International medical insurance & out patient
Part of the international medical insurance is out patient benefits. These benefits correspond to the medical consumption. That means that the decision of the member has a direct impact on the claims.
Even if a member never decides between having a cold and not having a cold, he/she can decide to:
- take something more / less pills than prescribed,
- visit more often his/her GP or specialist, than another member in similar situations.
Therefore, the “risk” for an international medical insurance is much more limited here than for Hospitalization. If members decide to increase their medical consumption, then the ratio between Claims and Premiums will increase. And this could lead to an increase of premiums.
Co-insurance and out of pocket on your international medical insurance
One says that co-insurance can be defined as a part of the expenses that is paid directly by the member. In case you are covered up to 90% of the real costs with your international medical insurance, the co-insurance is 10%.
Co-insurance is popular in many countries such as France, Belgium, Luxembourg… because it corresponds to the Social Security’s rules. Other tools are also used by the private Insurer and the Social Security’s such as deductible or overall limit (which are common in the USA or in Switzerland for example).
Insurers consider that the insured pay more attention to medical costs when he/she pays part of them. This behavior has an important impact on the medical consumption and therefore on technical results and premiums.
Premiums are attractive if the co-insurance is 10% or 20% for example and allows everyone to adjust benefits and budget according to his/her needs.
Expensives countries
In certain countries where medical expenses are high. Therefore, we do recommend to select “full reimbursement”. Because it could cost you a lot in case of serious and long injury. Otherwise, 90% or 80% for outpatient will give you access to a very good balance between benefits, services and premiums.
Please pay attention to the local regulation
Please note that subscribing to an international medical insurance does not free you from the local regulations.