How can I be insured for medical care abroad ? FAQs

Travel insurance is for everyone when staying abroad. There are several types of travel insurance covering you regardless of the purpose of your stay abroad: studies, business travel, expatriation, tourism, pvt.

What is travel insurance?

Travel insurance is a non-compulsory contract that allows the policyholder to cover himself against incidents that may occur before and during the trip. The decision to take out a travel insurance policy is the best thing to do, in order to benefit from compensation in the event of an unexpected situation
Nevertheless, it is compulsory to enter Algeria, China, Cuba and Russia. Moreover, depending on the country you are travelling to, the risks involved are greater. For example, in Australia or the USA, where health care costs are among the highest in the world.

How do I buy travel insurance?

Before you buy travel insurance, you should first consider your needs by asking yourself the following questions:
– Where are you going? What is the level of risk?
– How long will you be staying?
– What are the conditions under which you are travelling (simple trip, business trip, etc.)?

What does travel insurance cover?

Travel insurance covers the following

• Medical expenses
• Civil liability for damage caused to a third party
• Compensation in case of loss of your luggage
• Assistance and repatriation in case of problems during a trip

In order to choose the most comprehensive travel insurance, you should compare to find the one that suits you best in terms of coverage:

• The maximum limits for medical expenses
• Compensation procedures, claims reporting, availability of the assistance number (companies available 24/7 should be preferred)
• The steps to be taken in the event of hospitalisation
• The possibility of choosing a doctor and/or hospital
• Whether or not you need to obtain your insurer’s agreement before incurring expenses or advancing the costs
• The countries covered
• Exclusions and limits of cover.

Find out more about our travel insurance policies.

Remember that there is no such thing as zero risk and that taking out travel insurance gives you peace of mind!

In the event of an accident or illness abroad, your assistance and travel insurance contracts can guarantee you assistance or compensation. Under what conditions do they intervene and what guarantees do you have?

How to distinguish between an insurance contract and an assistance contrac?

An insurance policy provides you with financial compensation in the event of an accident.

An assistance contract guarantees you material and logistical support in the event of an incident.

These are therefore two quite distinct guarantees.

Services offered by the assistance contract

An assistance contract will take care of logistics and organisation.
If you are seriously ill or cause yourself a serious injury while travelling in a country that does not have sufficient medical facilities to cure you, assistance will guarantee repatriation.
Unlike some insurance policies, an assistance contract is completely optional. However, it can be comfortable to take out one when a situation requires emergency assistance.

The guarantees offered by the insurance contract

Travel insurance is a term that includes different types of insurance for a trip:

• Travel assistance insurance: the solution if you need medical help or have problems with your car while travelling.
• Cancellation insurance: this insurance comes into play if you have to cancel your trip. The insurer reimburses the costs of your trip.
• Luggage insurance: you are compensated if your luggage is stolen or damaged

Unlike assistance, insurance involves financial compensation, a refund, when the insured risk occurs. This is the case with health insurance, which will compensate you for your medical expenses if you fall ill abroad.

It is essential to have a contract that insures you and offers you assistance services. Assistance alone is not enough abroad. Travel insurance is much more extensive than travel assistance. Taking out travel insurance is the best way to leave with peace of mind!

Medical costs abroad are often much higher than in France and social security does not cover you everywhere.
It’s important to make sure you benefit from the right international health insurance when you’re going abroad for a variety of reasons.

What health cover is there without international health insurance?

Very often, the cover you have in your home country is not valid abroad.

There are two main reasons why you will not be able to count on Social Security coverage:

• Not systematically covered
• Reimbursement on the basis of French rates.

In Europe, the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) is not enough to be well covered.

Finally, if you have a premium bank card, the travel insurance will not be valid if you do not use your card to pay for your stay in full. Classic cards do not provide broader coverage. It is not possible to customise cover with a bank card. Insurance cover with bank cards is usually valid for three months or 90 days.

Immediate cover by taking out health insurance

International health insurance covers you against some major risks:

• Financial risk: health costs vary greatly from one country to another and can rise quickly. The insurance covers your expenses and prevents you from having to pay in advance in the event of hospitalisation.
• Health risk: in some parts of the world, medical facilities are very limited. It is important to have extensive repatriation assistance coverage to compensate for local shortcomings.
• Risk of access to medicine: the public structures of certain countries do not always allow a choice of doctor or hospital and the time taken to access care is very long.
  The insurance allows the reimbursement of care provided by private medicine, with a free choice of doctor or hospital, throughout the world

The benefits of health insurance abroad

The insurance offers many advantages such as

• Complementary guarantee to social protection: it covers loss of luggage, theft, destruction of all or part of the luggage
• Reimbursement of medical and health costs: the insurer sets a ceiling according to the contract chosen.
• Civil liability cover: this covers the costs of damage caused to others, to other people’s property and to social security abroad.

