Using your existing coverage Adequate health care insurance is a necessity when relocating or traveling abroad. It is important to determine well in advance of relocating or traveling whether your existing health care insurance provides adequate coverage while you are abroad.
Provisions vary widely.
Private plans may only be valid in your home country or may restrict benefits available to policyholders in foreign countries. Some plans have regional coverage so you should check exactly which countries are included and excluded. You may wish to increase certain provisions, such as accident, injury, or death, if you think that certain health risks may be higher while you are abroad. As a resident of a new country, if you are to be paid in local currency, or have to pay social security or other taxes on the same basis as a national of that country, you may be eligible, like a national, for local health care. If payments for services are to be deposited by the employer directly into a bank account in your home country, or you do not meet certain residency requirements, you may not qualify for local health care benefits.