The difference between travel health insurance and international health insurance is one of the most confusing topics which this article aims to demystify. There are significant differences in costs, range of cover, and length of cover.
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Genki offers travel health insurance & international health insurance for digital nomads and long-term travelers. Sign up anytime from anywhere in less than 1 minute. Be covered and safe. We take care of the rest!
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📅 Period of cover
- Travel health insurance: You can find travel health insurance providers covering from a few consecutive days up to a few years.
- International health insurance: Most international health insurance providers offer yearly subscriptions. A few providers allow monthly subscriptions. The minimum cover is mostly 1 year but the intention of this insurance is life-long health insurance. International health insurance is made to cover you long-term or even life-long.
☔️ Inclusions & exclusions
- Travel health insurance: Travel health insurance is made to cover medical emergencies during your travel. Some insurance providers cover medically necessary treatments too but it depends on the insurance provider's terms and conditions. Most travel health insurance providers do not cover pre-existing conditions, pre-existing pregnancies, any other pre-existing medical issues, extreme sports, mental health issues, and other long-term treatments.
Example: In the event, you get, e.g. cancer during your current travel health insurance cover, once this current cover ends, the cancer is now a pre-existing condition for your re-subscription. But pre-existing conditions are most likely not covered by travel health insurance. Re-subscriptions are new contracts, as you can not extend your current contract. - International health insurance: The cover includes all kinds of medical care, including emergency and non-emergency medical treatments, preventive health care, dental and vision care, mental health treatments, cancer treatments, pregnancies, and sports injuries. Additionally, international health insurance cover vaccinations. If you have pre-existing conditions please check them beforehand with your health insurance provider as it might be subject to medical questionnaires and special terms.
💸 Costs
- Travel health insurance: The monthly costs for travel health insurance are mostly somewhere between 25 and 100 Euro.
- International health insurance: You can expect to pay around 3 to 5 times more than what you would pay for travel health insurance.
💡 Takeaways
| General differences between travel health & international health insurance | 🛟 Travel health insurance | ☂️ International health insurance |
|---|---|---|
| 🏖️ What do you need? | Only for emergencies. Some insurance providers include medically necessary treatments too. | Emergencies plus medically necessary and regular treatments, preventive care like checkups, vaccines, and much more. |
| 🌏 Where do you want to be covered? | Limitations in worldwide cover, limitations for USA & Canada, limitations for home country | Worldwide cover, limitations for USA & Canada, fewer limitations for home country |
| 📅 How long do you want to be covered? | From a few consecutive days up to a few years, usually not longer than 2 years per contract. | Designed for long-term or life-long cover. |
| 🤿 What sports & activities do you do? | Limitations. Adventure (e.g. diving) or extreme sports (paragliding) are not covered | Fewer limitations. Covers every type of sport |
| ☔️ What is included? | Emergencies, sometimes medically necessary treatments. | Emergencies, regular medical treatments, preventive care, vaccines, pregnancies, mental health treatments, and much more |
| 💶 How much are the monthly costs? | Monthly costs should be less than 100 Euro a month. | A rule of thumb is that international health insurance cost 5x more than travel health insurance |
Please note: This is just a general overview and does not represent our insurance.
🤓 Note: The terms travel health insurance, travel medical insurance, international health insurance, and international medical insurance are sometimes used interchangeably. Make sure to understand clearly what your insurance provider means and check the terms and conditions carefully.
🌱 Genki offers travel health & international health insurance
We offer both, travel health insurance (Genki Explorer) and international health insurance (Genki Resident). Here is a quick overview.
🛟 Travel health insurance with Genki
Genki offers travel health insurance for digital nomads and long-term travelers.
Genki Explorer
- Region of cover: Worldwide. Every single country. Choose to flexibly include or exclude USA & Canada, depending on your travel.
- Period of cover: With Genki Explorer you are covered for up to 2 years. After 2 years, you can renew to a new plan.
- Home country: Your chosen home country should be a country where you have no visa restriction and access to the national health system. However, visiting friends and family is covered for up to 42 consecutive days within 180 days.
- Inclusions & exclusions: Medical emergencies and medically necessary treatments (ear infection, flu), initial mental health issues, and sports injuries are covered. Pre-existing conditions and pre-existing pregnancies are not covered. Read more examples.
- Monthly costs: Genki Explorer costs you between €39.30 and €128.70 a month, depending on your age, the chosen deductible, and if you want to include or exclude the USA & Canada.
☂️ International health insurance with Genki
Genki offers international health insurance for digital nomads and long-term travelers. It covers preventive care, mental health care, dental and vision care, and much more!
Genki Resident
- Region of cover: Worldwide. Every single country.
- Period of cover: As long as you want. Life-long if you wish. The minimum contract is 1 year with a monthly payment plan.
- Home country: Cover up to 180 days per year.
- Genki Resident basic: Preventive care, telemedicine, medically necessary search and rescue, inpatient psychotherapy, alternative treatments, osteopathy, chiropractic, physiotherapy, dental and vision care, prenatal care, and childbirth as well as COVID treatments.
- Genki Resident premium: Genki Resident basic + Vaccinations, medical checkups, eyesight correction surgeries, glasses, and contact lenses, dental cleaning twice per year, outpatient psychotherapy, outpatient rehabilitation measure, or first-trimester screening and amniocentesis.
- Monthly costs: Genki Resident is available for everyone of any age. The monthly fee depends on the result of a medical questionnaire, your age, the chosen deductible, and the region of cover (incl. or excl. USA and Canada).
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