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What does Brexit mean for travel insurance and healthcare in Europe?

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The last 12 months have been dominated by COVID-19, and due to the global pandemic stopping people from being able to travel abroad, the ramifications associated with Brexit are yet to be experienced – or indeed acknowledged – by many people.

With the vaccine rollout going well, and with COVID-19 cases going down by the day, it seems likely that holidays will be on the agenda shortly, so what do you need to know? What impact has Brexit had and will it impact your ability to obtain health cover?

The GHIC

At the beginning of January 2021, the Government declared that all UK citizens would be able to apply for a scheme known as the Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC), which was created and subsequently launched as part of the post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the EU.

Previously, UK citizens were able to access a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), though this is now being phased out entirely. However, while the cards are somewhat similar, there are certain limitations that you should be aware of. While the EHIC made a point of not only covering the EU but also other European nations such as Norway, Switzerland and Iceland, the GHIC will not cover these non-EU countries (other than the UK).

To apply for a free GHIC card, simply follow this link to the NHS’s dedicated application page.

What the GHIC covers

The GHIC, just like the EHIC, has been designed to ensure those who are travelling abroad have access to care for one-off emergency medical issues, routine care for pregnant women, as well as treatment for any ongoing chronic illnesses.

Venturing further afield

The UK Government is currently in the process of finalising agreements with a host of other European countries that are not covered by the GHIC (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland). These will likely be finalised in the coming weeks, but for the time being, Norway has confirmed that UK passport holders will be able to get emergency health insurance simply by showing their passport. The other countries have not signed off on any such deal.

When it comes to heading outside of Europe, the UK already has agreements in place in principal with a host of countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia. With regard to the remainder of the countries in the world, talks are currently ongoing, and it is expected that some kind of deal will be in place by the summer of 2021.

Take a look at our insurance comparison website today to find a business travel insurance policy that suits your needs.

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Health Insurance

Finding visitors insurance is easy and affordable when you compare quotes online

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If you’re going to be taking a trip to another country, you’re going to need visitors insurance. If you happen to fall ill or victim to an accident while on your travels, you want the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re properly covered. How do you find it affordably and easily, however? Planning a trip is already stressful, you don’t want to add to it.

That’s why you use a comparison tool to find affordable quotes in minutes!

Getting covered for your travels

Every country has a different approach to healthcare. Even if you’re young and healthy, you never know what the future might hold. It’s entirely possible you might become ill while you’re travelling, or that an accident might happen that requires healthcare. The last thing you want is to find that the healthcare you need is not something you can actually afford.

Proper visitors insurance coverage will be there to help you take the stress and the strain out of the situation, by easing the financial burden considerably. In some cases, you won’t have to pay anything at all. No matter where you’re going, or for how long you’re travelling, it’s better to be safe than sorry and invest in proper health insurance coverage.

Fitting finding cover in to your schedule

If you’re planning a trip, you’ve got a lot going on. Planning your transportation, your accommodation, your itinerary and so much more can be time-consuming. You don’t want to have to spend hours on top of that finding health cover.

That’s why you use a comparison tool, such as Compare Insurance, to help you find the perfect level of cover. You may want basic cover for the strongest risks you face when travelling, or you might want to invest in a more comprehensive policy to give you protection whatever you face. Either way, you’ll find the perfect policy for you in a matter of minutes.

Arranging travel health cover has never been easier thanks to comparison websites. If you’re travelling soon, be sure to visit Compare Insurance and get yourself a visitors insurance quote first!

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Health Insurance

Use a comparison tool to browse healthcare plans before you buy

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Health insurance coverage is an essential consideration, but you never know what’s around the next corner. Even if you’re currently healthy, we can all fall victim to ill-health without seeing it coming. Health cover can help you stay financially secure through those difficult times – but how do you find the health insurance plans for family?

With so many different health care plans available, use a comparison tool to find the right one for you.

Browse before investing

There is a multitude of health cover plans available, covering all manner of different ailments. You can find health insurance that covers a general list of common complaints, such as cancer and diabetes, etc. Or you can also find cover that deals with specific illnesses, possibly as a result of your genetic predisposition.

Comparing and contrasting health insurance plans can be difficult – with so many different conditions and exemptions, it can be hard to navigate and compare one deal to the next. If you try and find a plan by going to each provider individually, you run the risk of being swamped in information and making a bad choice.

Using the right comparison tool

This is where a comparison tool comes in useful. In just a few minutes you can put your details in and decide the nature of the cover you’re looking for. With that, you’ll get a number of quotes back almost instantly from a range of insurance providers, allowing you to easily compare and contrast coverage and prices.

