International Medical Insurance

Travel can be a wonderful experience, provided you aren’t unfortunate enough to become ill or suffer an accident that is. If you travel outside your own country, and do not have adequate visitor’s medical insurance, it could turn out to be one of the biggest mistakes in your life. Not only could it end up costing as much as a condo, it may even put your health and wellbeing into serious jeopardy. Today, visitors insurance has never been so easy to find, or affordable. So why take the risk?

What‘s covered?

Policies can cover a range of types of treatment. Primarily, your concern should be whether consultations, urgent care or emergency treatment is included. Consultations refer to visiting a medical practitioner, usually, at a medical centre. Urgent care involves more serious conditions, like a fever, a bad cut or even a fracture.

Anything which needs medical attention quickly.  Emergency treatment means any medical condition considered life threatening or any illness which could cause permanent physical damage, if treatment was delayed. As would be the case with a heart attack, stroke or any serious accident.

Pre-Existing Conditions

Most insurance companies will not cover any medical expenses incurred, for any pre-existing medical conditions. This means, any illness or condition you are currently receiving medical treatment at home for. This would include pregnancy, angina, high blood pressure, even AIDS. It is important to be honest with the insurance company before taking out any policy.

If you don’t tell them about a condition, they will find out, in the event of any claim being made. You will only be getting yourself into hot water, and, you never know, your particular type of illness may not be excluded. Every insurance company will have different exclusions in place.  When it comes to providing them with the necessary information, honesty is definitely the best policy. Often, it’s simply a matter of shopping around.

Who’s Covered?

A medical examination is not normally required by most insurance companies. Just about anyone can get some kind of personal visitor’s medical insurance. It is also possible to take out a policy for more than one person and some companies do offer ‘family policies’. A perfect solution for couples with young children.

Usually only one passport number will be required. Don’t worry that other members might not be covered, simply because the company only has one passport number. This is normal procedure for many companies. Usually, the only form of identification needed is a passport, although companies can vary.

Checking Your Policy

If you have made a mistake, the company does not have the correct details stated within the policy or you do not have the correct cover, you must contact them immediately. They can arrange for the necessary changes to be made.  If you choose to buy insurance online, a confirmation email is usually sent straight away. This will include all the important details.

Check it carefully, if there are any mistakes, now’s the time to let the company know. If everything is in order, keep a copy safe, and a hardcopy is always a good backup to have. Your visitor’s medical insurance card should be in the mail soon afterwards.  This will also have important details on it and should be kept in a safe place on your travels. It could turn out to be as essential as your passport.



By: Sam Loyal

Personal medical insurance policies that cover maternity expenses including your Obstetrician and the hospital charges for new baby ward tend to be much more pricey than similar policies that don’t provide coverage for pregnancy-associated expenses. Many of my policy holders pay as much as five hundred dollars more each month to have maternity coverage.

Maternity Insurance: When should you add or drop coverage?

Ideally, you should be able to buy medical insurance policy that covers the cost of childbirth just before you get pregnant and drop it right after your final visit with your post partum visit. However the issue of pre existing conditions and unplanned pregnancy can make your choice of when to change to another healthcare insurance policy more difficult.

Pre-existing Conditions and Maternity Plans

Maternity insurance cannot necessarily be added or dropped at any time. If you’re want to save money by eliminating your maternity insurance rider and getting a healthcare insurance coverage that does not include coverage for the cost of pregnancy, you may have a tough time if you have a pre-existing condition. This is also true when you want to move to a healthcare that covers maternity. Bear in mind that pregnancy is a pre-existing condition. Because of this, if you are preganant at the time you apply or on the effective date of your policy, your application will be denied by most private health insurance companies.

A Buying Strategy for Pregnancy Insurance

We have found that many families do better when they purchase when they purchase separate policies. Often the plans that cover pregnancy will have other coverage that they will find unnecessary. Often the wife should get separate health insurance plan than her husband and the rest of the family.

This works well for many of my clients. However, larger families will almost always save by purchasing a single healthcare policy. There are other factors that can make a difference. A good personal health insurance broker should be able to help you decide which option is best for you.

Timing the purchase of maternity coverage is only one issue you should consider when purchasing medical insurance. You will want to make sure that your doctor is part of the network. You will want to make sure that your local hospital is as well. The same is true for pharmacies. Another key issue is the percentage of premium dollars that are spent to pay for claims. A good company will pay about 80 per cent of incoming premium dollars out to doctors and hospitals and other providers. Any plan that pays under 70 percent, unless that is inline with the other carriers in your state, is a bad insurance plan.

Should you get Pregnancy Insurance Now?

Not knowing when or if you might have a pregnancy that is unplanned and when or if you will develop a pre-existing condition that makes it difficult to buy an underwritten healthcare insurance policy makes that a difficult question. Hopefully that the the article you are reading makes it easier to make a more fully informed decision. But without the ability to know the future, making the decision with absolute certainty is not possible.



By: Alston Ballkcom