International private medical insurer InterGlobal, believes many expatriates are purchasing health insurance plans with inadequate emergency medical evacuation cover.
interGlobal is urging expats and their advisers to urgently check their level of cover amid concern that some plans fail to provide evacuation cover for serious medical conditions and others could force expats to abandon their dependants in overseas jurisdictions.
the company said medical evacuation cover should entitle members to be accompanied by their partner and all of their dependent children in the case of a medical emergency, while many plans only allow a single adult to accompany the patient. This eliminates the risk of a patient being separated from their loved ones when they are evacuated.
Plans should also include non-emergency evacuation to a high quality medical facility for more minor medical conditions if no adequate treatment is available locally. Again, some plans only provide evacuation if a condition is ‘life threatening' leaving expats exposed to the risk of poor quality treatment or a deteriorating medical condition.
Peter Rousseau, business development director, at InterGlobal said: "We're concerned that some expats believe they are receiving a higher level of evacuation cover than is actually the case. This could leave them or their families seriously exposed in the event of a medical emergency and we urge all expats to check their cover carefully.
"We've heard of cases of expats being forced to leave their spouse and children behind because their evacuation cover was inadequate - just think of the stress this adds to the patient and family and how much longer it would take a patient to recover if they were worrying about their family.
