Advantages of International Medical Coverage For Groups

1. A person on individual international health insurance returning to the USA can be declined by companies offering USA individual health insurance. This would almost always be the case if a person was a diabetic, had developed a cancer problem, etc. However, if they were on group insurance when returning to the USA, they could automatically switch to a HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) federally-mandated plan. They could be covered on that plan for the rest of their lives. Even though the HIPAA plans are expensive, at least a person is insurable and can have insurance.
2. Group insurance, at times, can be a bit less expensive than individual plans. This is especially true for older workers in the group if the group is predominately younger.
3. No one can be declined coverage in the group. Workers applying for individual international health insurance may be declined due to health reasons from time to time. With group insurance, all new employees will have guaranteed coverage if the group meets the initial enrollment requirements of the insuring company.
4. Individual insurance may put “waivers” or “riders” on various conditions, e.g., migraine headaches. Group insurance will not do that. A person on group health insurance has comprehensive coverage.
5. Group insurance contributes to the sense of unity in the field team. It is another thing that the team has in common, and it helps develop a sense of serving and working together. In many instances when a group opts for international group health insurance, it is the healthy on the field team helping those not so healthy.
6. If healthy individuals on a career team choose against group health insurance, they may also be making it impossible for other members of the team to have health insurance coverage. For example, a diabetic could not get individual international medical insurance, but he can easily be covered on group plans.
7. The foundation/business does not have to worry about someone not having insurance. If all have individual insurance, a person might drop or forget to renew their insurance. With group insurance all are covered all of the time.
8. New workers understand before they apply to the foundation that they will have to raise enough support that will cover their monthly insurance premium. They will understand this to be a requirement of membership. Often, if individual insurance is required, workers will let it drop if they have financial struggles.
9. Overall, group insurance is a good sign of member care, and helps the home-base supporters see how the foundation functions in caring for its overseas staff.

NOTE: It is important to remember that all companies require an 80 percent participation of the field staff in any group insurance policy. Therefore, if you have four families, two couples, and four single workers, you will need at least eight of them in your group policy, i.e., three families, one couple, and the four single workers. Also, it needs to be remembered that group insurance is not always less expensive than individual overseas health insurance.