“INTERNATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE INSIGHTS”
APRIL – MAY – JUNE, 2010
Published by Good Neighbor Insurance, Inc. (GNI)
Editor: Jeff Gulleson
01. New GNI Blog & Impact of New U.S. Insurance Laws on Travel Insurance
02. An International Short-Term Travel Plan Underwritten by Lloyds of London
03. Is Credit Card Travel Assistance Adequate for International Travel Insurance?
04. Saving Money on Group Health Insurance
05. Short-Term Health Coverage in the USA
06. To Control Claims Get Group Insurance with Companies that ?Pool? Small Groups
07. Travel Insurance for Medicare Recipients
08. Book of the Quarter – “What the Dog Saw”
09. All I Want is a “Medical Evacuation Policy”!
10. English Teaching & Work Opportunities Outside the United States
11. Insurance Products Carried by GNI
12. Who Can Be Covered & Information Needed for an Insurance Quote
13. Insurance Brochures for Individuals and/or Teams
14. Linking to the GNI website
15. When You Can Reach Us in Our Office
1. NEW GNI BLOG & IMPACT OF NEW U.S. INSURANCE LAWS ON
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL INSURANCE
Good Neighbor Insurance has a new blog- www.gntravelinsurance.com –with new updates every week that deal with international health insurance. You will see articles about career insurance, crisis insurance, medical evacuation coverage, overseas health insurance, short-term trips abroad, etc. Recently several posts relate to changes in the U.S. health care system. To keep abreast of what is happening in international travel insurance, check out our blog.
GNI is keeping up with the changes in our U.S. health care system; and over the course of the next months and years, we will be expanding this section with up-to-date information on our blog — www.gntravelinsurance.com. Here are three immediate changes for U.S. health care coverage starting in September 2010: (1) There will be no life-time dollar limits on insurance plans, (2) Children are automatically accepted on individual plans, and (3) all plans will cover preventative care for no additional charge. Presently there are no changes to your international health plans. If and when changes are made, we will inform you. The bulk of the new U.S. insurance laws will only become effective in January 2014.
TWEET-ABLE – Helpful international travel and health insurance blog at www.gntravelinsurance.com. [Tweet this]
2. AN INTERNATIONAL SHORT-TERM TRAVEL PLAN UNDERWRITTEN
BY LLOYDS OF LONDON
Since 9/11, overseas travelers are buying more international insurance than ever before. International health care, terrorism, and emergency medical evacuation coverage has become a necessity, not a luxury.
“Atlas International” is one of GNI’s most popular international short-term travel plans. It is very affordable and Underwritten by Lloyds of London – the oldest & largest insurance market in the world. Lloyds is rated “A” Excellent by AM Best.
The coverage includes 15 FREE Travel Assistance Benefits provided and administered by TravelGuard, a company that helps millions of travelers every year! It is a Guaranteed Issue plan, which means no health questions! You can get quotes for daily rates, and there are no age maximums. The coverage includes up to $15,000 for acute onset of pre-existing conditions! This benefit is only for those 69 or younger. Terrorism coverage is automatically included. The coverage is for U.S. Citizens living or traveling abroad from five days to three years. A Foreign National living in the USA can get one year of coverage. Emergency Medical Evacuation is included in coverage with a Hazardous Sports coverage optional. Deductibles are as low as $0. You can apply for this policy online at https://www.gninsurance.com/travel-A/international_travel_insurance.asp .
3. IS CREDIT CARD TRAVEL ASSISTANCE ADEQUATE FOR
INTERNATIONAL HEALTH AND TRAVEL INSURANCE?
TWEET-ABLE ? Is credit card travel assistance adequate for international travel insurance? [Tweet this]
4. SAVING MONEY ON GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE
Here are a few proven ways to save:
- Every year shop around and get some new quotes. A good agent or broker will be able to get several apples-to-apples quotes for you from various international health insurance companies.
- Require that everyone over 65 relinquish their coverage on the group plan. Help them get on Medicare insurance, get a Medicare Supplement plan and an evacuation plan. Often this will save them money too.
- Look at increasing the deductible on your present insurance or limiting some of the benefits.
- Shop for a policy that rewards your employees for getting the medical care outside the USA.
- Screen new candidates carefully. If you are accepting new employees with high- risk health problems, this will probably show up in your insurance rates in a few years.
- Go back to your present carrier and ask for a rate-increase reduction. In most cases they will give you a couple of points.
- Consider getting individual medical evacuation coverage for your team. Sometimes group medical evacuation is more costly than individual medical evacuation plans.
- If your staff has access to excellent medical care outside the USA, e.g., they work in Europe or near Singapore , you might want to consider a policy that excludes coverage in the USA. When they come to the USA for furlough, they can then take out a short-term plan that will cover their furlough time.
