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To get the best coverage plan for your international health or travel insurance, you’ll want to research and compare various insurance companies, consider the needs and market of your country of residence, compare the claims processes, and make sure your top priority benefits are covered.
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Are you an expat or traveler looking to get international insurance while abroad? Are you not sure how to compare insurance plans or where to find the best coverage options?
This Pacific Prime article will introduce you to your number one resource for comparing insurance plans to make this process easier! We’ll also give you 10 tips for comparing health and travel insurance plans and tell you which companies are the top providers.
Contact our insurance experts to get impartial advice from a third-party broker who is dedicated to helping you find the best deal for your insurance, regardless of who you get it from.
What to Know Before Comparing International Insurance
International insurance is different from regular, local insurance, and this is because these plans are designed to cover you as you cross borders internationally. You’ll want to understand the differences between international health insurance and travel insurance before you begin comparing plans.
To give you a snapshot, international health insurance is comprehensive medical coverage for expatriates and travelers who plan to spend over a year living abroad. It can include inpatient, outpatient, mental health, maternity, dental, and vision coverage, to name a few.
Travel insurance, on the other hand, is typically short-term insurance that only covers you for a single trip or for several trips that take place within one year. There are two main types of travel insurance:
- Travel Expenses Protection: This type focuses on financially protecting the cost of your trip with benefits such as trip cancellation, trip interruption, and lost luggage. These plans often include emergency medical coverage, but it is the bare minimum coverage for emergency medical care.
- Travel Medical: A travel medical plan is one that offers comprehensive inpatient and emergency medical coverage and even sometimes outpatient care. These plans may or may not have any travel expenses protection.
Your #1 Resource to Compare 50,000 Insurance Plans
The number one resource for expats and travelers to use when comparing international insurance plans is Pacific Prime’s obligation-free insurance quote generator. This comparison tool grants you access to compare over 50,000 insurance plans side by side!
All you have to do is take the link and plug in your country of coverage, age, length of coverage required, gender, and coverage type needed. After that, you can scan our table to review thousands of plans, their benefits, deductibles, annual limits, and premiums all in one place.
The value of this free resource cannot be overstated. Check it out today!
Tips for Comparing International Health Insurance
Travelers, international citizens, and anyone looking for long-term or short-term global health insurance should carefully analyze many health insurance plans, look for flexible benefit packages, and determine if there are any gaps in coverage before settling on a plan.
Here are four more tips you can use when picking the right expat medical insurance for your time abroad.
1. Look at all the Coverage Levels
It is common for medical coverage providers to have various tiers of coverage with a spread of benefits and costs. You’ll want to carefully look at each of the plans offered to see both how their prices change and, more importantly, how their benefits change.
Make sure you select a plan with the benefits that are of greatest importance to you, and don’t pick a plan that makes you pay for coverage you don’t think you need.
For example, if including maternity insurance is an absolute must for you and you’re looking at AXA’s health plans, you’ll want to note that pregnancy and postpartum care are only covered in the Prestige and Prestige Plus plans.
2. Analyze the Cost and What’s Normal Locally
The cost of health insurance is different in every country of the world. Expatriates will want to become familiar with what to expect to pay in their country of residence so they can figure out what is affordable or not.
It’s also important to note that local health insurance companies may have a different cost market than global health insurance plans that cover you worldwide.
Pacific Prime posts an annual Cost of International Health Insurance Report to help you compare costs.
You’ll also want to play around with how changing benefits included in your plan, deductibles, copays, and coinsurance amounts can affect your premium and total monetary commitment.
3. Consider Your Country of Residence and Local Needs
Every country in the world has its own twist on how they run their healthcare system. Expats, travelers, and digital nomads living overseas will want to research the healthcare system of their country of residence to determine which public and private healthcare options they have.
You’ll also want to consider what health risks and exposures you may face in your country so that you can determine which medical benefits you want to make sure you have coverage for.
4. Determine if the Provider Uses Medical Underwriters
A medical underwriter is typically a third-party professional who assesses your health insurance application to determine how likely it is you will submit coverage claims and how those will affect the insurance company. An underwriter can decide if the insurer should accept your application or not.
Not every international health insurance company uses underwriters, so you will want to learn if medical underwriting is part of the application process and if that will affect your premiums and coverage plan benefits.
We highly recommend you consult a third-party broker, such as Pacific Prime, to get professional advice about medical underwriting. We can walk you through the application process and guarantee you find the best plan for your needs.
Our Top Recommendations for Global Health Insurance
Pacific Prime’s top recommendations for global health insurance are the plans offered by William Russell, GeoBlue, Cigna, Allianz Care, and Bupa Global. For a deeper look, you can read up on our list of the top 10 best international medical providers for expats and travelers.
Below are some key points about each of these top providers.
William Russell
- William Russell provides health, life, and income protection insurance for individuals and businesses all around the world
- They offer worldwide coverage that can be renewed annually as long as you want
- Max Annual Limit: USD $1.5 million to $5 million
- Health Plans: Bronze, SilverLite, Silver, and Gold
GeoBlue
- GeoBlue offers long-term and short-term health insurance options for individuals, families, groups, missionaries, students, faculty, and multinational corporations
- Their health plans are especially flexible for U.S. citizens because they include comprehensive coverage in the U.S. for those who travel back and forth frequently
- Max Annual Limit: USD $1 million to Unlimited
- Health Plans: Xplorer Essential and Xplorer Premier
Cigna
- Cigna offers international health insurance to expats, families, and businesses in more than 200 markets and territories
- Standard benefits in their plans include worldwide coverage, mental health care, and cancer care
- Max Annual Limit: USD $1 million to Unlimited
- Health Plans: Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Close Care
Allianz Care
- Allianz Care provides health, life, critical illness, and disability insurance to individuals, families, and employers
- Allianz has optional plan add-ons for outpatient care, dental, maternity, and repatriation
- Max Annual Limit: USD $2.5 million to $5 million
- Health Plans: Care, Care Plus, and Care Pro
Bupa Global
- Bupa Global offers international medical coverage for individuals, families, groups, and businesses across 190 countries
- Bupa has direct billing options and an extensive network of providers
- Max Annual Limit: About USD $1.5 million to $4.7 million
- Health Plans: Major Medical, Select, Premier, and Elite
Tips for Comparing Travel Insurance
6 tips to use when comparing travel insurance include researching and comparing lots of travel policies, comparing claims processes between providers, considering what the customers are saying, and asking yourself whether or not you need medical coverage and/or extreme sports coverage.
