Area of cover
The geography in which treatment is covered. Changing residence or spending long periods in another region can change which area applies.
International Health InsuranceHealth, wherever you are.
International health insurance, also called international private medical insurance or expat health insurance, is private medical cover that is not tied to a single country’s health system. This page sets out how it is structured and the terms worth understanding.
Understanding
What international health insurance is
Domestic health cover is usually built around one country: its hospitals, its prices and the entitlements of its residents. International health insurance is written for people whose lives do not stay inside one border: those who live abroad, families posted between countries, and professionals who move often.
Cover is defined by an area rather than a country. Policies commonly distinguish worldwide cover from worldwide cover excluding the United States, where treatment costs are highest. The insured person’s country of nationality, country of residence and the places they spend time all shape how a policy is written.
It is distinct from state arrangements such as reciprocal health cards, which give access to public care on the same terms as residents, and from travel insurance, which is built for short trips rather than a life lived abroad.
How Cover Is Built
How international health cover is built
Policies are assembled from modules. The terms below appear in almost every policy document and are the vocabulary of any comparison.
Inpatient and outpatient
Inpatient cover concerns hospital stays and surgery; outpatient cover concerns consultations, diagnostics and treatment without admission. Many policies treat them as separate modules with separate limits.
Underwriting
Full medical underwriting assesses health history at the outset; moratorium underwriting excludes recent pre-existing conditions for a set period. The method decides what is covered from the first day.
Exclusions and waiting periods
Every policy lists what it does not cover and how long some benefits take to begin. Maternity, chronic conditions and pre-existing conditions are the most common subjects of both.
Evacuation and repatriation
Transport to the nearest suitable facility, or home, when appropriate treatment is not available locally. Usually a separate benefit with its own conditions.
Travel medical is not health insurance
Travel medical cover is designed for emergencies on a trip of limited length. It is a different instrument from international health insurance, which is designed for ongoing care while living abroad.
LIBRO does not underwrite, sell, arrange or advise on insurance, and nothing here is an offer, an invitation, a recommendation or advice. This page is general information, written for understanding. Insurance is regulated, and questions of cover belong with a licensed insurer or broker in the relevant jurisdiction.