Health Insurance For Expats

International health insurance (also known as international private medical insurance) gives you access to private healthcare in Vietnam and around the world.

While most domestic health plans only cover you in one country, global health insurance 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 insurance plans also include emergency medical evacuation cover so you can access urgent treatment even if it’s not available in your location.

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.

In 2020, our average premium for an individual for a single year of cover was US$3,470*. How much you pay depends on your circumstances.

At William Russell, the most important factors when we calculate your insurance premium are your age and where you live (e.g., Vietnam). Premiums tend to increase as you get older, and will be higher in countries or regions where the cost of private healthcare is higher. However, your claims history won’t affect your insurance premium, and we don’t take your credit score into account.

Whilst international health insurance prices vary a lot, they are generally more expensive than local/domestic policies. But, local health insurance only gives you cover in a single country. The major benefit to an international policy is that you have cover in multiple countries as well as cover for emergency medical evacuation.

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 French national or Australian national living in Vietnam).

Typically, our members reside permanently in Vietnam. But we can sometimes provide cover to people expecting to spend at least 6 months of the year living or travelling in Vietnam.

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.

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.