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A Year In Abu Dhabi On His Own
How Will He Manage?
What If He Needs Medical Treatment?
By Andrew Apps,
There seems to be a growing trend for international companies to expect their employees to take on shorter-term assignments abroad which separate them from their partners and families for periods ranging from a couple of weeks to a year. There are obvious advantages in this approach for the employer in terms of flexibility and cost – moving entire families to Shanghai or Nairobi is an extremely expensive exercise – but the separation can place enormous stress on relationships, particularly the partner left at home to worry about the working conditions, safety and health issues.
Usually it is still the woman who is left to look after the family or the home as well as cope with a host of uncertainties about her partner’s destination, including: What if he gets sick or injured? How are we going to communicate with each other if he does? And how are we going to pay for it?
If the company provides healthcare insurance there should be someone on hand to provide an answer to these questions and other important issues such as the quality of hospital and out-patient care and provision for repatriation in the case of an emergency. But, if you are starting from scratch with a local or international healthcare policy, there are a number of steps you can take to ensure greater peace of mind.
Let’s assume you’ve found a healthcare plan that seems to offer sufficient protection for all contingencies – by that I mean a minimum of £1 million cover to include out-patient and in-patient care as well as, say, chronic conditions, evacuation or repatriation and dental care. What else should you be looking for?
The quality of treatment available obviously needs to be high on the list of priorities. You’ll want to be able to access top-of-the-league clinical and emergency care and not all healthcare policies guarantee you the very best medical provision. Usually the highest standards come from insurance providers who work with local or international networks of hospitals because it gives them a hands-on role in keeping quality high.
Networks can also deliver another important benefit to the policyholder: the direct settlement of claims. This means that the insurance provider pays all claims to the hospital or clinic without any administrative involvement by the policyholder. Any other solution can result in a nightmare of red tape and hassle for the patient which is the last thing you want to deal with in a foreign country when you’re ill.
Local knowledge can also make a big difference when problems occur. A regional office staffed with people who can guide you through the medical and administrative mazes is obviously vastly superior to depending on a London-based call centre for information and advice.
Local representatives can also provide the vital link in relaying news and updates of health progress, when a partner is undergoing treatment or being repatriated. At Goodhealth we’re constantly looking at ways in which global technology and local offices can combine to improve the service we provide. The internet is, of course, one of the most important links between expatriate workers and their families and the global platform offers enormous potential to make local offices even more effective by, for instance, providing a transparent system to give policyholders and their families real-time access to all the information they need.
Finally, the most important single feature to look for in your healthcare provision is flexibility. The policy should offer solutions to all your medical concerns as well as external threats such as terrorism and political instability. The biggest providers offer all sorts of variations and you can save a lot of money by carefully selecting the precise cover you need. Some health-care providers will offer seamless protection to cover you at home and abroad – no matter how many times you travel or how long you live overseas. This can make life much easier particularly when you have to return home for treatment.
In conclusion, a year with your loved one working abroad in Abu Dhabi or Jakarta, while you are still in Manchester or South Carolina, can put enough strain on your relationship, without the added worry of healthcare provision. Research and choose your expat healthcare provider wisely, so that you have peace of mind that your loved one will manage just fine if they need to go to hospital alone abroad.
Andrew Apps is the Global Sales Director of ExpatWomen.com’s Preferred Health Insurance Provider: Goodhealth Worldwide.
To find out more about Goodhealth’s policies and coverage, please visit:
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