Expatland by John Marcarian

Author:John Marcarian [Marcarian, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Expatriate, Business, Finance
ISBN: 9780994269157
Publisher: Longueville Media
Published: 2015-04-15T16:00:00+00:00

If you are not comfortable reading legal documentation, then have your solicitor review the policy wording, exclusions and areas of uncertainty.

Given the multitude of other issues you will have to deal with, implementing insurance is sometimes done in haste. However, a trap for the unwary is to incorrectly complete the application form. An insurance company can deny a claim on the basis of an incorrectly completed application form, so this is an area you need to pay particular attention to.

The cost of private healthcare is important, but given the actuarial basis for calculation of insurance premiums there is usually a good reason why a policy is cheaper. It is more likely so because of the exclusions in the policy, reducing the likelihood that a claim will be paid out. For example, contracting dengue fever while trekking in the highlands for Borneo may be excluded!

It is better to know about the exclusions before you undertake vetoed activities for travel to excluded coverage areas.

Other traps to watch for are ‘capped cover policies’ or policies requiring a high ‘excess’ before the policy claim can be paid out. What may seem like a generous cap in one location may soon be exceeded in another.

Premiums should be the ‘last’ thing looked at when comparing policies.

Key Definitions in Medical Plans

Generally speaking, when implementing medical insurance you need to decide if your application will be a full underwriting or moratorium application.

A full underwriting plan process will usually require input from medical practitioners who have attended to you in the past. Letters and other documents confirming your medical history are generally required. This is so that specific conditions may be covered or indeed that certain conditions (such as HIV) are covered at all.

In a full underwriting application all that you will be required to do is to complete medical history questions. Once the potential insurer understands your medical history they may, depending upon your state of health, exclude certain conditions from cover.

Unlike a full underwriting plan, a moratorium plan generally provides that pre-existing conditions, which have resulted in treatment within a defined time frame, are excluded from cover.

In these policies, if no further treatment is required again within a given time frame, then some insurers will add this condition to your policy cover.

In Appendix C, ‘Key Questions for Health Insurance Providers & Websites’, we set out for your review some key questions to ask your proposed insurance provider, as well as some helpful websites to assist in your research.

Medical Plan Structures

While many international plans have different titles to do with branding and marketing, the reality is that global insurance plans usually have three key components. These are:

Inpatient or daycare treatment

Outpatient treatment

Additional add-on options.

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