Retiring abroad - ensuring your health is covered

Retiring in another country is a common dream amongst those who long for a quieter place to live, a warmer climate, or simply a new, fresh place to spend a peaceful time after many years of hard work.

There are, however, plenty of factors to consider, and ensuring that healthcare will be provided in your new home must be on your priority list.

Having ended your ties to a job, you can finally venture into a new place. Selecting a country to retire might be more difficult than one expects.

It’s not just about the culture and language, although those are of course important factors. But how expensive the cost of living is where you’d like to be? What type of property can you afford? What activities are available that match your interests? And, perhaps most important of all - will healthcare services be provided for you as an expat?

Making sure that the place you move to has quality healthcare facilities is very important in the retirement stage of your life. The good news is, with retirement abroad becoming more common, easier and affordable than years before, healthcare insurance policies are evolving to cover individuals that decide to take this step.

When it comes to health standards, statutory care, and emergency treatment, details vary from country to country. There are major differences in waiting times, cost, and accessibility for expats. Individual private medical insurance (IPMI) policies can often be more advantageous to expats than local policies are, as many of the benefits within these policies have been tailored specifically to suit expatriates.

“At Cigna Global, we specialise in health insurance policies for expats, ensuring the very best of care will be available to you as and when you need it, anywhere in the world,” said Arjan Toor, CEO of Cigna Europe. We currently provide health insurance for customers in over 200 countries and territories, with a medical network of over 1 million hospitals and medical professionals worldwide.

“As with the purchase of any product, one size almost certainly does not fit all,” Arjan adds. “For that very reason, we’ve created a products suite that can be tailored exactly to the needs of you and your family.”

All our policies are fully medically underwritten, with the aim of providing full clarity and transparency on the implications of medical conditions. Full cancer care is a standard benefit included with all Cigna Global Policies, which also come with high limits – such as up to $3 000 000 of care per period of cover (Platinum level policies), covering things like surgeon fees, consultation fees, medical fees and hospital accommodation.

In addition, there are three levels of coverage to choose from, so expats can choose just the right fit – with options including outpatient care, medical evacuation, and vision and dental care.

“As specialists in expatriate healthcare, we know it’s vital to continue to monitor the needs of the globally mobile population to continue to improve our products for expats.”

Discover more about Cigna International Health Plans.