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How to Navigate International Health Insurance as an American Expat

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how to navigate international health insurance as an american expat

Healthcare as an American citizen is overwhelming as it is, but throw in international healthcare – and your head feels like itโ€™s going to explode!

No matter where you’re from or where you’re going, health insurance should be one of the first things you sort out before moving overseas. 

There isnโ€™t a one-size-fits-all answer for everyone. Every country, state, province, and person is different. But today, weโ€™re going to focus on international healthcare for American citizens living abroad.

And whether youโ€™re an American or not, these are helpful tips you can apply to you and your respective country!

But before you panic and try to figure out your healthcare options on your own, know that there are some amazing remote companies that provide health insurance and benefits too! 

If thatโ€™s not an option for you and youโ€™d rather know what all is out there, here are a few things you need to keep in mind.

expat traveling in thailand

Travel Insurance vs. International Health Insurance

Whether going abroad for work or leisure, you should always have some kind of health insurance plan. 

As much as we hope nothing ever happens – it’s always better to be prepared. 

If you’re going on a holiday or vacation, you can get away with a simple travel insurance plan. This covers you for things like lost bags, canceled flights, or emergency medical treatment. 

However, if you plan on living in another country long-term – you need more coverage.

There is a big difference between travel insurance and international health insurance – and many people mistake them for the same thing.

Travel insurance only covers you for a limited amount of time and rarely covers long-term medical treatment. 

International health insurance covers both emergency and routine healthcare. Expats have more flexibility in choosing their medical provider, treatment facility, and where they can receive their treatments. 

The last thing you want to do is depend solely on local healthcare in whatever country youโ€™re in, only to find out later it doesn’t cover the things you need.

expat traveling abroad to foreign country

Domestic Insurance Plans Donโ€™t Always Cover You Abroad  

Many new expats are surprised to learn that their domestic health insurance does not cover them when they live or work internationally.

Many think, โ€œOh, I have medical insurance in the States, so Iโ€™m good to go when I travel!โ€

Wrong!

The first thing you should do is call your current insurance company to see if they cover you abroad. Be sure to ask if there are any out-of-pocket costs you need to be aware of, too! 

Some insurance companies may cover you for medical emergencies, but others may not – so itโ€™s important to check!

The best type of plan is one that covers you in the country you physically live in, your home country, and around the world. What you may be eligible for in the U.S. may not apply if youโ€™re living in another country and vice versa. 

There are literally SO MANY OPTIONS. You can have one international insurance plan that covers you at home and abroad, you can have two insurance plans – one that covers you abroad and another to cover you at home, etc.

Itโ€™s entirely up to you! Depending on your health needs and requirements, itโ€™s essential to do your research and figure out what health insurance plan will work best for you. 

Some health insurance companies that will cover you for emergency and routine healthcare are:

  • Cigna
  • GeoBlue
  • Bupa

You can even work with a health insurance agent to see which plan works best for you and your needs. Iโ€™ve had a great experience using Pacific Prime.

If youโ€™re going to another country for a shorter period, a separate travel insurance plan will do the job. I recommend:

  • Safety Wing
  • World Nomads
girl sick at home

How Health Insurance Coverage Works if You Get Sick or Injured

Life happens, you guys! Itโ€™s unpredictable, and you never know whatโ€™s in store. This is no surprise.

If you get sick or injured while abroad, the last thing you want to deal with is limited access to treatment facilities and a massive hospital bill. 

International health insurance will cover your expenses and allow you to choose where you want to be treated. 

There are a few benefits of having international health insurance if you get sick or injured while overseas. 

Letโ€™s say you traveled to a foreign country where you didnโ€™t speak the language very well. You get sick and are hospitalized – your international health insurance plan gives you options to work with multi-lingual insurersโ€”no stress dealing with policy documents or helplines.

Another example is if you go hiking in a remote area, fall down a hill, and break a leg. You need immediate medical attention, but the treatment you need isnโ€™t available locally. 

