Exploring Expatriate Healthcare Insurance Coverage Options for Remote and Tele Healthcare

In this iPMI Global Insights article, iPMI Global CEO Christopher Knight, speaks with leaders from the international private medical insurance market, and explores which coverage options are available in expatriate healthcare insurance policies when it comes to remote healthcare and telemedicine.

Ross Walker, Cigna Healthcare: I would categorise telehealth or telemedicine as the broad category of any remote care, be that connected health care devices sending back data to a doctor for a heart patient, through to tele consults with a primary care physician over the phone or on video.

For the latter (teleconsultations), we saw a significant rise in utilisation during the thick of the pandemic separate from teleconsultations (where customers are receiving a primary care consult telephonically). We’ve seen a significant increase in the utilisation of telehealth consultations in the last few years. It’s now a must have. We are now turning our attention to specific disease states which we can help customer address with digital health solutions: mental health and fertility are at the top of that list.

Jeroen Van de Velde, Foyer Global Health: The advent of COVID-19 has significantly accelerated the adoption of telemedicine, transforming it into a sought-after feature within International Private Medical Insurance (IPMI) plans, especially for expatriates. The pandemic underscored the importance of accessible healthcare services, making telemedicine not just a convenience but a necessity. For expatriates, who often face language barriers or find themselves in locations with long waiting times, limited access, or remote settings, telemedicine offers a critical solution. It provides a sense of ease and assurance, knowing that quality healthcare advice is just a video call away, regardless of geographical and linguistic challenges.

However, despite the clear advantages and growing demand for telemedicine among expatriates, one of the primary hurdles remains the awareness of these services at the point of need. Many expatriates are either unaware of their access to telemedicine services or remember them only after resorting to traditional healthcare routes. This gap in awareness contributes to lower utilization rates of telemedicine services among expatriates, an issue that many IPMI providers face.

To address this challenge, we have embarked on a comprehensive touch-point analysis aimed at understanding the critical moments when our clients are most in need of healthcare services. This analysis helps us identify optimal times and methods for informing clients about their telemedicine options. By analysing client interactions, we can pinpoint when they’re likely to need healthcare advice and how we can effectively remind them of the telemedicine services available to them. This strategic approach is designed not only to raise awareness but also to enhance the accessibility of our telemedicine services.

Our ongoing efforts to improve service accessibility involve continuous refinement of communication channels, ensuring that information about telemedicine services is clear, timely, and easily actionable. By addressing these touch points, we aim to increase the utilization rate of telemedicine services, ensuring that expatriates can fully benefit from the convenience and reassurance these services offer. This proactive approach demonstrates our commitment to evolving with our clients’ needs, ensuring they have access to quality healthcare services whenever and wherever they need them.

Kevin Melton, International Medical Group (IMG): The four highest plan levels of Global Prima include teleconsultation which provides 24/7 online and telephone access to a network of medical professionals to discuss non-emergency medical issues in the customer’s native language, arrange prescriptions, and submit referrals if needed.

The two highest plan levels also offer access to remote mental health services, like virtual counselling, to help with the transition as expatriates and their families adjust to changes in jobs or education and navigate new relationships while they’re away from loved ones.

Iara Vilches, PassportCard: Telemedicine indeed got a PR boost, so to say, with the Covid-pandemic. Prior to the pandemic the major reason to use those services, if provided, was regular check with the family doctor. With the pandemic, we have seen a chance in this trend with more and more services being offered remotely, such as obtaining work sick-notes, drug prescriptions, referrals to doctors and so on. As a leading comprehensive provider, we include telemedicine and prescription services around the world, in all our international products.

The expat experience is filled with unforeseen circumstances and potential movements and therefore we also support our clients with free-of-charge lounge services for delayed flights with no extra fee. We see that benefit as part of mental well-being, in addition to medical care covered by our products.

In today’s world, there is no way around offering telemedicine services as part of any international health plan.

Dr Christopher Percival, iPMI Expert: Post Covid digitalisation and telemedicine has become a must, and we pioneered this many years ago with various self-insured international corporate schemes and also for the ultra-high net worth market. A high volume of claims is for smaller amounts, and these can be efficiently adjudicated and processed via Apps improving reimbursement service and client retention. AI is starting to feature in the market and this space whilst it has been developed over decades is moving extremely fast now.

Claire Hargreaves, Trawick International: Remote health and telemedicine are of critical importance; their propositional value has been more readily recognised as a result of COVID. Customers of Trawick International have default access to Virtual Medicine and Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) services. Virtual Medicine allows video/telephone primary care consultations and prescription issues (where allowed under local in-country laws), and EAP allows access to video/telephone counselling sessions for any appropriate discussion topic, from grief counselling and mental health counselling to debt management counselling.

Lourdes F. Peters, World of America: Expatriate health and medical insurance plans offer a range of coverage options tailored to the needs of remote health and telemedicine. These options may include virtual medical consultations with healthcare professionals, access to online platforms for remote medical guidance and diagnosis, and coverage for prescription medications obtained through tele-pharmacy services. Some plans even provide remote health monitoring services, such as tracking chronic conditions or using connected medical devices to monitor vital signs. These coverage options are designed to offer convenience and access to quality healthcare, particularly for expats living in remote areas or with limited access to traditional medical facilities.

Related Reading: Expatriate Healthcare Insurance Strategies Round Table 2024