At a glance
Do you know which countries have the highest medical costs? How can you best protect yourself?
Are you travelling or staying temporarily abroad? Watch out for medical costs that can be charged there, because the bill can be “steep”!
A bill that climbs quickly
No one is immune to an accident or an illness while travelling abroad. And yet the medical bill can climb very quickly there.
For example, in the USA, a simple doctor's consultation can cost you several hundred dollars. This amount can increase tenfold for a hospital stay for a minor issue.
In France, the daily price of a hospital room in a hospital centre can range from nearly €90 to more than €400, depending on the region and the hospital.
In the Principality of Monaco, it's not uncommon to be billed more than €2,000 for one night in hospital.
Big differences
These major disparities in medical or hospital costs exist not only between countries, but also between regions of the same country and between different hospitals or clinics in the same region. As a result, it's very hard for a hospitalised traveller to predict what costs will actually be charged.
The 15 most expensive countries
According to the WHO, the 15 countries where medical care is the most expensive are as follows:
- Switzerland - 2. Norway - 3. USA - 4. Monaco - 5. Luxembourg - 6. Sweden - 7. Denmark - 8. Australia - 9. Netherlands - 10. Austria - 11. Germany - 12. Canada - 13. France - 14. New Zealand - 15. Belgium
These are also the countries where hospital beds are the most expensive.
Bilateral agreements and the EHIC
To ensure that the medical costs billed to patients abroad are similar to those billed to local residents, bilateral agreements exist between Belgium and the other European Union countries, Liechtenstein, Norway, Iceland and Switzerland. These countries are covered by the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which you can get from your health insurance fund.
Other specific agreements have been concluded with, among others, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Morocco, Montenegro, Serbia, Tunisia, Turkey and Australia.
See the article “Medical costs abroad: EHIC or travel assistance?” on this topic.
But many countries have no such agreement. The classic example is the USA, a country where medical costs are nevertheless very high and remain entirely the patient's responsibility. See the article “Medical costs in the USA” on this topic.
Parallel health systems
What's more, in many countries (particularly those with lower income per capita), there are parallel healthcare structures:
- a structure intended for residents or the local population (often subsidised by local authorities). Medical costs there are much lower than in Belgium, but most of these are hospitals that don't always offer sufficient guarantees in terms of infrastructure, comfort or follow-up care.
- a structure used by a wealthier segment of the population or by expatriates, and towards which Western tourists are most often directed. These are mostly private clinics with good facilities, but which are infinitely more expensive than the hospitals described in the first point above.
How can you best protect yourself?
Your health insurance fund: Before travelling abroad, check with your health insurance fund to find out their reimbursement cap and to check whether your EHIC covers you in the country/countries you're visiting.
Travel insurance: Then supplement your medical cover by taking out travel insurance. Choose the assistance plan that best matches the type of trip and destination.
For example, for a trip to the USA, opt for an assistance plan that provides a sufficiently high reimbursement of medical costs, given that healthcare in that country is very expensive and that your health insurance fund provides no financial contribution.
However, the reimbursement amount doesn't necessarily need to be “unlimited”, since travel assistance companies often decide to organise an early medical repatriation as soon as the patient's health allows.
Don't forget that travel insurance will also step in for many other non-medical situations, such as the early repatriation of all insured persons following the death or hospitalisation of a relative, or following a claim at your home in Belgium, or in the event of a problem during the trip (loss or theft of documents or luggage, provision of money abroad, sending urgent medication, etc.).
