International Private Healthcare Ltd

their health insurance policy for expats seems much cheaper than German private health insurance (some of the fancy extras that you get from the german insurance cos are not covered so I guess that is where they save money)

they claim to be reinsured at Lloyds of London so in theory it should be fine

however, before entrusting them with my health (and money) I want to check whether anyone has heard of them / used them / whatever

cheers
J

I think a friend in Köln uses those guys - but as his job allows him to spend significant amounts of time at home in the UK he is not entirely dependent on having sufficiently comprehensive health insurance here.

I have spent ages trying to get my health insurance sorted out here and also considered using UK health insurers as they were cheaper and I could understand exactly what I am covered for. I'm still trying to sort it out.

The key drawbacks of UK based international health insurance (in my limited experience):
- in Germany employers stop paying you after 6 weeks sick, and your health insurance picks up your salary costs. Uk based insurer won't cover this
- dental cover usually very limited on the international health cover
- need to pay for GP visits etc

I'd be interested to hear what else you find out, as I really need to get myself organised (think I'm going to get into trouble soon for still not having organised my health insurance)

apparently they do cover GP visits, but you are right about the long-term illness and the dental thing.

advantage of a UK-based plan is you do not pay into pflegeversicherung which is another 50 bucks a month or so (of which you pay 25)

I have posted the same question on toytownmunich (I think the community is bigger there so maybe more luck...)

As a freelancer and being lumbered with a 509€ monthly bill (raised from about 360€ last year) from the techniker Krankenkasse (which I have to pay in its entirety) I've told them to stuff it and am looking at UK insurance. At the moment the favourite seems to be BUPAs international cover, it's cheap and they've been in business a long time now so there is a certain amount of stability. There are as has been mentioned the restrictions of dental treatment and long term illnesses but I have the distinct advantage of a girlfriend from Poland and therefore reliable access to cheap (and good) dental treatment . I am however looking forward to a monthly health insurance bill of 153€ from the 1st of May. Also considering taking out a Berufsunfähigkeitsversicherung to cover me in the case of a long term problem.

I don't get why you don't just get German insurance. As a freelancer you can go private, whack up your Selbstbeteiligung and pay diddly-squat.

Looked at the German insurances on offer and the cheapest (good) ones were still 300+€ and that was without the worldwide evacuation cover that BUPA offered and with no guarantee that they wouldnt hike up the prices at the drop of a hat (and the way things are going over here with health insurance that is a probability).

Seeing as I'm fit and healthy (yes I know that's a gamble) I'd rather save hods and invest that saving in my future.

I'm also a freelancer and paying over €400 a month into a private health insurance, on top of that, I have to pay the first €1,000 medical costs myself every year. Unfortunately, I took some bad advice to go private when I started as a freelancer first, but at the time my husband was earning good money and the 3 kids were insured with him. Now he's unemployed and it may be that the whole family will have to be privately insured and I honeslty can't afford that - I would really welcome any suggestions on how I might be able get around this

It would depend on your exact personal situation, especially if you have any existing health problems but I would definately look at what British Insurance Companies are offering, OK they dont offer the extensive cover that German companies do but as you are expected to pay the first 1000€ anyway and with the monthly savings you could expect, it may be worthwhile.

I pay €220 a month inc. dental work, with €150 Selbstbeteiligung per year. Huk Coburg. Joined when I was 30 years old.

Really depends on what you're looking for although I'm based here in Germany my work takes me often to Japan, Russia amongst others I found that the International BUPA cover to be good and a lot cheaper, I'm covered for all countries apart from the USA and I have no great desire to work there.

I checked out some of the UK companies, but to be honest, I didn't understand a lot of what they were talking about and gave up on it. I wish I could find someone who knows more about all of this.

As for health problems, didn't have a one until hubby was layed off, now I've got high blood pressure

It depends how old you are, but if you're under the age limit (and I can never remember whether it's 50 0r 55) You can always change back to the state system and then the whole family is covered. I must admit, I'm not 100% sure if this is the case when you're self-employed, but I belive it is so. It would certainly be worth checking it out.

WOW, how much does insurance cost in this country???

Does anyone have any advice on whether to go state v private - I know how the state one functions but am finding it hard to be able to figure out how much I actually end up paying (state or privte)

€500/month as mentioned above seems ridiculous to me - thats over £4k a year!! I'm probably missing something.

Has anyone heard of MultiNational Underwriters, Inc. (MNU) (https://www.mnui.com)

They seem to offer pretty much everything for about 1 tenth of the price which makes me think that I seriously am missing something.

