Moving to Bermuda - tips

[Red_Fox22]

Hello

An exciting opportunity has landed in my lap involving a move from the rainy, over taxed and depressing UK to the sun kissed island of Bermuda.

There are a couple of concerns from a health perspective:

1. The work permit/visa requires a health check up.

2. It looks as if my employer's health cover would subsidise the costs of insulin and glucose monitors but would specifically exclude cover in relation to diabetic complications. So I would need to pay privately if anything did go wrong which wont be cheap.


On point 1, I am fairly relaxed about this, this seems to be more of a check for contagious diseases and I doubt my T1D would prevent a work visa being granted.

Point 2 is more of a worry, I have private medical cover in the UK whom I could approach and see if they would extend cover to Bermuda but I think that is a long shot. I suppose I would always move back to the UK if things went badly wrong and benefit from the NHS treatment but that seems extreme.

Moves offshore must happen for people with T1d so was just wondering what experience if any people have.

 

[Zinadane]

It's an interesting one.
First thought. Pretend you still live in UK. Come back twice a year get your check ups, meds etc.
Of course, I know this won't work.
Good luck, hope it works out!

 

[oldgreymare]

Hello

An exciting opportunity has landed in my lap involving a move from the rainy, over taxed and depressing UK to the sun kissed island of Bermuda.

There are a couple of concerns from a health perspective:

1. The work permit/visa requires a health check up.

2. It looks as if my employer's health cover would subsidise the costs of insulin and glucose monitors but would specifically exclude cover in relation to diabetic complications. So I would need to pay privately if anything did go wrong which wont be cheap.


On point 1, I am fairly relaxed about this, this seems to be more of a check for contagious diseases and I doubt my T1D would prevent a work visa being granted.

Point 2 is more of a worry, I have private medical cover in the UK whom I could approach and see if they would extend cover to Bermuda but I think that is a long shot. I suppose I would always move back to the UK if things went badly wrong and benefit from the NHS treatment but that seems extreme.

Moves offshore must happen for people with T1d so was just wondering what experience if any people have.

Hi @Red_Fox22,

That sounds an exciting opportunity!

Working abroad, being a T1D, has never caused me an issue for work visas. It is good that your employer's programme should cover your normal treatment consumables. Regarding cover exclusions, it is really important to know how specifically the policy would seek to define diabetes related exclusions. My guess is that acute hospital treatment for hypo and/or DKA events would be excluded. After these, it may depend on whether you have any already diagnosed diabetes linked conditions - neuropathy, retinopathy, kidney issues, etc. I believe few private insurers will now consider covering these on an ongoing basis, i.e., past the first year of discovery/treatment.

The grey area to negotiate in depth with insurers is what I'd call "condition creep". We all know we may have higher risk for say CVD/stroke/ kidney/liver events, but this shouldn't be an excuse to exclude if we haven't experienced these specifically previously (though may affect pricing!). This is worth exploring in depth, as typically policy wording is deliberately vague until you've actually submitted a claim...

Things to explore -

a) Investigate how the Bermuda healthcare system works and what hospital stays/diagnostics/medications typically cost if self funded. I found paying outright for selective treatment in Bangkok and Singapore surprisingly affordable compared to UK private or US costs. A contingency savings fund may give you some piece of mind.

b) Research possible private insurance options to top up your employers' policy. To my knowledge, all insurance policies are tied to your country of legal residence, including access to free NHS services*, - typically defined where you spend 6+ months of the year. But there are quite a few options for 'Expat' health insurance, may be worth a Google search.

c) small silver lining as added incentive to keep your glycemic control as good as possible, can be easier said than done with a new job and International move.

* You will never be refused emergency care under the NHS, but may be billed later on, as your UK GP practice will be required at some point in the accounting cycle to certify that you are registered and UK resident.

Hope this helps!