Posted by Roxanna McDade on Mon, Mar 22, 2010 @ 12:05 PM
In light of recent airline financial problems and concerns about the dangers of traveling to Mexico and abroad, International Insurance Group, Inc. at internationalhealthins.iigins.com has prepared a list of Health and Travel insurance options available to international travelers.
Flagstaff, AZ (PRWEB) March 22, 2010 -- Foreign travel can be an exciting adventure, but it can also bring many unpredictable situations, especially if one should need medical attention. International Travel Health Insurance is available for Mexico and other international travel and will ease the stress of an unfamiliar culture or medical systems.
Click here to read press release on Health and Travel Insurance options for International Travel on PRWeb.com.
Posted by Roxanna McDade on Mon, Feb 08, 2010 @ 09:00 AM
By: Roxanna McDade
Travel to Mexico can be an exciting adventure, but it can also bring many unpredictable situations, especially if you should need medical attention. International Travel Health Insurance is available for your Mexico trip and will ease the stress of an unfamiliar culture or medical systems.
Whether you need individual coverage for a vacation, assignment, or group coverage for employees, there is a Mexico health insurance product that will meet your needs.
Health insurance products for travel to Mexico are designed for both US and non-US citizens, including any student traveling or living abroad.
Note: These products not only provide medical insurance coverage in the US, Canada and Mexico, but worldwide. Short-Term, or Patriot, policies are only valid for other countries, not the traveler’s home country. Long-Term, Global, policies have an option to select worldwide coverage, including the insured's home country.
Short-Term International Health Insurance Products
Short Term Mexico Travel Insurance plans cover US citizens and foreign nationals needing temporary medical insurance while traveling for business or pleasure, anywhere outside their home country. These policies can be purchased for a minimum of five days and a maximum of 12 months. Policies can be renewed for up to two years after a minimum three-month policy period.
Short-term travel insurance is available for:
With short-term medical insurance plans you can also purchase an optional Extreme Sports Rider that provides coverage for mishaps that occur as a result athletic endeavors and foreign adventures. Short-term policies automatically includes Terrorism coverage.
Long-Term International Major Medical Plans
Long-term International travel medical insurance plans offer coverage while traveling in Mexico and other foreign countries. For an additional fee, you can opt to purchase coverage in your home country as well, if traveling back and forth. A wide variety of international clientele are covered under these policies, including expatriates, international executives, diplomats, students, entertainers and other international travelers. These policies provide long-term, worldwide medical coverage for individuals and their families.
With long-term medical insurance plans you can also purchase optional riders. The Extreme Sports Rider provides coverage for athletes and those partaking in foreign adventures. Injuries and illness incurred as a result of an act of Terrorism are covered under the Terrorism Rider.
Trip Cancellation / Medical Evacuation Insurance
International insurance policies are available in Mexico that will cover you in the event of a catastrophic medical emergency. These policies include trip cancellation/interruption travel assistance. Mexico insurance policies are also available which cover emergency medical evacuation to a qualified medical facility in Mexico. These policies also provide travel and accommodations resulting from the evacuation, and travel to the country of residence.
Group Travel Mexico Medical Insurance Plans
Group Medical Insurance Plans are for groups of five or more persons traveling together to Mexico, as long as Mexico is not their home country. Group plans are available to students or cultural exchange participants, including schools. Travel insurance for Mexico is also available to missionaries and church groups of five or more who are traveling to Mexico, as long as they are not citizens of Mexico. Employers can purchase the Global Employer Option to ensure medical insurance coverage for staff working in Mexico.
Missionary Programs
Various medical insurance for Mexico options are available to Missionaries traveling abroad. Coverage can be purchased for a minimum of 10 days to long-term, renewable policies.
Tailor your Premium to Match your Travel Budget
Premiums can be tailored to match your travel budget. Customers can select from a wide range of deductibles and maximum benefit levels in order to create a medical insurance package that fits their needs and is affordable.
If you have further questions about International Health Insurance, contact the International Insurance Professionals at http://internationalhealthins.iigins.com.
Posted by Roxanna McDade on Thu, Feb 04, 2010 @ 09:00 AM
by Tom Hamrick
It is advisable to have international health insurance while traveling or living as an expatriate in Mexico. Having an international health plan gives a person, family or group a variety of choices when it comes to health care. For example, a person covered by such a plan can choose a private hospital or any approved physician for their care.
If a person is living between countries, an international insurance plan may cover them in both countries and even worldwide, for a choice of policy limits that range from $50,000 USD to as much as $8,000,000 USD.
However, not having appropriate international health coverage might expose one or one's family to a significant financial liability and impede appropriate care.
Some things to consider:
- Many traditional domestic insurance plans won't cover a person outside his or her home country.
- Usually Mexico auto insurance plans are limited to $2,000 USD per person, or less.
- Medicare doesn't cover outside of the U.S.A.
- A medically necessary air ambulance can cost $30,000 USD or more. Companies that offer only air ambulance insurance might have a 90-day waiting period for pre-existing medical conditions.
