Why I recommend Health Insurance Overlap

Should you be working for a company, you most certainly enjoy the benefits of a company-provided health care coverage. It is one of the most common benefits companies provide, and an excellent employee retention program.

Some of these policies are very comprehensive, others are simply bare medical cover for the basic 36 illnesses. Depending on your industry and your company, you will enjoy different standards here. A rule of thumb is that if you were sent here by your company, you have high chances of enjoying a comprehensive coverage, while if you work on a local contract you are certainly on a simple basic cover.

If you are on a local contract, I don’t really need to sell you on the benefits of having your own insurance. Your reading this blog is proof enough of your having your eyes open to your needs.

If you are on an expatriate contract, depending on your company’s policy, you may want to consider the following. Most of these policies are group negotiated and some providers do not offer individuals or family options. Hence, once you move on from your job – to take up a better offer, take a one year sabbatical break, or early retirement – you may not have the option to continue with your current provider, and need to switch to another one.

This should not be a problem, as long as you and your family are healthy. But let’s imagine one second that you or your wife had a blood-related problem in the past few years, or your child develop diabetes due to a lack of exercise – get him a Wii ! – then the new policy will certainly consider them as pre-existing conditions and may exclude them from their policy.

The surest way to know you are protected according to your expectations, and ensure this protetions can follow you wherever you are is to get an international insurance for yourself and your loved ones. This means your personal insurer will overlap with your corporate one.

Having more than one insurance is 100% legal and is actually quite common, especially when both spouse work. Your personal insurance ensures continuity of cover should you move to another country / company down the road. Which you do on a regular basis when you are living the expatriate life, isn’t it?

If you don’t already have your personal international insurance, I invite you to give me a buzz, or check here to get some ideas of the type of cover and prices you may expect from an international provider.