer care policy rather than your expat hospital stay policy.

You will therefore need to make sure your policy extends to any areas you may require, such as maternity care and mental health.

In general, expatriates are recommended to take out domestic insurance while living in the USA. Because of the extremely high cost of healthcare, we have included the United States as an optional country with our global health insurance policies.

There are certain unique restrictions that apply to these policies which you will need to be aware of before travelling to the United States.

The simple answer is that you will be entitled to receive treatment, but you will be liable for the full cost of that treatment.

This includes situations where you are taken to hospital without your consent, for instance, if you are unconscious at the time of arrival.

If you don’t have insurance, you will be liable to pay the full cost for all medical services upon completion of your treatment, including doctors’ bills, nursing, drugs, procedures and treatments, accommodation, and any other expenses.

This could potentially be a huge sum of money – one you never even agreed to pay. This is why it’s essential to have insurance, so that you’re covered for any eventuality while living abroad.

In 2021, William Russell revealed the eye-watering costs of healthcare bills around the world. Among the highest claims we paid out in 2019–2020 included:

• US$393,998 for cancer treatment in Hong Kong
• US$8,336 for dental treatment in Indonesia
• US$6,806.91 for diabetes care in Thailand

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

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.

This will always depend on the specific laws governing a country, however in the United States – as one example of a country where all healthcare is self-funded – all people, regardless of their insurance status, are entitled to receive emergency medical care as and when they need it.

In other words, it would be deemed potentially illegal for a medical professional to deny treatment to someone in need because they were uninsured.

However, as you might have guessed, the problem comes much later. If you are uninsured, and have to receive emergency medical treatment, you are likely to leave hospital with a substantial bill, which you may end up paying off over several years.

Some people have been thrust into financial hardship by the astronomical costs of healthcare in some countries, so it’s always highly recommended that you take out insurance.

Once again, the laws will be different depending on which country. But in the USA, once you are receiving treatment in a hospital, and if you are deemed to be in need of that treatment, the hospital is obligated to treat you.

If the hospital is aware that you are uninsured, they may consult with you about a reduced service, or recommend you to a different hospital, but they cannot refuse to serve you once you have started treatment.

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 76 when your plan starts, and you must be living or working in a country different from your country of nationality.

Making a claim with us is really easy.

If you need to claim for a benefit or treatment for which you must obtain pre-authorisation, you must contact us in advance of starting your treatment and give us all the information we require to assess if your proposed treatment will be eligible for cover under your plan. If your proposed treatment is eligible for cover, we will pre-authorise all eligible expenses. We will not pay for any treatment costs or expenses that have not been preauthorised by us in advance.