One in four expats has covered their family with new health insurance plans during the coronavirus pandemic, with 35.5 per cent adding family members to their current insurance plan.
Figures from Aetna International’s Expat Family Wellness Survey 2020 show 24.5 per cent of expats took out a new policy to provide cover for their family members. It also reveals that 82.6 per cent developed healthier habits during Covid-19 crisis
The report, which surveyed 1,000 expat families in the UK, US, Singapore and UAE, found that a further 15.9 per cent didn’t buy extra cover for their family members, but did consider it, while 7.3 per cent didn’t buy extra cover for their family members but would consider it for the future. Only 16.8 per cent did not consider buying extra cover for their family members
Overall, 60 per cent of respondents either added family members to an existing insurance plan or took out new cover so their immediate relatives could be added. Globally, 33 per cent of expats already had health insurance to cover themselves and their family members.
Expats in Singapore and the UAE were most likely to already have health insurance for themselves and their family members, with 45.2 per cent and 37.2 per cent respectively.
Only 21.6 per cent and 28 per cent of expats in the UK and US already had health insurance for themselves and their family members. But 45.9 per cent of expats in the US that did already have health insurance, added their family to their current plan, while 33 per cent of expats in the UK who said that they had health insurance bought a new plan so that family members would be covered
Of the 82.6 per cent of expats that developed healthier habits during COVID-19 crisis, 69.5 per cent did so because the pandemic made them aware of their own health.
Aetna International global medical director Dr Hemal Desai says: “The health crisis has clearly made people more aware of their own health. It’s heartening to see that people have been developing healthy habits to keep themselves well. Private medical insurance has become increasingly important for expats as a means of protecting one of their most valuable assets – their health and the health of their families. Organisations like ours are more than just an insurance provider. At Aetna, we are a health and wellness partner helping people access health care solutions for physical and mental health in a way that suits them, both online and in their local community. As the impact of Covid-19 continues it is more important than ever that people protect their own health and that of their family.”
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