International Medical Insurance

For the first time in my life, I've had to shop around for medical insurance.  Now, I see what everyone is complaining about!  

We've been really fortunate thus far to have either Army medical coverage (basically free) or BCBS of Illinois (heavily subsidized by my employer).  Now, that we're paying out of pocket for the whole thing, we've had to shop around some. 

We came across some really interesting things when researching international medical insurance:

• Coverage Models:  It's a whole lot cheaper if you never step foot in the US or Canada.  Because the cost of care is so much more expensive in North America, you'll pay about half as much for premiums if you sign up for coverage excluding the US and Canada.  
• Maternity Riders:  We were surprised to see that you have to sign up for a separate maternity rider, which almost doubles your premium if you're planning to have kids (and you have to wait a year before the benefits kick in).  Yeah, believe it or not, we will probably have another baby at some point.  We ultimately decided not to sign up for the maternity rider after talking to other missionaries who have had babies in Kenya.  It looks like its a lot cheaper to pay out of pocket to have a baby than to pay for 2 years for a maternity rider.
• Preexisting Conditions:  Most of you probably know this (we've been living in a dream world, I guess), but most insurers won't cover preexisting conditions.  
• Convenience Medications:  Who would've thought that Ortho-Tricyclene was a convenience medication?  I guess they do that to promote their Maternity Rider.

Despite all of the surprises with international medical insurance, we're thankful that we have the resources to afford the premiums.  We've been really blessed with good medical care in Kenya, as well.  One of the Kenyan Board Members is a family physician, and she will care for our family while we're overseas.  God is good!