A Step-By-Step Plan For Lowering Your Cost of Expat Health Insurance

I will break down the main factors influencing the cost of global health insurance and provide step-by-step examples you can follow to slash your expat health insurance costs while still getting the right amount of benefits you need!

Other Guides On Expat Insurance

What is the average cost of expat health insurance?

The average cost of expat insurance in 2021 for an individual from a recommended insurance partner was $300-$420 USD per month. Prices can vary dramatically based on coverage. Some basic international policies are less than $100 per month, while travel medical plans cost as little as $50 per month.

Here are two real-world examples of expat health insurance costs:

What Are The Factors That Affect Your Expat Health Insurance Cost?

Medical health insurance costs have increased ~47% in the last 10 years. Some reasons insurance prices rise are out of your control. However, several factors — from your medical history to the extras you want to add to your plan - determine how much you'll pay for medical insurance.

Let's break down the main details affecting the medical health insurance cost.

• Coverage Level- More expensive comprehensive health insurance coverage could include maternity care, dental treatment, and mental health care. However, most companies also offer a cheaper basic international health insurance plan. This basic or value plan covers medical emergencies and inpatient treatments that could meet the healthcare coverage most expats need.
• Age – In general, the older you are, the more probable you will require healthcare, particularly for illnesses and ailments connected with old age. As such, you should expect your health insurance premium to rise as you age. See Insider Tip below for more information on how aging affects your expat health insurance premiums. 
• Medical history – Your current health condition will impact your expat healthcare cost, as some international plans don't cover pre-existing conditions. Some companies may ask you to state any pre-existing medical conditions to assess your overall health status. They will use your medical history to determine if any waiting period should be included in your insurance plan and if you will face additional premiums.
• Location – As the healthcare systems around the globe vary from one country to another, your geographical location will affect the cost of international health insurance, depending on the expense of the local health system.
• Claims history – Some international health insurance companies will raise your renewal premiums for each claim. The more claims you make, the higher your chance of paying more for insurance at every renewal.
• Optional extras: Most entry-level global health insurance plans provide essential medical care and exclude optional extras like vision or adult dental care. The additional benefits you add to a standard plan increase your insurance costs.
• Life stage: The cost of international health insurance is affected by your unique circumstances. There are methods to cut the cost of health insurance by finding plans appropriate for your stage of life. For example, if you are planning a family, adding maternity coverage to your health insurance plan would raise the costs.
• Payment Frequency – Most insurance companies will offer you a discount if you pay your insurance premiums annually instead of monthly or quarterly. My real-world example in the section below, shows how I cut my premiums by ~17% by switching to an annual payment.

How I saved $200 off my annual health insurance costs WITHOUT changing my benefits

In my quote, you can see the initial monthly cost of my expat health policy is $104. This monthly premium is equivalent to $1,251 per year. If I change the payment frequency to pay for entire expat policy upfront, the annual cost is only $1043. I saved over $200 per year without reducing my plan benefits. 

How Can You Save on the Cost of International Health Insurance Premiums?

If you want to keep the same coverage but need to reduce your cost of international health insurance, you can look at changing to a cheaper expat medical insurance company. Competition in the global insurance industry can be fierce. 

In my sample quote, the difference in highest prices vs. lowest priced international health insurance plan was $2,608 more per year. Nearly a 450% increase in annual premiums.

Aside from changing companies, there are other ways to reduce expatriate health plan costs. Let's look at what you can do to cut the price of your healthcare coverage.

Prioritize The Benefits That Matter To You

When moving to a foreign country, selecting quality insurance for your worldwide medical needs is critical to ensure that you are safe and secure wherever you go. The truth is that you will almost always obtain better coverage if you pay a higher price. But, there are some details to consider that can lower your expat health insurance cost.

Usually, a health insurance plan is classified into one to four tier levels — bronze, gold, silver, and occasionally platinum with escalating benefit maximums and coverage possibilities, depending on the health insurance policies. Higher coverage levels will also raise the annual maximum amount of money that your medical insurance will cover, so you need to choose carefully the type of plan that fits your needs.

In quote #1 above, switching from Enhanced to Essential coverage saves me $700 a year. What did I lose by choosing the cheaper plan? Mostly doubling the waiting periods before covering any pre-existing conditions (728 vs. 364 days) and adult wellness (180 vs. 90 days) while adding sub-limits on the ambulance and ICU coverage.

Match Your Insurance With Your Life

Where you are in life needs to factor into your international health insurance policy. But don't focus on just your current situation; since many expat medical insurance policies have waiting periods, you need to look ahead to incorporate your future plans as well.

• Will you be traveling a lot next year for work? Ensure that your coverage area includes the countries you need to visit.
• Don't plan on having another baby this year? Go ahead and drop the pregnancy care from your plan.
• Is your spouse entering the workforce and will have their own employer-subsidized health insurance coverage? Remove them as a dependent from your plan.
• Finally, decided to drop $5000 on Invisalign to fix your teeth? Time to look for a dental plan with orthodontic care.

Reviewing your health insurance benefits on an annual basis is essential. Matching your benefits coverage with your projected life changes offers you the chance to modify your policy, saving you thousands of dollars on your expat health insurance cost.

