International health insurance is an annual contract for private treatment in an agreed area, on the terms of that contract. It becomes a bad purchase when the area, the hospitals or the medical history do not match the life you have. The premium is the last column, not the first.
Where it has to work
Country of residence, countries of treatment, travel, and a possible next move are four geographic needs. A regional plan, a worldwide plan, and a plan that covers emergencies only outside a home area are different structures. Ask which countries are excluded. Do not treat a brochure map as the clause.
Benefits, separately
Inpatient care, outpatient care, maternity, mental health and evacuation can each be present, capped or absent. A lower premium may buy a serious hospital benefit and very little day-to-day care. Read sub-limits. Read how a deductible works. No figure is given here because figures belong to a schedule.
You, specifically
Underwriting is how your history becomes terms. Full medical underwriting, a moratorium-style approach, and a group scheme are different mechanisms. Pre-existing conditions need the policy’s definition, not a sales sentence. Employer cover may already exist and may end when the job ends. Dependants need to be named.
Read the promises you will actually use
Before you buy international health insurance, write down who must be covered, in which countries, and whether you need outpatient care or only hospital treatment. Then ask the insurer those questions and compare the answers with the schedule. Area of cover, hospital treatment, outpatient limits, evacuation, and what happens to a condition you already have are the usual hinges. They are described in more detail in the WiT Access guide to comparing expat health insurance. Use that for the comparison. Use this list so you arrive with your own facts.
Ask how underwriting will treat your history: full medical questions now, a moratorium, or some other method they name. Ask what a pre-existing condition means in their contract. Ask whether the premium can change with age, and whether a claim changes the terms. You are not owed a particular outcome. You are entitled to read the one they propose before you cancel another policy.
Check the gaps around the policy, not only the policy
Ask when cover starts, and do not leave a gap between an old policy and a new one. Ask whether a visa you are applying for requires a particular wording, and ask the insurer for that wording if they can provide it. A visa requirement is an immigration matter. The policy either meets the wording or it does not.
Keep the application, because what you disclosed is part of the contract. Keep the schedule and a note of how to contact assistance if you are hospitalised. Tell the people travelling with you where that note is. If an employer also provides cover, get their eligibility rules in writing so you know which policy you are claiming on before you are ill.
Before you act
Take the schedule home and read the exclusions with the same care as the benefits. A limit that looks large can sit beside a sub-limit for the treatment you are most likely to need, and an area of cover can exclude the country you will actually be in for part of the year. Ask for definitions of inpatient, outpatient and evacuation in that contract, and ask whether a pre-existing condition is covered, excluded or postponed. Write the answers in the margin of your own list of who is moving and where. If you cannot explain the policy back in a few sentences, you do not yet have a reason to cancel the cover you already hold. The longer comparison on WiT Access is there to slow that decision down, not to name a winner.
A practical checklist
- Countries of life and of treatment listed.
- Inpatient, outpatient and evacuation read separately.
- Underwriting method identified.
- Hospitals in your city checked.
- Deductible and sub-limits found.
- Existing cover left in force until the new one starts.
Questions to ask
- Which countries are covered, and which are not?
- Which hospitals can I use where I will live?
- How is my medical history treated?
- What is excluded for me?
- What must be authorised first?
- Can this continue if I move again?
Common mistakes
- Comparing premiums first.
- Assuming worldwide means every country.
- Ignoring outpatient caps.
- A network you have not checked locally.
- Cancelling a policy before the new one is effective.
WiT Access provides general information and comparison resources. Nothing on this website constitutes financial, tax, legal or investment advice. Always consider obtaining advice from an appropriately qualified professional.
