Mental health benefits for expats

We take mental health seriously. Whether you need admission to a mental health unit or consultations with a psychiatrist, you’ll get a health plan with the cover you need, even if you need mental health support as a result of other medical conditions.

That’s why, as a William Russell member, your plan includes many other opportunities to call on mental health support, especially at critical life moments. Plus, you’ll have help and support from a team of real people with our trademark personalised service.

Pre-existing mental health conditions are mental health diseases, illnesses or disorders that are present (whether diagnosed or not) before you purchase your health plan, for which:

The counselling lifetime limits are as follows:
	you have received medication, advice or treatment;		you have experienced symptoms.

You are not covered for treatment related to any pre-existing medical conditions unless we have agreed otherwise.

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.

Yes, we provide mental health support for cancer diagnoses and additional counselling consultations for expats who have received cancer treatment (where pre-authorised).

This helps to cover up to 10 consultations, plus drugs prescribed by a medical doctor for patients who have received cancer treatment covered by the same plan.

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.

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.