- International health insurance plans allow multi-country flexibility for full benefits coverage. Canadians and Americans can stay outside their home country for much longer periods.
Posted by Roxanna McDade on Wed, Feb 03, 2010 @ 09:00 AM
by Alex Routh
Insurance can seem quite complicated. What is best for you and why? If you're spending time in Mexico, can you take your medical policy with you? Or should you purchase travel insurance? Are there other alternatives?
It all depends…
What is admitted health insurance?
In the insurance industry, "admitted" means "licensed, registered and permitted to sell policies."
Almost all insurance policies are admitted policies. This means companies are licensed and registered in the place where they sell policies. For example, if you buy car insurance for a Mexican car, you would have to buy it from a Mexican car insurer. You couldn't buy it from an American provider.
Almost all health insurance policies are admitted as well. In Mexico you could buy one from a local broker.
50 separate companies
In the U.S., insurers are admitted in every state, which is why Blue Cross — for example — is separately incorporated in almost all states. Every state has laws prohibiting non-admitted outside insurers from selling to their residents. Indeed, for insurance purposes, the U.S. is like 50 separate countries. To prevent other state regulators from fining them, U.S. medical insurers have rules limiting your coverage if you are not resident in that home state for six months a year. In this way, they can argue to other state regulators that they are not insuring people in other states and avoid million-dollar fines and regulatory scrutiny.
So there are barriers to portability of insurance policies caused by regulation and sovereignty. This can be avoided in the case of a car, since you can import the car and license it in the new country, or sell the one car and buy a new one if you move.
For health insurance, when you live in two jurisdictions like Mexico and the U.S.A., or live in one and want to return for medical treatment to the other, things become difficult. A Mexican policy would not let you return to the U.S. for treatment and forces you to buy travel insurance when on a trip home. The catch is you generally can't buy travel insurance to travel in your home country! However U.S. domestic policies restrict your time in other jurisdictions, have residency requirements or limit the benefits abroad, and are expensive!
Is travel coverage the solution?
Travel insurance
Let's define travel coverage: Travel insurance is usually for short intervals but I have seen some policies from Australia that can remain in effect for up to three years.
Travel insurance covers accidents and emergencies only, and won't cover urgent or elective medical problems. Travel insurers expect you to end your trip and return home for elective or urgent treatment, and some policies require you to return immediately once a diagnosis is made. For example, if you were diagnosed with cancer while on a travel policy, you might urgently need to commence treatment, but winding up your affairs before returning home to begin treatment might not be a case of life or death.
Travel insurance is not renewable. If you have a serious medical problem, your coverage will end at the policy's expiration date or when you return home. The underlying assumption behind travel coverage is that you have proper medical insurance at home and can return to it in the event of an urgent or elective medical condition.
Medical insurance
Medical insurance covers everything travel insurance covers plus urgent and elective medical treatment. Importantly, it is guaranteed renewable if you are in the midst of a course of treatment at renewal time. If you have international medical insurance, you don't need travel insurance unless you are traveling outside your area of coverage.
For U.S residents, because insurance is governed at the state level, policies have provisions limiting cover if you are outside your state for more than six months. Companies assume you are in another state. They don't seem to consider that you might be living out of the country! In fact, they might cancel your policy if they learn you are resident out of your home state for more than six months.
If you are resident outside your home state for only 6 months or less, then travel coverage will do, so long as you maintain your policy back home.
Canadians who reside outside Canada for 183 days annually and satisfy a few other conditions can live tax free. But they cannot remain on their provincial medical plan back home, and it takes three months to enroll again after returning permanently to Canada. Until you are back on the roster, you could pay thousands of dollars per day for a hospital bed in Canada.
Canadian hospitals charge U.S. prices to non-resident Canadians and foreigners. So if you are still paying Canadian taxes and a resident, you can buy a "snowbird" travel policy. If you are not, then you need medical insurance.
The British case is similar, in that a few years ago the National Health Service changed the rules regarding residency. If you are not "ordinarily resident" in the U.K., then you're not entitled to free NHS treatment. And you're going to pay high prices unless you have expat medical cover.
An Alternative
You can also consider an International non-admitted health insurance policy. These policies are not only are cheaper than a domestic U.S. policy, but also really international and allow you to live outside the country.
There are about 30 products on the market, most of them British, but there are about five specialty U.S. providers.
The big names like Blue Cross and Aetna are exclusively interested only in group plans for American employee groups abroad.
The U.S. industry for individuals got its start insuring tens of thousands of missionaries, and there are good inexpensive solutions allowing you full insurance coverage in Mexico (or anywhere you want) and return access for treatment to U.S. hospitals.
For these insurance providers, you must have a residential address outside the U.S., and you must live outside of the U.S.A. for six months per year cumulatively. So you can have international portable health insurance and the best of both worlds.
For more information on Travel and Expat Medical Insurance in Mexico, please click here to read the original article from Mexconnect.