The joy of it is that you get to choose the nature of the cover you want from the outset – you decide the things that you want your policy to cover. Then you get quotes back for THAT policy, and you can choose who offers you the best deal. There’s no need to browse every detail of each policy to make sure you’re getting the coverage you need.

Making the right choice

Health insurance is an invaluable investment, and if you want to make sure you spend your money the right way, use a service like Compare Insurance to find yourself the best possible deal.

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Health Insurance

How does health insurance work?

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It can be the bane of many people’s lives. Deciding exactly which health insurance provider to choose and which plan by that provider will be the best has always been a challenge, but one way you can make the whole process simpler is by understanding exactly how health insurance companies work.

What is it to you?

Affordable health insurance is effectively a subscription to healthcare. As you pay a monthly premium in order to stay insured, you can then receive any healthcare that you might need in this period for a much lower cost than if you were to be uninsured. Since you’ve already paid into the health insurance “pot”, you’ll have significantly less, or even nothing, to pay in the case of any medical emergencies happening to you or anyone else on your health insurance plan.

What about more expensive emergencies?

They’ll have their costs lowered just as the cost of cheaper procedures are, or the cost might even be removed entirely. This can be afforded because insurance is a sharing of risk, between everyone with insurance. Since the majority of people are healthy the majority of the time, the amount that people pay in is used to make sure anyone unhealthy can be treated. This all comes around again when the healthy people get ill, and take some money from the collective pot in order to get themselves treated. Insurance is, put simply, millions of people working together to keep everyone’s lives affordable in a time of crisis.

What does all this mean for me?

If you have a better understanding of how health insurance works, it becomes easier to understand why different plans cover different procedures. For example, if you’re paying very little in, it’s fair to assume that you won’t get as much out since you’re not contributing much to other people’s procedures. Additionally, it will help you to understand why putting more people on a plan makes the plan more expensive, since there’s a higher risk of someone being ill and taking out of their cash plan.

Ultimately, health insurance is designed to protect everyone that uses it, albeit to different extents based on price. If you want the most bang for your buck, it’s always best to use Compare Insurance to compare Health Insurance providers tools to guarantee a wide coverage for a low price.

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Health Insurance

A quick guide to health insurance in the UAE

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Although UAE healthcare is free for all citizens, expats working in the Emirates often struggle to meet medical costs, particularly dental charges; so much so that many expats prefer to fly back to their country of origin for any kind of dental treatment. What’s more, UAE citizens and expats alike find it difficult to access the specialist and high tech services available at Dubai Healthcare City without medical insurances. Although all employers are legally obliged to provide health insurances, the cover provided may not be adequate and does not cover family members and dependents.

If you’re considering taking out private medical insurance in the UAE, there are lots of different things to consider. First off, you’ll need to decide whether to take out a fully underwritten health insurance plan or opt for a moratorium plan.

What’s the difference between moratorium health cover and fully underwritten health insurance?

The main difference between the two policies is that fully underwritten health insurance requires you to provide your insurer with your entire medical history – this choice can work out cheaper over the long term and may offer far more medical insurance than a moratorium policy. Here in the UAE, a fully comprehensive insurance of this nature can be the best way for speedy access to more specialist, private healthcare.

With a moratorium policy, you simply need to complete a questionnaire, giving a limited amount of detail to your chosen insurer. This can be a much simpler way to insure your health, but it may not offer the extensive coverage you’d acquire with fully underwritten insurance. The choice between the two comes down to your budget and own health history.

Specialist health insurance

You can also opt for specialist medical insurance, which simply covers against certain treatments or in specific criteria. Examples include medical insurance for over 50s and medical insurance for specific conditions. This type of insurance can help you to compile the medical coverage you need, while also relying on any free services in your locality for any other medical conditions. One major benefit of specialist medical insurance is that it can help you skip the queues for a range of treatments and diagnostic tests, such as CT scans, knee or hip replacement surgery, and cataract surgery.

What does private health insurance cover?

You’ve probably already recognised that different private health insurance policies offer varying service models. You can rely on most policies to cover you for inpatient care at any time you need to overnight in a hospital setting. Although outpatient treatments also tend to be covered by most policies, the amounts that can be claimed back are very different as caps are often in place.

In addition, some insurance policies cover the costs of drugs that are not readily available locally, and may also provide some cover for psychiatric care. If you already have a pre-existing medical condition, your insurance premiums will be impacted, although it is still possible to source the policy you need.

Check out Compare Insurance now to discover the wide range of policies available in the UAE and worldwide.

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