Being a digital nomad could be a dream lifestyle for many especially when you consider perks like the ability to work from home, ability to pick when to work, ability to state your terms and conditions, ability to work on as much or as little work as you want, absence of recurring bills like transportation and clothing allowance, financial cushion, job security without fear of being fired, location independence and more. While you could ride on the thrills of your job, you are advised not to forget to consider seemingly inconsequential things like your health and more specifically, your health insurance coverage.

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Myths surrounding health insurance for digital nomads

The following are widespread myths that border on health insurance that could be the reason why you might not have previously been receptive to the idea of having health insurance:

• “You can pay for your medical needs on the go whenever such a need arises.”

As simple as this might sound, this could be a more expensive alternative to having health insurance. This assertion is based on the fact that you might not have been previously aware of how much it costs to have medical attention in the country you are visiting and in the case that you were judging this based on what obtains in your home country, you could fall short of sufficient money. What then happens is that you either don’t get the quality of medical attention you need, you don’t get any medical attention or you waste time trying to solicit for more funds, where time is a luxury you might not always have.

Having health insurance saves you from unnecessary emotional distress and financial worries.

• “You can always go back to your home country when you need medical attention”

As easy as this sounds, you might also face challenges trying to go through with it. Such challenges could be: in situations where there has been a life-threatening incidence, accident, or the need for organ replacement, will there be the luxury of time to travel back to your home country? Does your home medical insurance cover that illness you want to go treat at home? Does the health insurance plan of your visiting community hold better coverage for you as to what obtains to that at home?

• “You can always get health insurance wherever and whenever you need it”

As true as this seems, would you always have the luxury of time to peruse every health insurance plan brought your way in every place you go? Wouldn’t you rather go for a plan that covers you wherever you are, whether at home or abroad? Yes? Then opt for Safety Wing, an organization created by digital nomads for fellow digital nomads. With Safety Wing you can indeed live life as nomadically as you want without stress or fears.

Why do you need health insurance?

Even though you might be inclined to think that your job or business affords you flexibility and an escape from the travel and work rigors of a 9-5 regular job which could make such workers regularly fall sick or be prone to certain work-related illnesses, the truth remains that no one is ever free from falling ill and there are cases were urgent medical attention could be needed. It is because of these, that you are advised to take care of your health and there is no better and more effective way to do this than getting health insurance.

With health insurance, you need not worry about your short or long term health situations. Instead, you can forge on living your nomadic lifestyle and enjoying its offerings.

Types of health insurance

The following will guide you on the different health insurance types available and which to opt for:

• “Home” health insurance: this is the kind of health insurance that covers you whenever you are in your home country. The organization(s) that provides this, the terms and conditions of the agreement, and the extent to which you are covered are all bound by the laws that obtain in your local jurisdiction and are null outside it.

• Travel health insurance: not primary health insurance, this is that insurance type that covers your health needs whenever you are “abroad”. This insurance and its’ terms of the agreement are only to the extent of the borders of your ‘visiting’ country. With this, you need not bother about costs for emergency medical treatment when “abroad”.

• Emergency medical transportation: this insurance type majorly covers your transportation to medical facilities as in many cases you have to pay for medical treatment on arrival at such facilities, especially if your health insurance policy doesn’t cover this. To prevent issues with seemingly high medical charges, you could opt for health insurance policies that include emergency transportation.

All of the aforementioned are offered by SafetyWing.

To sign up for coverage please click here. SafetyWing

SafetyWing is an insurance outfit created by other digital nomads to cater to all your nomadic needs, including health insurance. It is a startup company that has the long-term goal of building a social safety net that is independent of local dictates for your benefit and it has the backing of one of the highly ranked insurance companies in the world, Tokio Marine. What this means is that in the unlikely event that Safety Wing falls short of their terms of the agreement, you can take this up with Tokio Marine.

What do you stand to gain with SafetyWing? With SafetyWing, you

• get a third of the price you would have been charged by other companies in the insurance space,

• have the benefit of home country coverage. That is when in your home country, their insurance plan covers you for 30 out of 90 days if you are outside the United States and for 15 days if you are in the United States,

• can opt for private healthcare,

• have the advantage of direct billing to most hospitals,

• can auto-extend your billing. That is, like a normal subscription, you can choose your start date and your end date. In the event that you did not choose an end date, it automatically rolls-over until you eventually decide to cancel.

The regular fee to be paid for your health insurance might seem high and maybe even unnecessary but then, the benefits of this which include: the confidence that you can live as mobile as you want and the fact that you need not worry about medical fees when their need arise definitely overpower the downside. Health insurance is something you can and should have.

This is a sponsored post by SafetyWing. To sign up for coverage please click here.