International health insurance gives you the option to be taken back to your home country (also known as repatriation) or to a hospital in another country (evacuation) for the necessary treatment.

And these are just two examples! You can learn more about health insurance for American expats here.

Questions to Ask About Health Insurance 

Whether you’re looking for international or domestic health insurance while working online and youโ€™re not sure where to start, ask yourself this: 

  1. Will I be living outside of the U.S most of the time?
  2. Do I need to cover people other than myself?
  3. Is this provider primary or secondary?
  4. What do they cover exactly? (Does the coverage include medical coverage, or is it just baggage/flights/etc.)?
  5. Can I extend coverage in the future?

It can be a daunting task to look into what healthcare options are right for you. So, it’s important to know what you’re looking for and who needs the healthcare coverage.

expat stressed about healthcare coverage

Healthcare coverage as someone who works remotely can be extremely overwhelming, especially when you’re your own boss, and youโ€™re the one trying to figure it out for yourself. 

This is why I cover the basics of everything you need to know to get started in my signature course, 90 Day VA. 

I have an entire section dedicated to health insurance for virtual workers, how to find your healthcare, and the different options available to you.

If you’re still unsure whether or not you want to get started working remotely, check out my FREE masterclass to help you decide if becoming a virtual assistant is right for you.

Join My FREE Masterclass Here!
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nicole himebaugh virtual assistant
Nicole Himebaugh is a virtual assistant whose main purpose is to help assist entrepreneurs, small businesses and influencers achieve their dreams.
When she’s not helping others with podcast, email, and social media management, she can be found traveling around the world, sipping on a glass of wine, and hanging out with friends.
To see all of the services Nicole provides and how she can help you, check out her Facebook page here.

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๐•‹๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ๐•– ๐•’๐•ฃ๐•– ๐•’ ๐•ƒ๐•†๐•‹ ๐• ๐•— ๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•๐•š๐•Ÿ๐•– ๐•”๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฃ๐•ค๐•–๐•ค ๐• ๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•ฅ๐•™๐•–๐•ฃ๐•–, ๐•“๐•ฆ๐•ฅ ๐•™๐• ๐•จ ๐••๐•  ๐•ช๐• ๐•ฆ ๐•œ๐•Ÿ๐• ๐•จ ๐•จ๐•™๐•š๐•”๐•™ ๐• ๐•Ÿ๐•– ๐•š๐•ค ๐•ฃ๐•š๐•˜๐•™๐•ฅ ๐•—๐• ๐•ฃ ๐•ช๐• ๐•ฆ?

I get this question ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ all ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ the ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ time.

And I know it can be confusing ๐Ÿ˜ซ to try and figure out which ones are the best for your needs and if theyโ€™ll do what they promise to do for you. ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ๐Ÿคž๐Ÿผ

This is why I'm throwing it back to an older podcast episode ๐ŸŽง filled with little nuggets ๐Ÿ”ฅ๐Ÿ”ฅ that will help you to decide.

I cover:

โšก How to determine if you will actually land jobs
๐Ÿค” Whether you'll start working in a few weeks or a few years
๐Ÿค‘ If the course is going to hold you accountable 

and more! ๐Ÿคฉ

๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ Click my picture on my profile to go to my stories for the link to this episode!

๐ŸŽง Or you can just search โ€œHelp Me Work Online, Estherโ€ on Spotify or Apple podcasts to tune in to 5 Important Questions to Help You Decide Whether to Invest in an Online Course!
๐‘ฐ๐’‡ ๐’š๐’๐’–'๐’“๐’† ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’“๐’Š๐’†๐’… ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’„๐’‚๐’'๐’• ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’Œ๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’˜๐’๐’“๐’Œ ๐’‡๐’“๐’๐’Ž ๐’‰๐’๐’Ž๐’† ๐’…๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’Ž ๐’‚ ๐’“๐’†๐’‚๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’š, ๐Ÿ“ฃ ๐’‰๐’†๐’“๐’†'๐’” ๐’‚ ๐’๐’Š๐’•๐’•๐’๐’† ๐’”๐’๐’Ž๐’†๐’•๐’‰๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’Ž๐’‚๐’š ๐’„๐’‰๐’‚๐’๐’ˆ๐’† ๐’š๐’๐’–๐’“ ๐’Ž๐’Š๐’๐’…. ๐Ÿ“ฃ

