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Global or Travel insurance ... Which do you Need?
Global or International / Expat Insurance
Travel Medical Insurance
Meet Juanita.
And recently moved to Spain.
Juanita is from Brazil.
Meet Hans.
Hans lives in Germany
And goes on vacation every year to the United States for 2 weeks.
Hans has local insurance that covers him at home in Germany.
While on vacation in the U.S., Hans is going mountain climbing and skiiing. He wants to make sure that if he gets injured or sick, he has health coverage while in the U.S., so he takes out TRAVEL medical insurance.
TRAVEL insurance is short-term and covers Hans while he is traveling on vacation.
Although Juanita will be living in Spain, she will travel back to Brazil frequently to visit family members. So Juanita takes out a GLOBAL or INTERNATIONAL health insurance policy instead of just local insurance in Spain. With GLOBAL insurance, she is covered while living in Spain, while visiting Brazil, and also if she decides to travel elsewhere ... She is covered "globally", and her coverage is long-term.
Juanita doesn't need separate TRAVEL insurance when she travels on holiday -- Her GLOBAL insurance covers her wherever and whenever she may travel worldwide.
GLOBAL insurance is medically underwritten which means Juanita had to give her complete health history to the insurance carrier at the time of application. Any pre-existing conditions are not covered by her Global insurance, however, Juanita had no pre-existing conditions when she applied.
Unfortunately, Juanita had a stroke while visiting her family in Brazil and now has a medical condition (high blood pressure). If she only had local insurance in Spain and had taken out short-term TRAVEL insurance for her trip to Brazil, she would now have a pre-existing condition to report when applying for GLOBAL insurance, and that pre-existing condition would be uninsurable. However, because Juanita had GLOBAL insurance (which is long-term) prior to her stroke, she has life-long coverage for her high blood pressure as long as she renews her GLOBAL policy.
Hans later decides to move to Spain.
He can get local insurance that covers him at home in Spain, however, he now will travel frequently back to Germany and also to the U.S. on holiday so he really needs GLOBAL insurance.
Hans decides to get only LOCAL insurance in Spain, and then has knee replacement surgery. He now has a pre-existing condition that will not be covered if he decides to get GLOBAL insurance.
Hans later moves to the U.K.
He will definitely now need GLOBAL insurance since he will be traveling frequently not only to Germany, but Spain and the U.S. as well. Unfortunately, any treatment needed as a result of his knee replacement will not be covered.
If he had taken out a GLOBAL insurance policy upon moving to Spain, he would have life-long coverage for his knee (anywhere in the world) as long as he continued to renew his GLOBAL policy.
GLOBAL insurance also covers repatriation to your home country. For instance, if Juanita has a heart attack and needs surgery or long-term treatment, she may want to go back to Brazil where she can be with her family. Her GLOBAL policy will cover her repatriation.
GLOBAL insurance also covers evacuation to the nearest location for treatment. For example, if Juanita is in Spain and cannot get the treatment she needs there, her GLOBAL policy will cover evacuation to the nearest location where she can receive treatment.
Oh, and by the way, Juanita and Hans did meet up in Spain and they are both now living in the U.K. She never stops reminding him that he should have gotten GLOBAL insurance!