Good Neighbor Insurance can help you sort through all of the options above. Please contact us.
TWEET-ABLE ? Keys to saving money on group health insurance. [Tweet this]
5. SHORT-TERM HEALTH COVERAGE IN THE USA
You may not have international health insurance that covers you in the USA, and so you need coverage when visiting in the USA on a short furlough. Or you may be passing through the USA on the way to another country. Good Neighbor has excellent short-term plans that will cover you in all U.S. states. Or you may be preparing to leave the USA, and need temporary insurance before your departure.
You may have finished your overseas work, and are coming back to the USA for good. You don?t yet have a job that provides insurance so you need temporary coverage. We can do that too. We have a very cost-effective plan offered by an ?A+ Superior? Rated Carrier with 9 billion dollars in assets. There is no ?decline question? on the application. With this plan you will pay only $50 at an Urgent Care Facility. No Social Security number is required. Any legal resident of the USA can take out this policy. The plan is available in all states except the following: CT, MD, MA, MN, MT, NJ, NY, VT & WA.
6. TO CONTROL CLAIMS GET GROUP INSURANCE WITH COMPANIES THAT ?POOL? SMALL GROUPS
There are two ways international health insurance companies handle claims for small groups (a small group is generally defined as from 2 to not more than 50 employees). Some companies ?pool? their small groups. When this is done, claims that come in on one of the groups are spread over the whole ?pool? of groups. Thus a non-profit of three workers would be in a pool with 40 other non-profits; therefore, their claims would be spread over the 40 non-profits. The total employees in the pool might be 300 or 400. Obviously, a pool of groups like this helps keep rate increases reasonable if there is a major claim.
If the insurance company you are working with does not pool small groups, then that group will generally receive enormous rate increases if claims happen to be high on a given year. For example, if your non-profit consists of ten overseas workers, and you have claims for one year of $100,000, the rate increase due to large claims will be borne by your non-profit alone– that is by the ten overseas workers. We have seen premiums rated up by 45 percent on small groups like this. If that same non-profit was in a “pool” of non-profits, the rate increase might end up being 15 percent or 20 percent.
So, when buying group insurance, always ask if your non-profit will be in a pool with other small non-profits. We can help you sort out which international insurance companies have the best “pooling” system for small non-profits.
TWEET-ABLE – A key to controlling NGO group health insurance claims. [Tweet this]
7. TRAVEL INSURANCE FOR MEDICARE RECIPIENTS
The main point to remember: Medicare will not cover you when you are outside the USA. Also, most Medicare Supplement plans will not cover you outside the USA.
When purchasing travel insurance, make sure it includes Medical Evacuation. Some international travel insurance plans also provide full coverage for pre-existing conditions. Others that don’t provide such coverage often have limited coverage for “acute onset of pre-existing conditions.”
We generally suggest an international travel plan that provides at least $50,000 of medical coverage if you are hospitalized outside the USA. These plans include medical evacuation, but insurance companies will not medically evacuate you back to the USA until your medical condition is stable. Often that could mean several days or weeks in the hospital.
What is the cost? $50 to $60 for two weeks of medical coverage.
8. BOOK OF THE QUARTER: “WHAT THE DOG SAW”
BY MALCOLM GLADWELL
If you have been reading this section, you know by now that I am a fan of Malcolm Gladwell. I found his books Blink, Tipping Point, and Outliers all interesting reads. What the Dog Saw is not quite as interesting as the others, but still a lot of fun. All the essays contained here were previously carried in The New Yorker magazine where Mr. Gladwell is a staff writer. Since most of us never read The New Yorker, it is great to have access to these essays. Some that I found very interesting: Mustard Now Comes in a Dozen Varieties. Why Has Ketchup Stayed the Same? Enron, Intelligence, and the Perils of Too Much Information; Why Some People Choke and Others Panic; Why Do We Equate Genius with Precocity? How Do We Hire When We Can’t Tell Who’s Right for the Job? Are Smart People Overrated? What the Dog Saw. There are 22 essays in all, and all are full of surprises. I think one reason I like Gladwell is that he teaches me not to come to quick conclusions. Sometimes the truth about a situation is not as obvious as you might think, or maybe sometimes the truth is easily overlooked!
9. ALL I WANT IS A ?MEDICAL EVACUATION POLICY?
Rarely does a U.S. insurance policy include international medical evacuation coverage. Medicare never covers medical evacuation. What would it cost to medical evacuate a person from Central America? $25,000! From Africa or Asia? Up to $100,000! We have stories of people emptying bank accounts and maxing out credit cards to medically evacuate a friend or family member back to the USA.
