Glossary
Coverage zone
The geographic area within which a health insurance policy covers care - for example worldwide, worldwide excluding the United States, or a specific regional zone.
The coverage zone determines both what is covered and the price of the policy: since medical fees vary enormously from one country to another, a policy that includes the United States is structurally more expensive than one that excludes it, US medical fees being among the highest in the world.
A zone's commercial name (“worldwide”, for example) isn't enough to know exactly what it covers: two insurers can define the same label differently, in particular on how they treat stays in the insured person's home country or country of nationality. The detail must be checked in the policy's terms and conditions, not just in the sales brochure.
Example
A policy taken out with a 'worldwide excluding United States' coverage zone does not cover care received during a stay in the United States, even a short one, unless a specific option is included in the contract.
Also searched as: geographic coverage zone · coverage area