Can anyone help (as am currently living here with no insurance - which can't be good)??

Denis

Well, as a late "Einsteiger", I pay over 500€ a month, which I most certainly notice! However, I would be a bit careful in comparing costs with BUPA et al. In the UK BUPA and co. offer a top-up to the National Health Service and in particular do not cover chronic illnesses. I'm not aware what their International Insurance covers, but I would be very careful about checking out the details before signing a contract!

If you're relatively young, German health insurance is not that expensive when you consider that it covers EVERYTHING! How long it can remain that way, is another question entirely!

If anybody is interested I have the details on the three levels of cover with BUPA International. They aren't totally up to date but should give an indication on what to expect, just PM me your email address and I will forward them.

I didn't actually take them up but the top level cover would have cost me just under 300 quid per month to cover myself, wife and three kids.

Here is a summary of benefits of BUPA Internationals 'Lifeline' service.

http://www.bupa-intl.com/pdfs/products/lif...mmary_apr05.pdf

I am freelence and in my mid-30s and it costs me GBP1150/year for the Lifeline Gold Service. I had no problems with the service, but luckily not had to use it too often, and this gold service pays for all my GP costs and prescriptions, unless it is a pre-existing condition.
The only hassle can be getting the doctor to sign the claim forms, so that you send them off to BUPA who will transfer the money to any of your bank acounts (whether UK or German based).

Bupa-Is great-paying all my wifes fees for hospitals etc as she is expecting.

German insurance is expensive and German investments are crap its a global world

You also get your own website login to print off new claim forms, review or change your policy, etc. on BUPA

At the time I signed up - .which could have been in 1998 (been here too long ),
I looked at some other insurers who offered international cover and found BUPA to be the cheaper.

Another advertising on the Expat Telegraph is Medicare: http://www.medicare.co.uk but I have had no experience of them.

News on the Expat Telegraph indicates that:
'Health insurer Bupa has bought two overseas healthcare companies, creating a global enterprise covering nearly 650,000 expatriates.'

We've been private for 5 years here, Me 37 ,wife 40 child 7. Cost was 700Euros per month. Average claims per year around 1200 including dental. Just took out and annual policy from UK firm, same cover including GP visit but excluding Dental..1300GBP annually. Absolutely indefensible pricing of health insurance in Germany.

I've got a policy with IPH, and they are erratic with when they take money from your account which pisses me off greatly. But I'm paying 150Euros a month less, so its not soooo bad.

There's also some problem about paying the German version of NI (for pensions etc), as with IPH you don't pay it

have you ever had to file a claim? how were they?

Hi - having been shocked by the cost krankenversicherung in Germany I gave Bupa a call and got a quote of £77.65/month for their Internatioal Cover - classic (Gold quote was £96.89/month).

Does anyone know where I can get details of the minimum things that need to be covered in order to qualify for cover in Germany - per the Germany system?? (i.e. so I can check whether the classic cover is ok).

Really feel unhappy about paying a lot of dosh for healthcare when the worst thing that's ever happened was strained knee ligaments playing football.

@Denis. I feel most unhappy about paying any Insurance, but I suppose that is what they are there for. Cash in on the dosh when you have no claims, and as soon as you make a claim - they wont pay.
Thats life.

Have you got a car insurance ?? Do you claim on that every year `??

Stephen

Actually, after a lot more digging around the costs are not that bad. Got a quote from DVB Wintertur (http://entry.dbv-winterthur.de/b2c/_b2cprivat/startseite.jsp) for a total of €284 a month.

Given that the firm pays half of the total, the final amount is actually better than the initial Gold quote from Bupa (as that did not cover dental apart from
"accident related".

So all in all happy to pay £100 a month (although this was more than I was paying for the same cover when in the UK).

Sheers for all the info on the thread.

I'm having a weird time with these people.

I've started the cover in Feb, to date they've taken only two payments. Both in June. Nothing since.

I've also put in claim in and heard nothing.

A guy in work had the opposite. For two months instead of taking the monthly amount, they took the annual amount.

To say the least I'm having my doubts. But then again if they pay my claim whilst I've paid next to f*ck all, it's excellent value and I recommend them

do keep us posted pls. I really want to know how they are on processing claims. thanks

Well they did reply last week, and the forms I filled in and the doctors receipt were not enough. I've got to back to the doctors and give them some more forms to fill in. Which German doctors do not do for free.

On a lighter note, the op I had was on a, ahem, delicate area, in the doctors invoice it reads (as they itemise everything)

"Widening of Anus - 12,80"

Is that 12,80 cm?

Only on weekends