Does Your Health Insurance Travel With You?

Are you a global citizen, an international traveller or an expatriate?  Do you like to travel, see more of the world, explore different horizons or examine different time zones?  If so, does your health insurance policy travel with you?

Many people assume that one health insurance provider’s policies are much like another’s, that all policies are basically the same, and that once they have done their cost based research and found insurance that will pay out in the event of a broken leg, a broken tooth or even a major illness, they can just sit back and forget about the intricacies of their policy schedule and meet the annual renewal costs…

However, such an assumption can be particularly costly to those who like to travel and explore, visit new nations or even participate in new experiences abroad – from snowboarding to paragliding, from jet skiing to rock climbing.  You see, most health insurance companies do not specialise in providing cover to those of us who like to make the very most of our lives.

For those of us who move abroad permanently or on an extended contract or sabbatical, it can be a real shock to discover that the plan we’ve been paying into for all these years does not want to travel overseas with us.  It is at this point that many people really learn how inflexible most health insurance policies are. 

Fortunately, such an awakening can be a good thing…it means that going forward the affected individual will be far more likely to look much more closely at any insurance policy’s terms and conditions before signing on the dotted line.

If you travel extensively for work or pleasure, if you live overseas, if you want to try new life experiences or even explore more of the nation you’re living in, you need to ensure that your back is covered.  Your basic health insurance plan may literally stop being effective the minute you step across a country’s border, or push the limiting boundaries of your insurance policy’s schedule.

For example – if you’re living overseas in France in mainland Europe, your basic plan may not ensure that your health is protected if you decide to explore countries such as Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain or Luxembourg which back up and border your new nation of residence.

Alternatively, if you’re working in the UK and you want to travel back to the States to visit your family, your healthcare cover may end the second you step on the plane.  Then again, imagine you’re travelling through Asia and you believe your insurance policy will protect you in each of the countries you visit, and you decide to take the inimitable opportunity available to you to learn to dive in Thailand – are you still covered?

If you’re an adaptable, audacious, outgoing person who likes to travel, explore and enjoy new experiences, you need to make sure that your health insurance policy is as flexible as you are adventurous, and that it will cover you no matter where you are in the world, and no matter what you’re doing.

At HTH Worldwide, insurance programs are tailored to suit the individual and they range from annual plans for global living to short-term travel medical insurance to trip cancellation coverage for example.  In other words, HTH offers flexible plan designs so that individuals and families get the coverage they need with the freedom to choose qualified doctors, hospitals and health services anywhere in the world.

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