As Donald Trump attends his second inauguration as US President in Washington DC today, his re-election could cause some international private medical insurance brokers (IPMI) to see a big increase in business, as some Americans consider relocating abroad, according to Joe Cronin, p
Cronin said the re-election of Trump “could be really good” for his business.
On 7 November, the day after the US general election, International saw a steep increase in interest from people looking into moving abroad and the possibility of getting international health insurance.
Cronin told Health & Protection from his Boston location that: “We saw the largest number of enquires in one day for people looking to move abroad.”
In fact the number of contacts increased by more than 100% on that day.
Growing trend
Cronin said people are definitely already leaving the US – “It’s a growing trend over time. But its just this may be a catalyst for a segment of the population who have been thinking about it for a while.
“The political environment here is pretty divisive and has been for the last six years or more.
“You know a lot of people are concerned about what Trump’s going to do and how the changes that are happening – whether just a kind of general negativity but also less hospitable for certain groups.”
The chart below shows all inquiries (from all nationalities) to the International Citizens Insurance website from 4 October to 7 November, the day after the election results were final.
Cronin said a large percentage – greater than 50% -of the inquiries on 7 November were from US citizens.
Cronin said the Trump election might not be the only reason that people would consider leaving the US to live in another country, “but it may be one of the reasons or maybe the tipping point. Some people have been thinking about it for a while and may now think – this is it. “
Increase in sales expected
He added the number of enquiries has now returned to normal levels, but that business trends suggest it could be just a few months before an increase in sales is seen.
“That’s going to take at least 90 days to see how many of those inquiries that came in in November actually end up buying the policy and moving abroad,” he continued.
He said prospective customers are looking for global medical insurance plans that will provide them with comprehensive health insurance in the country of residence, or the possibility of returning to the US, or going to Singapore of the UK or other destinations for medical care.
“These global policies will cover people worldwide. “
The policies may also include emergency medical evacuation.
Possible destinations
Cronin said Mexico leads the countries that people are interested in moving to, followed by Canada and Spain. The top 10 is rounded out by Thailand, France, Costa Rica, the UK and Panama – with each country seeing increased interest over the previous year.
The chart below shows the number of inquiries received by from US citizens broken down by the country where they will be moving to, comparing Q4 2024 to Q4 2023.
Cronin said that other countries Americans were thinking of migrating to included: the Philippines, Australia, Colombia, New Zealand, Vietnam, Japan and Argentina.
