Global coverage in health insurance; should you buy or not?
Global coverage in health insurance; should you buy or not?
Some health insurers offer plans which provide global coverage. This usually means that on top of providing usual coverage within India, these plans provide you inbuilt coverage globally. So if you fall sick and are hospitalised anywhere in the world, your treatment will be covered by your insurer.
Should you opt for them? NO.
But why? Arenโt these plans great as they provide coverage across the globe?
Well, there are a few reasons.
๐ Treatments are very expensive in western countries, especially in the US. So these plans come with unusually high sum insured, Rupees 50 lac and above.
๐ Since these plans start with very high sum insured, they become very expensive. And if you are in India, you most likely never utilise that sum insured.
๐ Yes, they do provide global cover. But you can get that otherwise too.
๐ฏ Buy a normal health insurance plan which provides you cover all over India. These are quite affordable.
๐ฏ Whenever you plan to travel overseas, buy travel insurance which provides cover only for your destination country and for the number of days you travel. These are quite cheap and serve the purpose.
๐ฏ Many countries anyway require you to buy travel insurance if you plan to visit them.
If you are traveling to any country frequently for business or otherwise, you can also get longer term travel insurance, such as for 6 months. These plans usually cover multiple trips to the same destination.
๐ฏ Moreover, your travel insurance also covers
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Financial loss due to flight delays
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any other mishap during your stay