An expatriate is risking their health, their savings, their job, and the stability of their life abroad, including the welfare of their family, without international private medical insurance in place.

The crippling cost of private health care

Individual expatriates hoping to fund their own private health care should be warned that an expensive claim has the potential to wipe out all of their personal savings and leave them with substantial debt.

The risk of relying on local health care facilities

Expatriates are in danger of risking their health if they intend to rely on local health care facilities. If local health care facilities are sub-standard, they’ll receive inadequate treatment with no way of evacuating to more appropriate facilities elsewhere.

This could also mean that an expatriate would take longer to recover and/or that they will develop complications. The longer they are away from work, the less likely they are to be able to draw a full salary or even return to their job.

The downfalls of domestic health insurance

Most expats travel frequently and domestic insurance is unlikely to cover them outside their country of residence. They will need to return to their country of residence for treatment which will have cost and time implications.

Domestic policies are limited to the private health facilities that their adopted country offers, with no means of requesting more appropriate treatment elsewhere.

A false economy for groups

A company, providing health insurance cover would represent only a fraction of the company’s total spend on salaries.

Without cover, employers will either have to meet expensive treatment costs themselves, face losing staff for extended periods of sickness or run the risk of employees facing real financial hardship.

A company with 20 employees could provide private health care for each employee for just $2.40 a day2

By ensuring that their workforce receive fast quality treatment to aid successful recovery and get them back to work quickly, companies will retain the high-calibre employees their business needs to thrive and succeed.