APRIL International: a broker-administrator placing expatriates' health cover with Groupama Gan Vie and Chubb

APRIL International is the brand under which APRIL International Care France, a company of the APRIL group, designs, distributes and administers international health policies. It is not the insurer: it presents itself as an insurance broker registered with ORIAS, and acts as the policy administrator on behalf of the insurers.

For the individual expatriate policy MyHealth International, the product information document names Groupama Gan Vie as the insurer for medical expenses and protection benefits, and Chubb European Group SE as the insurer for repatriation assistance and personal liability. It is therefore to these insurers that the question of financial strength ultimately applies.

The group also publishes a list of partner insurers (Allianz, AXA, Chubb, Groupama Gan Vie, Swiss Life, MGEN IB, among others) without stating which insurer carries which product: for any other policy in the range (stays, studies, working holiday visas), you need to read the information document specific to the product.

The policy can be taken out as first-euro (or first-dollar) cover, or as a top-up to the Caisse des Français de l'étranger; in that case, CFE membership must be maintained throughout the term of the policy. It is open to individual and family enrolment, with a compulsory health questionnaire.

The maximum age at enrolment is up to 74 years⁷ in general, but falls to up to 60 years⁶ when the declared country of residence is among the countries with high healthcare costs, including the United States and the United Kingdom. A minimum age only applies to children insured on their own.

The general terms and conditions in force offer several medical expenses plans (Explore, Essential, Extensive, Elite). The entry-level Explore plan is capped at €500,000¹ per year; the higher plans raise this cap, up to no cap at all outside certain countries for the top plans. Maternity is not covered under the Explore plan.

• Medical expenses: hospitalisation, outpatient care and, depending on the plan, dental, optical and maternity.
• Emergency medical evacuation or repatriation is included in all plans; full assistance (repatriation to the country of residence, accommodation after hospitalisation, search costs) is offered as an option.
• Optional protection benefits, reserved for a narrower adult age range than medical expenses cover.

Medical expenses cover is offered with no deductible by default. Members can lower their premium by choosing an annual deductible, from from €500³ to up to €5,000², the highest level being reserved for the Extensive and Elite plans, or a co-payment level.

Certain benefits are subject to waiting periods: 6 months⁴ for optical, and at least from 12 months⁵ for maternity. Dental waiting periods vary according to the type of treatment. They may be waived if the insured person can show recent equivalent cover.

No price schedule is published: the premium is calculated on quotation according to the country of residence, age, family composition, plan, deductible and declared medical history. It is payable in euros or US dollars, in a single payment or in instalments.

We were unable to establish the list of excluded countries, which is referred to the website and customer service, or the details of all waiting periods, which appear in a section of the general terms and conditions that we could not read in full. The group's commercial pages and an older information document also mention other plan names and a different breakdown into areas: only the contractual documents dated at enrolment are authoritative.

1. Is the country of residence on the list with a lower age limit? Beyond that limit, enrolment is impossible, not just more expensive.
2. Does the chosen area include the United States? Outside that area, US coverage is limited to short-term accidents and emergencies.
3. Which exclusions did the health questionnaire lead to being entered on the certificate? Prior conditions excluded at enrolment remain the insured person's responsibility.
4. As a top-up to the CFE, is membership of the fund actually maintained? Cancelling it undermines the very logic of the plan.