Glossary of International Health Insurance Terms

Beneficiary:

The party (either an individual or legal entity) whom an insurance policyholder assigns as the recipient of policy benefits in the event of death to the insured.

Co-Insurance:

Coinsurance is measured in terms of percentage of individual claim on top of whatever amount paid by the insured person as deductible.  For a 20% (80/20) coinsurance clause, the insured person pays 20% of his covered loss (in addition to deductible) while the insurance company makes up the balance.  There is usually a preset ceiling as a form of stop-loss for the insured person.  Using the example of 20% coinsurance, an additional claim of $10,000 would result in the insured person being obliged to pay another $2000.

Chronic condition:

A chronic condition refers to a long term suffering of certain medical disorder whereby treatments are known to bring relief but now cure, e.g. asthma.

Deductible / Excess:

This is similar to excess and refers to the pre-agreed amount that the insured is obliged to pay before an insurance company steps in to cover the additional expenses.

Emergency Reunion and Repatriation Benefits:

Emergency reunion reimburses any travel related costs to bring a family member to the insured person who is in critical condition.  Repatriation benefit refers to the provision of free-of-charge extraction services of the deceased policyholder back to his/her country of residence.

Exclusions:

These form the exemptions of any insurance coverage.  The most cited examples are: any associated expenses from drug abuse, pre-existing health conditions, pregnancy, voluntary engagement in harmful activities, participation in certain sports/adventures, expenses incurred from war, insurrection, riot, etc.

Hazardous Sports & Activities Coverage:

In general, insurance companies and travel protection providers do not cover medical bills and/or travel cancellation related to dangerous sport/activities.  However, there are some policies which provide dangerous sports riders to at least partially offset these exclusions.

Maximum Policy Coverage:

This caps the amount of money that the insurance company is willing to pay if the event being insured happens.

Premiums:

This refers to the investment you put up in exchange of an insurance policy or trip protection plan.  Travel related health insurance and trip protection policy is paid 100% upfront, while policyholders have the flexibility to pay the premiums in monthly, quarterly, semi-yearly or yearly.

Pre-existing Medical Conditions:

Pre-existing Medical condition refers to any health condition that has been affecting the insured (and other covered persons) well before any plan or policy is taken up.

Underwriting:

Underwriting involves the study of the profitability that an event can take place, the establishment of possible cost, and if it makes sense for the insurance company to undertake such risk.