1. Research, Review, and Compare Travel Policies
Carefully research, review, and compare all travel insurance policies you are considering because you don’t want to be surprised when the policy you pick neglects to cover certain situations you need.
2. Compare Claims Processing for Each Provider
Every provider’s claims process is a little bit different. Be sure to compare how each provider receives their claims, how long it takes for them to be reviewed, and whether or not direct billing is an option.
3. Consider Customer Service Reviews
Don’t ignore what the customers are saying. Consider the customer service reviews to hear what real customers think of this plan and/or this provider.
4. Do You Want Medical Coverage or Not?
You need to decide how important medical coverage is to you. Is emergency medical coverage only sufficient for your needs? Or do you want more comprehensive inpatient care coverage that comes from a travel medical plan?
5. Extreme Sports Coverage is Not Always Included
Be sure to note that not all travel insurance plans cover extreme sports. If you plan to participate in a hazardous activity that is not covered by a standard travel plan, make sure to add on an extreme sports rider.
6. Decide What Your Priorities Are and What You Want Covered
Above all, you need to decide what your priorities are for insurance benefits. Which benefits can you not settle without? Which ones would you like but aren’t deal breakers? And which ones do you not need and don’t want to waste money paying for?
Our Top Travel Insurance Recommendations
Pacific Prime’s top travel insurance recommendations include plans offered by MSH International, Allianz Travel, and GeoBlue. All of these providers have a variety of benefits packages to choose from, and they offer affordable rates.
We also encourage you to read our article dedicated to the 5 best travel insurance companies for more detailed descriptions.
MSH International
- MSH International offers short-term travel insurance with benefits for basic healthcare, emergency assistance, lost luggage, and death and disability
- The Start’Expat plan comes with an annual benefit limit of USD $270,900 for medical coverage
- Travel Plans: Single Trip Plans and Multi-Trip Plans
Allianz Travel: 9 Plans
- Allianz Travel is a subsidiary of Allianz Partners, and they specialize in travel insurance worldwide
- Allianz Travel has helped over 40 million travelers protect themselves on their global adventures
- You can choose between single-trip coverage or multi/annual trip coverage
- Travel Plans: OneTrip Prime, OneTrip Basic, OneTrip Premier, OneTrip Emergency Medical, OneTrip Cancellation Plus, AllTrips Basic, AllTrips Premier, AllTrips Executive, AllTrips Prime
GeoBlue: Voyager and Trekker
- GeoBlue specializes in travel medical plans which is travel insurance with an emphasis on comprehensive medical coverage
- GeoBlue has two plan types: the single trip plan covers you up to 182 days and their multi-trip plan covers an unlimited number of trips within 1 year with a max of 70 days per trip
- Benefits include inpatient care, emergency care, surgery, some dental care, office visits, lab work, and more
- Travel Plans: Voyager (single trips) and Trekker (multiple trips)
WorldTrips: Atlas Travel Insurance
- WorldTrips offers a travel insurance plan that covers unexpected medical bills, emergency medical evacuation, and COVID-19-related expenses
- Travel benefits include trip interruption, travel delay, and lost checked luggage
- This plan offers customizable travel medical benefits
- Travel Plan: Atlas Travel Insurance
Trawick: Safe Travels Voyager
- Trawick’s Safe Travels plan is for individuals looking for the highest benefit limits possible to cover a trip’s cost
- This plan offers up to USD $100,000 for trip cancellation and $250,000 per person for primary medical coverage
- Travel Plan: Safe Travels Voyager
Frequently Asked Questions
Which medical insurance is the best for international expats?
Expatriates living internationally will want to consider getting medical insurance from William Russell, Cigna, GeoBlue, Allianz Care, Bupa Global, AXA, IMG, NOW Health International, and April International. These are the best insurance providers because they offer flexible, affordable coverage.
What should you compare between international insurance plans?
You’ll want to compare the annual maximum limits, waiting periods (if any), and inpatient benefits listed on any international health insurance plans you may be considering purchasing. You’ll also want to compare how your premiums shift as you change the deductible and coinsurance rates.
Conclusion
Now that we have given you 10 tips to use when comparing health and travel insurance for international travel, you should be ready to begin comparing plans today.
Don’t forget to check out your #1 resource for comparing insurance–our free, comprehensive insurance quote generator. With it, you can compare over 50,000 plans at once!
We highly recommend you also read our blog posts Best Hospitals in Mexico for Expats and Visitors – Trusted Care and Compare Global Health Insurance Plans – Get the Best Deal.
Serena earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of British Columbia, Canada. As such, she is an avid advocate of mental health and is fascinated by all things psychology (especially if it’s cognitive psychology!).
Her previous work experience includes teaching toddlers to read, writing for a travel/wellness online magazine, and then a business news blog. These combined experiences give her the skills and insights she needs to explain complex ideas in a succinct way. Being the daughter of an immigrant and a traveler herself, she is passionate about educating expats and digital nomads on travel and international health insurance.
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