Family Health Insurance - Overseas Health Insurance
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Why do my family and I need Overseas Health Insurance Coverage?
I'm sure it will never happen to me or my family and if anything does happen I will worry about it then. Anyway, there are always the Government hospitals, right?
This is what we hear frequently when we talk to people about their family health insurance needs while they’re living abroad. Most prefer not to think about unexpected catastrophes or illness; they are seen as something that happens only to others. But what if something does happen, who will pay the medical bills? Well, you can always go to your local GP or to the Government hospitals but if you need to visit the doctors frequently or for more serious complaints the bills start to add up. How much will it all end up costing? Do you really want to spend several days or maybe even weeks in a Government hospital in a crowded public ward where most of the staff will not be able to speak English very well? Do you want your children to go through the same thing? Overseas health insurance can provide you with an alternative.
Public hospitals can be very cheap and very good; there is no doubt about that. The quality of medical and surgical care is often excellent but the other services offered may not be up to the standard that you expect, especially in foreign countries. They have large public wards; long waiting lists for non-emergency treatment; possibly few English speaking nurses or care staff and then you will have to put up with the food. If you want to have a private room (or semi-private), want to choose your own doctor or surgeon or do not want to wait what may be several months for a routine operation then you must go private - and that will be expensive unless you receive overseas health insurance. If you are living in or traveling to other countries the quality of medical care and hospitals may not be anywhere near as good and your travel insurance may not be adequate.
If you are planning on having children you need to decide on whether you will go private or semi-private for the delivery. Private rooms in the top hospitals can be very expensive. At the other end of the scale there are public hospitals that are justly famous for their maternity facilities. Whilst you can easily go all the way through the public system for the pre-natal tests and checkups for almost next to nothing, most mothers-to-be opt to go semi-private for the actual birth and then suddenly the costs can start adding up, especially if there are any complications. Family health insurance can help to cover the costs of expensive childbirth.
Because of the uncertainty associated with illness and hospital stays, it is impossible to predict what your final medical bills may cost. If you are healthy then in any one year the costs may be low or nothing but if you do become ill, your bills could be very high indeed. If you do not have suitable international health insurance care coverage then you will have no choice but to make do with what you can afford. If you have comprehensive overseas health insurance, most or all of your costs will be covered for you. You can choose where you want to be treated, choose your own doctor or surgeon and have full control of when you will receive treatment.
You may be covered by your company and do not give much thought to doctors or hospital bills, after all the company will take care of everything, right? But you should ask a few questions of your HR manager regarding your existing plan:
How much does your company plan cover you for? Many plans have limits on treatment or low annual plan limits.
Does it offer full cover for hospitalization or just daily cash back payments? Cash back options rarely cover the costs of private treatment.
Adequate Family Health Insurance Cover?
Does it cover all of your family? Often cover does not extend to the whole family or may just cover the spouse and not the children.
If it does cover your family, is the cover the same as what is provided to you or are the benefits offered at a lower level?
Does it cover you only in locally or worldwide? Most company plans will only cover local medical care.
Is maternity cover included? Usually this is not covered in company plans.
Contact our advisors for help with answering these family health insurance questions and any more overseas health insurance questions you may have. We can also furnish you with overseas health insurance quotes that provide maternity cover.
