Pacific Prime analyses expat health
Health insurer Pacific Prime recently released research detailing the cost of health insurance for expatriates across 94 different countries
Overall, the report found that coverage tends to be costly, particularly in the Asia Pacific region (although the research reveals that such costs in this region are still not as high as in the US, which represented the most expensive overall premium cost). In the Asia Pacific, Hong Kong has the highest average health insurance premiums, at an average cost of US$10,391; but Pacific Prime says that this is not an unexpected figure, due to Hong Kong’s very high cost of living and the high volume of plans purchased there. Over 300,000 expats live in Hong Kong, and it has strong public health infrastructure; but while English is widely spoken in the country, a majority of its public hospitals focus on local patients who predominantly speak Cantonese and Mandarin. As a result, there is something of a language barrier, and the combination of this barrier and the often significant waiting periods means that expats are increasingly turning to private institutions for their healthcare.
China came second in the region in terms of average premium cost, at US$10,194, followed by Singapore ($9,050), the UAE ($7,927) and Thailand ($7,680). In broader global terms, the average cost of coverage in the US – the most expensive by quite a margin – was found to be $21,892, and the average cost in the UK $8,332. The lowest scoring country was Poland, with an average cost of $6,687, a finding that Pacific Prime found ‘a tad surprising’. “In Poland, health insurance is mandatory, with the insurance system solely financed by the National Health Fund which in turn is funded via mandatory tax deductions from all employed people,” said the report. “Because of this funding method, medical coverage is available for 98 per cent of people in Poland, which makes the system highly accessible … while keeping the cost of treatment fairly low.” Poland is also not a large draw for expats.
“While Pacific Prime expected countries like Singapore, China, the UK, Canada, Australia and the UAE to be in the top 20,” the report went on to say, “one country that was somewhat unexpected to see was Israel. With an average cost of US$10,125 – 46.3 per cent of the cost in the US – across all providers, demographics and plans, Israel just edges out China … to take its place as the third most expensive location in the report.” The reasons listed in the report for Israel cracking the top five most expensive countries were the high quality and technological advancement of its healthcare system, the high level of treatment carried out there – as its reputation has led to it becoming quite the destination for foreigners – its close ties with the US and the fact that it is considered to be quite a dangerous location, so to cover any potential losses, providers tend to practise higher pricing.