Does anyone have any recommendations for good health insurance providers that offer coverage to international clients/expats?
I’m based mostly in Portugal but travel quite a bit and am wondering if I should use a local private health insurance outfit (avg. cost for a comprehensive family plan with some dental coverage thrown in is about ~€170 total per month for myself and my wife) or take out a plan with a non-PT based insurer? I’m not too bothered about the overall cost, I just want a solid plan and no bullshit if I need to make a claim.
Personally I’m using MSH International (based in France) with a relatively high yearly deductible (€750 in my case). I haven’t had any major claims with them yet, but my friends who have said the process was quick and painless.
Since dental increases the premiums a lot, and you’re unlikely to ever be hit with a huge dental bill (more than you would be able to pay for out of pocket), I don’t think that’s worth it. Financially, you’re better off only insuring for outcomes that would have a severe negative impact on your net worth (or even bankrupt you). Rather take what you save in premiums every year and set up your own little “self insurance fund”. Just invest it in an index fund, and whenever you have dental expenses, just sell parts of the fund to cover it.
I read some of your article about travel insurance, but I’m in the situation you mentioned, where I need the said worldwide primary health insurance. Do you have any suggestions on finding a health insurance that will cover be in a specific set of Lain American countries until December? I’m from Denmark but I don’t have a registered address anywhere in the world, and therefore I don’t have right to healthcare in Denmark before I move back.
All the insurance companies I have talked to have an issue with this, unfortunately.
I’m also interested in worldwide primary health insurance for expats. I’ve read @tkrunning’s excellent article, but Safety Wing hasn’t launched their primary health insurance plan yet.
I’ve only been researching expat health insurance for about a week. What I’ve found so far:
There isn’t a cookie cutter recommendation as everyone’s situation is a bit unique. I’ve worked with companies based around the world to find the right solution. As a nomad myself I have used many companies, and then became a professional in this field due to my desire to help people. It is not a simple market segment. Quite complex actually and many people feel they understand what they need from biases blog posts and google results.
If you are spending the majority of a year abroad it is best to have an international health insurance plan, but cost may be prohibitive for some. If you are coming from a country where healthcare is adequately government subsidized then it might not be as much of an issue.
BDAE (German expat plans) can be a good option that is less expensive.
Cigna Global (UK based) is of course well advertised and agressive in their pursuit unless you go through a broker.
Now Health International is another multinational iPMI to consider.
If you are looking for plans that are less expensive but provide a less responsive level of day-to-day customer service, consider PA Group or Wellaway, or possibly IMG (Int’l Medical Group).
One of the main reasons to keep an int’l medical insurance policy vs a travel insurance is that if you have a major illness/accident/diagnosis then you can usually renew the int’l medical insurance policy with that condition covered, a travel insurance policy would exclude that illness/diagnosis/accident the next time you purchase as it would be a pre-existing condition.
It’s important to realize that you need to like your insurance because if something happens you will need to stay with them to keep that condition/diagnosis covered.
I’ve often wished someone had a different plan due to having to stick with the one they originally purchased because of a major diagnosis during their policy period.
Since this topic is quite broad I’ll end now but am open to discuss in detail with anyone.
In the end I went with MSH International (chose the First Expat+ Quartz plan) and have been very happy with it for over a year now.
Excellent service and reasonable price (my monthly premium is roughly 35% cheaper than the closest Safety Wing plan). For extra piece of mind, MSH are underwritten by Groupama Gan Vie - one of the largest insurers in the world.
Thanks, Andrew. It really is complex. And at 67, 68, my wife and I are past the limit of many plans. It looks like we have to take care of ourselves, like my great-great grandparents did, and did very well. ‘On your own’ can mean holistic, folkloric, culturally traditional. Here are links to explore: Alan Hopking, medical herbalist at HerbActive in the UK: https://www.herbactive.co.uk/ John Christopher’s legacy at Herbal Legacy Dr. Christopher's Herbal Legacy and Berkeley Digby in South Africa http://www.beingwhole.co.za/berkeley_digby.php Getting closer to ‘meeting our Maker’, don’t feel shy about adding this link: https://plainfieldcs.com/ and did come across a fellow who had cancer vanish after visiting a shaman in Brazil, but that’s too far out some folks. Hey, if a person is at death’s door, he ought to do anything to stay alive. And let’s not forget The irrepressible Wim Hof, the Iceman : https://www.wimhofmethod.com/ In ending, and considering just what insurance will give you, do look at this site http://whale.to/
We are in our 40s and 50s from the US, so we will definitely need to have health insurance. If we get a GV and are tax Portuguese residents, would we be covered by the national healthcare right away? Of course, we’d need to have at least have supplemental insurance. Is anyone else in this situation and what did you do and what insurance company and supplemental plan did you choose? Do we need international health insurance if we have supplemental insurance? If we are not tax residents, we’d definitely get international health insurance.
Apologies. It was too much. Am learning that, no matter how good information or leads are, things
still need to be somewhat familiar. Even modifying further, to be convenient, tasty, comfortable.
Sorry.
Will check them out (the best looking PT one I’ve found so far seems to be Medis).