When it comes to the functions of a family office, health insurance is not something that typically comes to mind. One reason for this could be the lack of comprehensive solutions available. Another could be that most family office professionals come from financial backgrounds rather than healthcare. However, health insurance is essential to risk management and should not be overlooked. In fact, it should be considered no different to financial investments, especially on an international level where aspects of compliance, policy modularity and terms of coverage come into play.
Family office challenges
It’s not uncommon for large family offices to have locations and employees in multiple countries. Nor is it unusual for wealth owners to reside in different jurisdictions at different times of the year – which makes traditional healthcare challenging. Coordinating a healthcare solution that can provide seamless coverage of medical services worldwide while complying with various international regulations can be complex.
To add to the complexity, high-net-worth individuals often have unique healthcare needs. They usually are supported by their personal assistants to centralise health subrogation concerns and benefit control. Even if the allocation of rights for data sharing is provided to the assistants, insurance programs and systems seldom support those needs. Accordingly, finding a healthcare solution that caters to that can be challenging.
In addition to this, family office service providers mainly specialise in investment advice, overlooking the health needs of clients.
The need for global health insurance coverage
Family offices don’t need to be health and insurance experts to know that when a wealth owner experiences a medical emergency in an exotic destination, they need the best care available with as little friction as possible. Furthermore, suppose they need to undergo an impromptu scan or seek the services of a local chiropractor. In that case, they do not want to worry about the hassle of finding the right provider and reviewing coverage for that provider and their potential membership in a network list of the insurer. Hence, it is crucial to have a trustworthy global health insurance provider that enables a free choice of doctors worldwide and clear and easy accessibility to care no matter where you are around the world, day or night.
A trustworthy health insurance provider can give clients easy access to medical care in various parts of the world while also diminishing the concern of coverage by insurance. With such a provider, clients can receive top-notch medical care without being shuffled from one facility to another, as is often the case with traditional insurance policies that provide limited coverage.
Integrating health insurance
It is crucial to integrate global health insurance into the strategic planning of family offices to avoid situations that may cause suboptimal medical treatments and to effectively address the diverse healthcare needs of high-net-worth individual clients.
The need for such coverage is not merely about managing emergencies. It extends to ensuring that under the full grant of review rights, family offices can access healthcare services without unnecessary administrative hurdles, especially when residing or travelling abroad.
PassportCard offers a unique solution in that it provides a free choice of medical providers around the world with 24/7 personal health care that is all handled inhouse from their Hamburg office, and simultaneously enables assistants of HNWIs to support the covered members with integrated reports and access to claim submission or data, for their support. In addition, the company provides all members with a payment card connected to its funds, enabling members to pay any medical provider around the world directly from their money.
About PassportCard
PassportCard is an international private health insurance provider controlled by White Mountains (NYSE: WTM, $4B)