Good Neighbor Insurance offers several very good Medical Evacuation plans at https://www.gninsurance.com/evacuation.asp. These plans generally include some AD&D coverage, Repatriation of Mortal Remains, Political Evacuation, Optional Medical Protection and Lost Luggage coverage.
TWEET-ABLE – Do you just want a medical evacuation policy? [Tweet this]
10. ENGLISH TEACHING & WORK OPPORTUNITIES OUTSIDE THE USA
We are in touch with many institutions outside the USA that are looking for English-speaking teachers. Most of these positions provide some reimbursement beside lodging and meals. If you would like further information please contact info@gninsurance.com.
Also, we have a NGO working in Afghanistan that is looking for a City Planner and also an Organizational Management Advisor.
11. INSURANCE PLANS CARRIED BY GNI
- Long-term health insurance for individuals working outside their home countries
- Career/long-term plans for single women
- Short-term plans from five days to three years for individuals
- Group health for international agencies
- Short-term team insurance
- Term life insurance
- Trip cancellation insurance
- Flight insurance
- Immigrant health insurance and insurance for students and visitors to the USA
- Political and/or medical evacuation insurance
- USA short-term health insurance including furlough insurance
- War and terrorism insurance
- Disability insurance
- Individual and group insurance for most states in the USA
- Kidnap and ransom insurance
To access all of the options, please go to our corporate web site: www.gninsurance.com.
12. WHO CAN BE COVERED & INFO FOR AN INSURANCE QUOTE
The following can be covered: Long-term and short-term workers, furloughing Americans in the USA, Americans returning permanently to the USA after an overseas assignment, foreign nationals working or studying in the USA, non-Americans working cross-culturally in another country other than the USA (e.g., Japanese working in Zaire, Indonesians studying in Australia), career overseas workers, and non-Americans who wish to purchase ?private health insurance? instead of using their government-run health care system.
If you want a quote on insurance, give us the age of each person to be insured, country of residence, citizenship, where you plan to go, and how long you plan to be there. State plainly all your outstanding chronic medical conditions.
We will also need your E-MAIL, TELEPHONE, and FAX numbers, as well as your postal addresses. If you want coverage while on furlough in the USA, give the state and zip code of your USA billing address and the type of work you do. If you are presently in the USA or plan to furlough shortly, PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR USA TELEPHONE NUMBER.
NOTE: We can also provide health insurance for Americans living in most of the 50 states in the United States.
13. INSURANCE BROCHURES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND/OR TEAMS
Are you organizing a short-term team for overseas travel? If you would like brochures on insurance for each team member, let us know how many you need. We can also provide ?group? insurance for your short-term team so that they will not need to apply individually.
Please feel free to photocopy any brochures you receive from Good Neighbor Insurance. It is good to remember that insurance companies are always producing new materials and applications. If your brochures are two years old, they are probably outdated. Please contact us for a new supply. If you want an electronic (e-mail) brochure and application, please let us know.
We mail hundreds of organizations updated brochures every year. Sometimes we mail quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. If you are getting more brochures than you need, or if you no longer need brochures, would you please let us know? We don’t want to be wasteful and/or waste your time with unneeded mail. Thanks!
14. LINKING TO THE GNI WEBSITE
Some organizations like to provide international insurance information for those traveling or living outside the USA. Here is information about Good Neighbor Insurance that you may want to make available on your web site. You are welcome to edit and/or shorten the suggested content.
LINK = www.gninsurance.com Content = GLOBAL HEALTH INSURANCE –Individual, group, career, short-term international health plans. Coverage for: Short-term teams, furloughing missionaries, missionaries settling back into the USA, medical and political evacuation, terrorism coverage, non-Americans studying, visiting or working in the USA. Also term life plans. Visit www.gninsurance.com. E-mail: info@gninsurance.com; toll free: 866-636/9100; Fax: 480/813-9930.
Please note the www.gninsurance.com web site has a whole section of medical tips for the international traveler, a fine glossary of insurance terms and a large library of articles that will help you understand international health insurance. And since GNI represents nine international health insurance companies, we offer a wide variety of insurance plans for the international travelers.
15. WHEN YOU CAN REACH US IN OUR OFFICE
Our office is located in Gilbert, Arizona, in what is called the “East Valley”– about 30 minutes east of downtown Phoenix. As to time, Arizona is on PST in the summer and MST in the winter. Thus, in the summer when the rest of the USA is on “Daylight Saving Time,” Arizona follows PST. We are in the office Monday through Friday by 7:00 a. m., and on most days an agent is available to talk to you until 6:00 p.m. If you miss us, please leave us a voice message or send us an e-mail. We prioritize responding to both–ASAP!!
Insurance Policy Information: International Travel Insurance with International Health Insurance
Epic snowstorms cancel flights: