{"id":132,"date":"2010-10-22T18:29:33","date_gmt":"2010-10-22T18:29:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.medic8.com\/news\/?p=132"},"modified":"2011-01-14T18:31:59","modified_gmt":"2011-01-14T18:31:59","slug":"medical-cover-warning-for-expats-9386","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.medic8.com\/news\/medical-cover-warning-for-expats-9386\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical Cover Warning For Expats-9386"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are a British citizen living abroad, then ensure you are covered with medical insurance<\/a>. If not, you could be in for a rude awakening if you fall ill.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s basically the view of British insurance companies. They recently held a meeting at the RAC Club in London. Delegates were informed that the cost of providing medical care abroad was extremely high.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the meeting, Andrew Apps who is the director of UK-based insurance firm ALC Health said: \u201cYou tend to think treatment costs in Asia are cheap. Forget it. Singapore and Hong Kong are the two most expensive areas in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you are an expat, what sort of medical costs could you incur?<\/p>\n

If you require treatment for a stroke in China for instance, you should expect to pay around \u00a393,000. Cancer<\/a> treatment could cost as much as \u00a376,000 in Germany while similar treatment in Greece will set you back a staggering \u00a3157,000.<\/p>\n

Delegates at the insurers meeting were also told about a road accident victim in South East Asia who was billed \u00a3108,000. Other examples given were \u00a391,000 for a work injury in South Africa and a \u00a340,000 bill for a back injury sustained in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

At the meeting, delegates were also informed that in China there was only one hospital that was considered to be of Western standards; this was also the costliest.<\/p>\n

Mr Apps told insurance company representatives: \u201cThe simple reason they are so expensive is that they are the only game in town.\u201d<\/p>\n

The aim of the meeting was in fact to highlight the potential benefits for UK-based insurers. Mr. Apps believes there is an untapped market which can be exploited. He told fellow insurers: \u201cExpats need medical insurance and we in the UK have a lot of credibility. We are already in advance of anyone else, and people want their treatment in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are a British citizen living abroad, then ensure you are covered with medical insurance. If not, you could be in for a rude awakening if you fall ill. That\u2019s basically the view of British insurance companies. They recently held a meeting at the RAC Club in London. Delegates were informed that the cost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":888008809,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[150,152,151,146,153],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health-insurance","tag-abroad","tag-expat","tag-health-insurance-2","tag-insurance","tag-standards"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t