Narrow Your Area Of Coverage Options

Many expat health plans have geographic limits. You might be able to reduce the costs by narrowing down the area of coverage, opting for regional coverage, or excluding specific expensive countries rather than choosing unnecessary worldwide coverage. For example, some global insurers breakdown their areas of coverage as follows:

• Worldwide coverage, excluding the USA
• European Countries Only, rest of world optional
• SE Asia Only, rest of the world optional
• Full cover in India and Africa, with limited coverage anywhere else

The quote above excludes medical treatments in the United States and Canada. But if you want to add the US to your area of coverage, be prepared for some sticker shock. The price of truly worldwide expat health insurance jumps by over 80%. Simply including the US costs over $600 per year.

Remove Optional Benefits, Add-Ons, And Riders

It's also important to remember that most health insurance coverage is modular and offers optional benefits. These additional benefits, sometimes referred to as add-ons or riders, can be dropped to lower the cost of your premiums.

• Medical care add-ons- Vision, Wellness, Adult Dental Care, Maternity Coverage, Psychiatric, Gynecology, Pediatric Care, or prescription medication are among the add-ons you can add to your base plan.
• Optional features- high-risk sports, repatriation of remains, hospice care, and access to digital services like telemedicine, medical evacuation, and repatriation plans are also additional services you can choose from.

Customizing your insurance plan offers you the flexibility to tailor your needs and reduce medical costs.

Quote #1 does not include vision care but dental coverage ($490 per year), and an adventure sports rider ($290 per year) can be purchased at an additional cost. 

Reduce Outpatient Medical Coverage Levels

However, outpatient medical care is a different story. Outpatient care means no overnight hospital cover. Outpatient can include non-emergency treatment, lab tests, diagnostic scans, treatment of chronic conditions, and even minor surgery that doesn't require an overnight stay to recover is considered outpatient.

I've needed emergency services in Thailand ($12), urgent care to treat an ear infection in Vietnam ($30), and an MRI to diagnose unexpected pain in my knee in the Philippines ($100). No cases required me to stay overnight in the hospital; they were outpatient medical treatments and cheap. 

Many outpatient procedures in countries outside the US are very cheap. I pay for them out-of-pocket and don't bother submitting a medical insurance claim.

An outpatient and inpatient treatment plan is great but ineffective at lowering your international health insurance cost. Reducing the maximum limit options of your outpatient care can significantly save your medical insurance costs.

The Risks Of Removing Optional Benefits

Dropping benefits you feel are unnecessary, such as accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), preventative care benefits, or terrorism & war risks from your policy, will help you save money on expat health insurance costs. But removing benefits or lower dollar limits from your international health insurance policy also comes with risks.

Even reducing the dollar limits on your outpatient maximum can be financially devastating. Dialysis required for chronic conditions is still considered an outpatient procedure but can still cost over $10,000 per month.

Dropping add-ons like dental coverage means no protection for your teeth. You become financially responsible for non-emergency treatments, such as cleanings, implants, cavity fillings, root canals, or crowns.

Another risk is dropping repatriation plans and medical evacuation options. If you need to leave the country for a national emergency, you may have very few options available. Transportation and repatriation costs are very high, especially during a global crisis, like emergency evacuation for the pandemic lockdowns of 2020 or the start of the Ukraine war in 2022.

There is no right answer to balancing risks. Risk tolerance and personal circumstances vary based on the insured person. Don't reduce your coverage more than you feel comfortable with; You can always change the deductible options to lower your cost of expat health insurance.

Increase Your Deductible To Reduce Your Expatriate Health Plan Costs

Simply put, a deductible is the annual out-of-pocket medical expenses you agree to pay before your expat insurance plan kicks. To phrase it another way, a deductible is the initial amount of money you are responsible for before an international health insurance company will pay a claim.

The more responsible you are for your initial health care spending costs, the less risk for the health insurance provider. Health care plans base everything on risk. Insurance companies basically assign dollar amounts to the probability you might need access to health care.

In exchange for reducing the likelihood they need to pay any claims, your health insurance issuer agrees to reduce the cost of your expatriate plan.

A high deductible health care plan will drastically reduce your premium. The bigger the deductible, the lower the cost of your international health plan. The more upfront risk you are willing to take, the more money you save.

For example, let's say you have $900 in medical bills from a foreign hospital where you needed emergency medical treatment for food poisoning from questionable shrimp. Yet, your expat health insurance has a $1000 annual deductible. You are responsible for the $900 hospital bill because you must pay the first $1,000 in yearly medical expenses before the insurance company settles a claim. However, any additional health care costs you incur this year greater than $100 will be paid for by the insurance company.

If you are young, relatively healthy, and don't anticipate any major medical operations for the year, choosing a high deductible plan reduces your health insurance premiums. 

In the sample quote above, I raised my deductible from $250 to $10,000 cutting nearly 60% off my cost of expat health insurance.

Covering the Pros and Cons of Increasing Your Expat Insurance Deductible

If you want to increase your deductible, take a look at some advantages and disadvantages that come with the process!

Pros For Increasing Your Deductible:

• A plan with a high deductible is more efficient in several locations than others, depending on the country you want to travel to.
• It lowers your premium costs significantly.
• It is more efficient and beneficial in terms of healthcare costs for someone in good health.

Cons Of Increasing Your Deductible:

• When not managed well, your medical procedures can lead to exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses for you.
• Even though it reduces costs on your annual premium, it's still worth considering whether this option is worth the risk.
• A high deductible can cause financial instability in case of emergencies