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Insuring Those Who Serve


Facing a medical crisis is difficult at any time. When it happens far from home, family, and familiar medical facilities it can be devastating. Having good, accessible insurance can relieve some of the concern and the financial burden of medical care overseas. One insurance provider that has been serving cross-cultural workers in Asia for years is Talent Trust Consultants (TTc).  

To find out more about the background and services of TTc and the current situation in Asia for medical insurance, ChinaSource got in touch with Nathan Lyon the CEO of TTc. Nathan comes with a great deal of experience in living and working cross-culturally. He grew up as a TCK (third culture kid) living in Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Malaysia and has lived in Malaysia for the past nine years with his wife Ruth and their three children, Joshua, Axy and Hannah. 

ChinaSource:  How did TTc get started? What is its unique mission? 

Nathan: My father started TTc in 1991 to provide missionaries with world class, but cost effective medical insurance. It actually got started as a favour to a friend.   

In 1990 my family moved to Thailand from the UK. It was about this time that my parents became Christians.  The first weekend we were in Bangkok we were in a bookshop and met a family that was similar to mine, a Chinese/Malaysian mother, an English father, and sons who were in the same classes at school as my sister and meThey invited my parents to church (something we never did while we were in the UK) and as this seemed like a good way to meet new people my parents agreedLet's say they found more than what they were expecting.  Through church we met many missionaries, and one Sunday we ended up having lunch with Steve, the director of what is now Mercy Ministries, YWAM's humanitarian arm that focuses on issues such as human trafficking and refugees. 

At that time Mercy Ministries was involved in serving Cambodian refugees coming in to Thailand.  In the previous year a young man on Steve’s team had broken his leg in the refugee camp. The roads were poor in that area and the camp was several hours away from any hospital so he was airlifted by the Thai army to Bangkok.  Unfortunately he did not have insurance and the cost for the airlift was high. Calls went out all over the world to cover these bills, but this experience caused Steve to realise they needed to find an insurance solution for their people. 

However, local insurance plans only covered people when they were in Thailand and would not have covered a medical evacuation plans from the workers' home countries basically had an extra zero on the end of the premiums, and were unaffordable. 

My dad had gone to Thailand as a financial consultant, and he explained to Steve that although he didn’t do insurance, he did know people who worked in Lloyd’s of London, the largest specialist insurance marketplace in the world.  After some phone calls he was able to create a group plan for Steve, some of his people, and a few other missionaries from different organisations who had heard about what was being created.  Initially this was it. My dad felt that he was just a businessman who was a Christian, and this was a way that he could serve missions.  In about three years the policy grew to 45 members. My dad felt God say to him that he should stop doing his other business activities and just do TTc.  This was a big step, but he took it, and within six weeks TTc’s membership went from 45 members to well over 180.  We have continued to grow and today we cover 7,000 people in 135 countries. 

 I came to work with TTc nine years ago, and took over from my dad two years later when he retired due to illness, which he has now happily been treated for. 

ChinaSource: What are the particular challenges of providing insurance to overseas workers? Are any of these specific to China? 

Nathan: There are a number of aspects to providing overseas care which can be challenging, including differing government regulations, language issues, and in the case of more remote locations, knowing what healthcare options are available.  This is where we have benefitted from partnering with Aetna to execute the provision of service for our members around the world. Their experience and network of contacts allows us to have a truly global footprint that many larger organisations would struggle to match. 

One issue that is specific to China in recent years is the rise of what have been termed “Platinum Tier” medical facilities.  These medical facilities charge significantly more than their counterparts, and in some cases significantly higher fees than developed country standards.  The list of current platinum tier hospitals in China includes: 

  • American Medical Center 
  • Parkway Health Clinic & Gleneagles Medical and Surgical Centre 
  • Oasis International Hospital 
  • Beijing & Shanghai United Family Hospitals 
  • Shanghai Redleaf Women’s Hospital 
  • International SOS Clinics (Several locations) 
  • Global Healthcare Shanghai Ltd. 
  • Shanghai East International Medical Center 

Excluding claims from these facilities, China is a relatively cheap country for medical claims, but the cost of these medical facilities is transforming China into one of the most expensive medical destinations outside of the United States.  Managing costs and communicating to our members about this situation, as well as dealing with our member’s expectations, may become an issue in China if we continue to see a rise in usage at these facilities. 

Finally, there is ongoing issue of balancing the benefits offered by the insurance plan and the cost of the premiums charged for the planA plan that covers everything would be cost prohibitive for missions, but we need to have a plan that is effective and useful.  In order to best balance this cost/benefit challenge, we have designed our policies based on industry standards, our own experience through the years, and our expectations for the future.  This said, on occasion things do come up that may fall outside of the scope of coverage of our plan, but is something that we feel should be covered.  This is where our Mercy Fund steps in.  Our Mercy Fund is a resource that is built up from a portion of our income through the years that we have set aside to allow us to step in and help in unusual situations. 

ChinaSource: What do overseas workers need to keep in mind as they look for insurance options?  

Nathan: We highly recommend choosing a long-term insurance option if a worker is going to be in the field for more than a year.  There are a number of short-term options available, in fact we have one, however these are not suitable for someone who plans on being in the field long term.  The issue with short-term plans is that they are designed for trips. These trips can be for up to year, but after a year the insured person is given a new plan.  As the new plan is unrelated to the earlier plan, any conditions that may have started during the earlier plan will not be covered.  In the case of long-term illnesses like diabetes, asthma, heart conditions, etc. this can be very costly, and in most cases can actually mean that person could end up becoming uninsurable in the future, certainly in the field, and depending on the home country even at home. 

A second thing to keep in mind is to find a company that is trustworthy and easy to work with should tragedy strike and their services are needed. At TTc our role is to stand on the side of our members and assist them.   

It is also key who we partner with to provide the best service to our members. Currently we partner with Aetna International.  In the past few years there have been several situations where Aetna has gone beyond the call of duty and provided great service to our members.    

The first case that comes to mind was that of a baby born at 24 weeks in Chang Mai. I was not even aware of this event when Aetna contacted me and told me that this case would exceed the level of cover in a matter of weeks.  Normally with insurance if this happens the family is basically on their own but in this case Aetna asked us if we would match a contribution from them to raise the level of cover by an additional US$50,000.  This was not something they were in anyway obligated to do.   

The second is a recent example that I have been dealing with where a family had a baby with congenital anomalies, and this child is likely to need about US$95,000 of treatment in the first year.  Again, I was not aware of the case until Aetna brought it to my attention. What had happened was that unfortunately the members had not added the child to their policy after birth.  Normally this would mean that the child was not covered and that would be the end of the insurer's obligation.  However, Aetna took the compassionate view and recognised that this was a very difficult time for the family and agreed to cover the child’s treatment. 

ChinaSource: How can TTc help those who are looking for coverage for themselves and their families? 

Nathan: At TTc we aim to offer the best service that is also friendly and approachable.  We offer individual and group plans, and can offer a wide range of options to meet most needs.  I have a great,  easytotalkto team who are happy to go through your specific circumstances and explore what is best for you.  Our team are based in Malaysia which is in the same time zone as most ChinaSource readers, so arranging calls or Skype meetings is very easy.  

For more information about Talent Trust Consultants and the insurance plans they offer, see their website at talent-trust.com 

Image Credit: Hospital by · · · — — — · · ·, on Flickr

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ChinaSource Team

ChinaSource Team

Written, translated, or edited by members of the ChinaSource staff.          View Full Bio


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