Rich Snail

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Many young people do not have health insurance. I used to not have health insurance. Why would we need one? We are naturally  resilient, healthy, and are much less likely to have a serious medical condition than any other age-class.

Then why did I get insured?

1- In case something happen

I know, it sounds obvious. But working in this field, I realized how essential insurances are. It only is a matter of time before you get something - you never know when you are going to get hit by a bus, catch a virus, or simply rupture your appendix.  And living in Malaysia does not help - just check the statistics for road accidents in 2007 to get an idea of what I mean…

2- Pre-Existing Protection & Chronic Conditions

Insurance companies try to discourage people from waiting until they get sick in order to purchase health insurance. One way in which they do this is to impose pre-existing condition exclusion periods. Such exclusion really becomes a problem when you have a pre-existing chronic conditions - from which you can never recover, they can only be managed. Hearth disease, diabetes, arthritis and asthma are considered chronic.

Since it is more likely that a chronic condition will affect an older person, a young expat would be wise to consider getting a decent insurance before he develop one. If he waits too long - and is unfortunate enough to develop one - it is extremely difficult to obtain cover later as it will be seen as a pre-existing condition.

3- It actually is not that expensive

With $150 per month you can find a pretty decent insurance coverage. It may not give you routine dental, but you will have in-patient, out-patient, and optical. A good deal IMHO !

Following on the creation of a dedicated “Protection” Section, I thought it would be interesting to explore the options we expats have regarding Medical insurances abroad. We basically have three choices. The first one is to bet on your health and not apply for an insurance - cross finger nothing happen. The second one is to go for a local insurance - usually cheaper. The last is to go for an international protection, replicating the kind of protection enjoyed in old Europe - England, France, Sweden etc.

The country you are living in / or to which you are moving to can have a bearing on your decision. Some countries enjoy better healthcare than others. However, I personally recommend expats do chose international cover over a local plan for the following reasons:

• They are international (Duh!), which means that you will not have to only rely on the medical facilities in the country you are living in. Many prefer to know they can go home, or to an alternative country,  for treatment should they become sick.
• They will follow you wherever you go. This ensures you don’t have any waiting period when moving to another country Icing on the cake, you don’t have to deal with potential pre-existing exlusions once you are insured.
• They gives you more freedom selecting where and by whom treatment shall be carried out. International provider usually enjoy much larger network of participating hospital.
• They usually are renewable for life. Whereas local plans will usualy only be renewable until age 65.
• Your level of coverage is much higher with an international policy, typically over 1 Million USD. You also enjoy fewer exclusions.
• International policy renewal premium are community rated. This means that your premium shall remain manageable even if you were severely ill over the past few years and had to go regularly to the hospital. To compare, local plans usually are based on previous years claim.
• International plan were set in place to replicate the same level of protection European used to enjoy back home. This means that they are not as cheap as local plans, but provide more peace of mind regarding the level of coverage in place.

At the end of the day, the choice is yours. There is no universal truth.