medical insurance - does everyone have it?
Mar 7th 2008, 12:16 am
#1
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Joined: Jun 2006
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medical insurance - does everyone have it?
Hi,
Can anyone advise about medical treatment on Barbados? Do all expats get worldwide medical insurance? I think this must be necessary in case something very bad happens and you need to get back to the UK or go to the US for specialist treatment. Or can you get a lot of treatment for serious conditions on Barbados (paying direct - or isn't there some kind of reciprocal agreement with the UK on Barbados?)
My other question is that one member of my family has a pre-existing medical condition which wouldn't be covered by medcal insurance. If it was to recur would we be able to just go back to the UK and get treatment for it? (The kind of treatment if needed would take a few months anyway) I know NHS Direct say on their website thave you have to be 'resident' in the UK to get treatment and being non-resident means you are away for more than 3 months, but am I right in saying that you can return to the UK and live back there for a few months and get NHS treatment? And yet that can't seem right as then why do they talk about non-residents not being able to get treatment if people can just come back and become residents again and then get treatment. It seems a bit of a conundrum.
I'd be EXTREMELY grateful if anyone has any information about this as I don't think I can risk coming over to live on the island if this isn't sorted out.
Many thanks in advance!
Can anyone advise about medical treatment on Barbados? Do all expats get worldwide medical insurance? I think this must be necessary in case something very bad happens and you need to get back to the UK or go to the US for specialist treatment. Or can you get a lot of treatment for serious conditions on Barbados (paying direct - or isn't there some kind of reciprocal agreement with the UK on Barbados?)
My other question is that one member of my family has a pre-existing medical condition which wouldn't be covered by medcal insurance. If it was to recur would we be able to just go back to the UK and get treatment for it? (The kind of treatment if needed would take a few months anyway) I know NHS Direct say on their website thave you have to be 'resident' in the UK to get treatment and being non-resident means you are away for more than 3 months, but am I right in saying that you can return to the UK and live back there for a few months and get NHS treatment? And yet that can't seem right as then why do they talk about non-residents not being able to get treatment if people can just come back and become residents again and then get treatment. It seems a bit of a conundrum.
I'd be EXTREMELY grateful if anyone has any information about this as I don't think I can risk coming over to live on the island if this isn't sorted out.
Many thanks in advance!
