Health Insurance for Global Teams: Providing Cross-Border Support for Assignments, End-to-End

What’s the best way to protect your employees when they’re working abroad? Providing private international health insurance for small businesses is a great starting point. However, a health plan that reflects the reality of expat life takes this to another level and is the key to giving your staff genuine peace of mind.

When designing employee health insurance for overseas staff, there’s a lot to consider. Not only are health systems different around the world, but they also vary in quality, cost and availability from what an employee has experienced at home. This aspect, coupled with the emotional and practical challenges of adapting to completely new surroundings away from family and friends, can lead to anxiety. For these reasons, health insurance for global teams must focus on not only employees’ physical health, but also their mental well-being. This holistic, whole health approach ensures employees are better placed to deal with the challenges presented by an unfamiliar work environment and the demands of their new role.

Adding yet another layer to the complexities and considerations for cross-border employee health insurance, the services and resources globally mobile employees need extends beyond just their time on assignment. Each stage of the assignment journey presents specific challenges, and employees require support across all four phases of a typical assignment, including:

• Pre-departure
• Early assignment
• During the assignment, and
• At the end of the assignment

Once employees are selected, a pre-departure online medical assessment must be carried out to find out if there are any underlying health risks and to identify the medical needs of each employee and their families.

As employees begin their assignment, the emphasis shifts to resilience, early intervention and preventative care. As part of global health insurance for overseas teams, staff will need access to tools and resources via an online health platform to help them manage their mental health and make sure the transition is as seamless and stress-free as possible. By combating negative feelings, employees can approach their new adventure with greater confidence. Services should also include a multilingual contact centre which helps new arrivals navigate their way around any language barriers.

Support continues during the assignment. Easy-to-use online tools allow existing medical conditions to be managed more easily. In addition, there should be a strong emphasis on mental health among employee health insurance for overseas staff, with counselling and psychiatric care offered through programmes, such as an International Employee Assistance Programme. Throughout their assignment, employees are encouraged to take responsibility for their health and well-being. With services including Global Telehealth, they can become more proactive in monitoring their health and improving their lifestyle. And as the assignment ends and employees return home, they have the peace of mind in knowing that their health plan will provide uninterrupted cross-border employee health insurance cover throughout the repatriation phase.

This is a cost-effective way of designing health insurance for global teams, as it allows services to be assigned more accurately against the unique challenges they will face at each stage of the assignment.

International health insurance for small business

Cigna Health care is part of a global business that’s responsible for the health and well-being of over 190 million customers around the world. Why does this matter? In the context of health insurance for global teams, it gives our members access to an unrivalled network of health professionals, doctors and nurses. With local expertise and global reach, employees can get on with their lives safe in the knowledge that quality health care is always available to them and their families.

Because there are so many factors to consider, planning global health insurance for overseas teams can be daunting and it’s particularly challenging for small businesses to understand what they need to do. That’s where we come in and it’s the reason why we’ve made our health insurance for staff abroad easy to understand and manage.

We provide several health care plans which offer core cover for in-patient treatment, evacuation and repatriation and cancer treatment. Additional insurance cover can also be provided for out-patient treatment, maternity care and health & well-being services. Comprehensive and flexible, this coverage offers employers the chance to design a cross-border employee health insurance plan that reflects their duty of care and gives employees and their families the services and advice they need wherever they are located in the world. These solutions are also globally compliant. Our plans support businesses in over 30 countries and jurisdictions, and because we hold a global licence we can develop employee health insurance for overseas staff in other countries where there are specific compliance restrictions.

To achieve business success, it’s essential that employees remain motivated, engaged and, above all, healthy. By investing in quality health insurance for global teams and creating a supportive corporate culture that prioritises staff well-being, there’s no better way to protect your most important asset.

You know your business. We know global health insurance

No need for you to figure it all out on your own. Let’s work together to determine the right coverage for your needs. Our advisers are ready to speak with you on international health insurance for small businesses — explaining suitable options and outlining next steps towards cover. Click here to arrange a call with one of our advisers to look at your options and help you find the best solution.