“Mindboggling” and “Confusing” are the most common comments of snowbirds, expats and world travelers when confronted with the necessity of choosing health insurance that will protect them outside of their home country.
Here are four simple steps that will make the process much easier for you:
1. Confront the worst things that could happen.
This is the hardest step. Get through it and you’re home free!
We snowbirds, expats and world travelers don’t let anything keep us from enjoying life as an adventure. But thinking about something really bad happening to us is off-putting – which is why too many of us put off planning for major medical incidents until it is too late!
Bad news: You don’t have a cape and you are not invulnerable. Car crashes, cancer and cardiac incidents are realities. So are broken bones. Some major medical incidents change your life forever. Even a broken bone is much more than a temporary inconvenience.
Protecting yourself against the costs of a major medical incident is the reason to purchase international health insurance!
2. Have a “Plan B”
Sometimes the very best of plans don’t work out the way we hoped they would. You need a backup plan and for many snowbirds, expats and world travelers the best backup plan is a medical evacuation “medevac” policy.
Most international medical insurance plans include a medevac benefit and most of them limit the amount they pay for an air ambulance or only provide the service if your condition threatens the loss of your life or a limb. Bottom line: The health insurance company chooses whether or not your condition warrants a medevac.
For about a buck a day per person, with a medevac policy, when you are hospitalized away from home and you would prefer to be transported to a hospital back home – where the doctors and the nurses speak your language, the medical technology is up to date, your friends and family can support you through your recovery AND your domestic health insurance can pick up the tab – you choose where and when you go!
3. Understand “Insurance Lingo”
Insurance policies are chock full of confusing terminology. Here’s a short list of the key concepts you’ll confront while choosing a policy that fits you best:
Understanding the risks you face and insurance lingo is not enough. You’ll need the help of an experienced professional… Like me!
I didn’t plan on insurance as a career, but after going through the process for myself I learned more about international health insurance than I wanted. So, the only way I could justify the experience was to share it with other snowbirds, expats and world travelers.
For help choosing the best international health insurance for your unique situation, (and your “Plan B”), contact us today.
Mike Altman
PV-Health.com
MikeAltman@PV-Health.com
www.PV-Health.com
Health Insurance for Mexico and the World!
Corona Del Mar, California, USA 92625
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico 48399
USA: (949) 720-1664
Mexico Toll Free 01-800-681-6742
Here are four simple steps that will make the process much easier for you:
1. Confront the worst things that could happen.
This is the hardest step. Get through it and you’re home free!
We snowbirds, expats and world travelers don’t let anything keep us from enjoying life as an adventure. But thinking about something really bad happening to us is off-putting – which is why too many of us put off planning for major medical incidents until it is too late!
Bad news: You don’t have a cape and you are not invulnerable. Car crashes, cancer and cardiac incidents are realities. So are broken bones. Some major medical incidents change your life forever. Even a broken bone is much more than a temporary inconvenience.
Protecting yourself against the costs of a major medical incident is the reason to purchase international health insurance!
2. Have a “Plan B”
Sometimes the very best of plans don’t work out the way we hoped they would. You need a backup plan and for many snowbirds, expats and world travelers the best backup plan is a medical evacuation “medevac” policy.
Most international medical insurance plans include a medevac benefit and most of them limit the amount they pay for an air ambulance or only provide the service if your condition threatens the loss of your life or a limb. Bottom line: The health insurance company chooses whether or not your condition warrants a medevac.
For about a buck a day per person, with a medevac policy, when you are hospitalized away from home and you would prefer to be transported to a hospital back home – where the doctors and the nurses speak your language, the medical technology is up to date, your friends and family can support you through your recovery AND your domestic health insurance can pick up the tab – you choose where and when you go!
3. Understand “Insurance Lingo”
Insurance policies are chock full of confusing terminology. Here’s a short list of the key concepts you’ll confront while choosing a policy that fits you best:
- Premium: What you’ll pay for the policy.
- Deductible: What you’ll pay out-of-pocket before the policy pays anything.
- Co-insurance: What you’ll pay in addition to your deductible each time you visit a doctor or have a covered medical expense.
- Benefits: What the policy covers and how much it pays.
- Exclusion: What the policy does not cover.
- Pre-existing conditions: Health issues you had before applying for insurance are not the huge issue you might think. No matter what they are, pre-existing conditions won’t keep you from being insured!
- Waiting Period: How long you have to wait before certain conditions are covered.
- Underwriting: A review of your medical history the insurance company goes through before you are covered.
- Claim: The paperwork you submit to get paid for covered medical expenses.
- Pre-certification: The approval process before undergoing certain medical processes like hospitalization, surgery, MRI/CAT, etc.
Understanding the risks you face and insurance lingo is not enough. You’ll need the help of an experienced professional… Like me!
I didn’t plan on insurance as a career, but after going through the process for myself I learned more about international health insurance than I wanted. So, the only way I could justify the experience was to share it with other snowbirds, expats and world travelers.
For help choosing the best international health insurance for your unique situation, (and your “Plan B”), contact us today.
Mike Altman
PV-Health.com
MikeAltman@PV-Health.com
www.PV-Health.com
Health Insurance for Mexico and the World!
Corona Del Mar, California, USA 92625
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico 48399
USA: (949) 720-1664
Mexico Toll Free 01-800-681-6742
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