The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association on July 28 unveiled a suite of newly branded products to serve what it says is a thriving international private medical insurance business for multinational employers and people traveling overseas. The move comes at a time health insurers doing business in the international market segment say employers are looking to tighten their budgets for overseas benefits even as the demand for the products grows.
BCBSA spokesperson Eric Lail tells HPW that the expat/traveler coverages the association offers between Geo Blue and its international partner Bupa Global will now come under the Blue Cross Blue Shield Global brand name, keeping most of the product designs the same as before.
The freshly branded products sold by GeoBlue include Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Expat and Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Traveler. The expat product provides international major medical insurance and assistance services. “This plan is designed for employees on international assignments and their families when they leave their home countries for six months or more,” Lail says. The travelers’ insurance is a group supplemental medical benefit and service for business travelers outside of their home country for up to 180 days.
BCBSA said additional international travel insurance products for individuals and students will be renamed under the BCBS Global family sometime in the coming months.
The new launch also impacts Bupa Global, a BCBSA licensee that markets international health insurance outside the U.S. Bupa Global/BCBS Global’s co-branded products include Select, Premier, Elite, Ultimate and Major Medical, to offer consumers a range of coverage and price options.
Lastly, Lail says BlueCard Worldwide, a basic international benefit offered as part of most BCBS employer-sponsored health insurance policies, will be renamed Blue Cross Blue Shield Global Basic International Coverage. This coverage processes international claims and may reimburse medical providers or members for medical costs incurred abroad.
Date: August 16, 2016