These are โœจ 13 average salaries โœจ for 13 different jobs you could do TODAY! ๐Ÿ”ฅ

๐Ÿ“Œ Virtual Assistant: $39,617
๐Ÿ“Œ Business Development Manager: $71,968
๐Ÿ“Œ Copywriter: $50,570
๐Ÿ“Œ Curriculum Designer: $61,389
๐Ÿ“Œ Customer Support Specialist: $41,382
๐Ÿ“Œ Front-End Developer: $71,145
๐Ÿ“Œ Marketing Manager: $64,500
๐Ÿ“Œ Online ESL Teacher: $43,878
๐Ÿ“Œ Product Manager: $82,916
๐Ÿ“Œ Recruiter: $49,544
๐Ÿ“Œ Social Media Manager: $49,881
๐Ÿ“Œ Translator: $47,974
๐Ÿ“Œ Web Designer: $49,649

๐Ÿคฉ ...And these are only SOME of the jobs that are out there, guys!

There are so many opportunities for you to live your dream โ˜๏ธ๐ŸŒˆ and work from home. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป Sometimes it just takes a little investigation, ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ but it's out there! ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

You can do this! ๐Ÿ†๐Ÿฅ‡๐Ÿ‘‘๐Ÿคฉ You CAN be successful. 

The skyโ€™s the limit! โ˜๏ธโ˜๏ธโ˜€๏ธโ˜€๏ธ

If you donโ€™t know where to start, my signature course, @_90dayva , has everything you need to get started as a Virtual Assistant. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿง‘๐Ÿพโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐Ÿ“ฃ Doors open for enrollment on May 1st. ๐Ÿ“ฃ But if you join the waitlist, you can enroll early. ๐Ÿ˜‰ 

The link is in my bio. ๐Ÿ”—๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ
๐”…๐”ข๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ฐ๐”ฒ๐” ๐” ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”…๐”ข๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ฐ๐”ฒ๐” ๐” ๐”ข๐”ฐ๐”ฐ๐”ฃ๐”ฒ๐”ฉ ๐”ณ๐”ฆ๐”ฏ๐”ฑ๐”ฒ๐”ž๐”ฉ ๐”ž๐”ฐ๐”ฐ๐”ฆ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ฑ ๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ณ๐”ฌ๐”ฉ๐”ณ๐”ข๐”ฐ ๐”ช๐”ฌ๐”ฏ๐”ข ๐”ฑ๐”ฅ๐”ž๐”ซ ๐”ง๐”ฒ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ ๐”ฅ๐”ž๐”ณ๐”ฆ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ž ๐”ค๐”ฌ๐”ฌ๐”ก ๐”ฅ๐”ฒ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ฉ๐”ข ๐”ž๐”ซ๐”ก ๐”ฐ๐”ฑ๐”ฏ๐”ฌ๐”ซ๐”ค ๐”ฐ๐”จ๐”ฆ๐”ฉ๐”ฉ ๐”ฐ๐”ข๐”ฑ. ๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐Ÿ”ฅ You can step up your virtual assistant game by growing your network, โœจ getting organized, and ๐ŸŒˆ pushing your creativity with different free online tools... ๐Ÿ’ป  but the most helpful one is...