Having good health cover is essential if you want to travel abroad with peace of mind!

We recommend the insurance contract adapted to your destination country.
Our insurance covers you all over the world but depending on the geographical area or purpose of the stay, it is important to check your coverage.
If you are going on a trip or on a mission to a country other than the one for which you have taken out your insurance, you may not be insured if it is a country with an unstable political climate.
It is strongly advised when you go to countries at risk to ask us about the suitable contract.

What are the exclusions of coverage in an insurance contract?

Before you purchase health insurance, be sure to read the policy exclusions in the policy’s terms and conditions. Insurance exclusions mean that certain treatments are excluded. One of the most common exclusions for international health insurance is pre-existing conditions.
All insurance companies have exclusions. Companies offering international health insurance are not required to cover medical history and may also refuse to cover a person if the risk of serious illness during their policy is high.
General exclusions apply to almost all policies. They include:

•  Pre-existing conditions
• Voluntary self-injury
• Cosmetic surgery not resulting from an accident or illness. These are not covered and are the decision of the insured.
• Sleep, weight loss, rejuvenation and detoxification cures…
• Extreme and dangerous sports
• Care in institutions, such as thalassotherapy establishments, retirement homes or hospitalization in medium or long stay centers
• Alcohol, medication and drug abuse
• Crime
• War or terrorism

The exclusion of epidemic risks is also a classic insurance exclusion. However, the Covid-19 crisis has shown us that exceptions are possible, as many insurers cover Covid-related care.

The insurance that accompanies your credit card (Visa, Mastercard, American Express) is more like assistance contracts that assist you in the event of incidents, for a short period of time without offering you very important health insurance coverage and in no case if you stay more than 3 consecutive months abroad. They are interesting (for those of “high-end” cards such as Gold or Premier or Infinity) but are still to be used in addition to specific insurance.

The majority of people choose insurance from the 1st euro over a complementary insurance to the CFE. This choice can be explained for various reasons:

It is often easier to have only one contact
The overall rate of your health cover is often lower with insurance at the 1st euro without intervention by the CFE (if you add the CFE contribution and the amount of the complementary)
The CFE is limited to people who have worked in France or French and is not always suitable for citizens of the world.
You can find out your contribution to the CFE by consulting the rates of the CFE.
For more information on choosing the best medical insurance solution abroad, contact one of Mondassur’s advisers, we will take the time to analyze your situation and advise you best according to your personal situation and your needs.

The CFE (Caisse des Français de l’Étranger) assures you abroad with the limits of coverage of the ceilings of the French social security. It is highly recommended to take out a supplement to support the remaining due after the reimbursement of the CFE, as is the case with a traditional French complementary mutual. In some countries, such as the United States and countries with higher medical costs than in France, this is essential. Let us take an example to better understand: The reimbursements for CFE care are limited to the rates negotiated by French social security, taking 70% or 100% depending on the case. For a consultation with a general practitioner whose reimbursement by social security is limited to 25 euros, you will be reimbursed by CFE 70% of this amount, or 17.50 euros. If your consultation was 60 euros or even 150 euros, it will remain at your expense 60-17.50 = 42.50 euros or 150-17.50 = 132.50 euros. The additional CFE will reimburse the part remaining at your expense according to the guarantees you have chosen. Mondassur offers the GoldExpat contract at the 1st euro without intervention from the CFE or Goldexpat as top up to the CFE with formulas with variable reimbursement ceilings. These insurance contracts allow you to limit your dependents which can be very important on expensive medical care.

Unlike a supplemental CFE, an insurance at the 1st euro pays for your medical expenses from the first euro spent without further intervention by an organization.

In countries such as the United States or Canada (but also in Australia, Japan, etc.), the cost of medical care is very high.
Unfortunately, an accident or illness does not only happen to others. Thus, if you encounter this type of situation, it is essential to have an insurer to support you financially in case of need for medical care in these countries.
You will be reimbursed for your medical expenses, which can amount to tens of thousands of euros in many countries. If you are going to these countries as part of your studies, internship, PVT and even professional stay, it is mandatory to take out travel insurance.