๐Ÿ’ฅ FACEBOOK GROUPS ๐Ÿ’ฅ

Facebook groups are a virtual assistantโ€™s lifeline. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

If you are seeking:

โœ”๏ธ Work
โœ”๏ธ Advice
โœ”๏ธ Fellow virtual assistants
โœ”๏ธ Skill trades

โ€ฆthereโ€™s a group for that. ๐Ÿ˜Œ

This powerful tool allows you to network with fellow virtual assistants and potential clients. ๐Ÿค

Did you know I have my own Facebook group with over 19,000 supportive and hustling virtual assistants? 

I share industry advice and post legit online jobs. You can check it out here ๐Ÿ‘‡๐Ÿผ

๐Ÿ”— facebook.com/groups/virtualassistantinternship
๐‘ซ๐’ ๐’š๐’๐’– ๐’†๐’—๐’†๐’“ ๐’ˆ๐’†๐’• ๐’‚ ๐’ˆ๐’–๐’• ๐’‡๐’†๐’†๐’๐’Š๐’๐’ˆ ๐’•๐’‰๐’‚๐’• ๐’‚ ๐’‹๐’๐’ƒ ๐’๐’‡๐’‡๐’†๐’“ ๐’Š๐’” ๐’•๐’๐’ ๐’ˆ๐’๐’๐’… ๐’•๐’ ๐’ƒ๐’† ๐’•๐’“๐’–๐’†? ๐Ÿ˜ณ

Internet scams are widespread and can be an easy trap for people looking for online jobs. ๐ŸŒ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to tell if someone is trying to scam you for your personal information. ๐Ÿค”๐Ÿค”

This is why I'm bringing back a fan-favorite podcast episode ๐ŸŽ™๏ธ๐ŸŽง about how to spot an online scam. ๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

I cover...

๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ How to identify an online job scam
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Jobs that aren't scams but you should still avoid
๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Real remote job boards that won't scam you

๐Ÿ‘†๐Ÿผ Click my picture on my profile to go to my stories for the link to this episode!

๐ŸŽง Or you can just search โ€œHelp Me Work Online, Estherโ€ on Spotify or Apple podcasts to tune in to Watch Out! Spot an Online Job Scam From a Mile Away!
๐–๐ก๐š๐ญ ๐ข๐Ÿ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐œ๐จ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐ ๐š๐œ๐ญ๐ฎ๐š๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐ค ๐Ÿ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ก๐จ๐ฆ๐ž ๐Ÿ๐จ๐ซ ๐ซ๐ž๐š๐ฅ? ๐Ÿก

What if when your husband deployed or your family had to PCS you weren't scrambling? โœˆ๏ธ

What if when your kids got sick you didn't have to stress? ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿผ๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿป๐Ÿง’๐Ÿฝ๐Ÿ‘ฆ๐Ÿพ

When those tickets to the Bahamas went on sale you could just GO FOR IT? ๐Ÿ–๏ธโ˜€๏ธ๐Ÿ•ถ๏ธ

๐Ÿ“ฃ This stuff isn't impossible and it can happen to you. ๐Ÿ“ฃ 

A bunch of us have already been doing it for years. ๐Ÿ’ป  We work online and get paid by the hour or project. ๐Ÿ’ต  We set our own hours and do what we need to do when we want. ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿผ

In 90 Day VA, I teach you everything you need to know about starting your own business as a Virtual Assistant. ๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿผโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘จ๐Ÿปโ€๐Ÿ’ป๐Ÿ‘ฉ๐Ÿฝโ€๐Ÿ’ป

๐ŸŒŸ I believe that you can live your dream life if you want to! ๐ŸŒŸ

If you're worried that this could be scam or you're not sure if you could actually make this happen ๐Ÿ‘‰๐Ÿผ Check out my free workshop and decide from there. 

Link is in my bio ๐Ÿ”—
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Copyright ยฉ2021 Esther M Inman โ€‹

Testimonials shown are real experiences from paying program members of 90 DAY VA. Their results are not typical and your experience will vary based upon your effort, education, business model, and market forces beyond our control. We make no earnings claims or return on investment claims, and you may not make your money back.