Health Insurance
Why choose Expat Protected for your health insurance?
- Honest, open & fair approach to medical insurance.
- Sensible, grown-up & flexible on pre-existing conditions and claims.
- Fast and easy online sign-up.
- Competitive pricing — small management, no flashy buildings, no shareholder pressure.
- Full-life insurance — we don’t drop you when you reach 70.
- 30+ years experience as a fully-licenced independent insurance group.
- Community & environmental initiatives — we’re invested in more than just insurance.
We believe that customers prefer to be insured by a fully-licenced company with an honest, open and fair approach to medical insurance. A company that takes a sensible, grown-up, and flexible approach to your pre-existing conditions and claims. That provides a fast and easy online sign-up process.
We are very competitive on costs because we have a small management structure, no expensive flashy buildings or need to keep a high stock market price. And we don’t abandon our customers when they reach 70 — we provide full-life insurance. This is why so many customers stay with us, and recommend us to their friends. Medical insurance is important to your future health and wellbeing as an expat, so it’s vital to choose the right company.
We believe that if you’re happy with our service you’ll recommend us to others in your community, which will help us to grow a healthy business. So, we’re all in this together.
We’re a fully-licenced independent insurance group with over 30 years experience of providing specialised insurance for expats.
Because we believe that our communities are important, we take an active approach in helping communities to develop — Click here.
And because all communities — local, global and virtual — depend on their environment, we also take an active role in environmental preservation projects — Click here.
Who wants an insurance company that hits you with a massive renewal increase, often at the last minute so you’ve little time to consider options? Who wants an insurance company that focusses on keeping shareholders happy, not its customers?
Where Your Cover Applies — And Where It Doesn’t
Health insurance for expats is built around your chosen Area of cover. When you travel outside that Area — including back home — specific rules apply. Read this carefully before you take a long trip.
In your home country
Up to 3 months — full cover.
Visits to your country of origin are covered as long as the stay is shorter than three (3) months. Stay longer than that and the policy no longer covers treatment in your home country.
In another country outside your Area
Up to 7 weeks — emergencies only.
Stays in countries outside your chosen Area are covered for less than seven (7) weeks, and only for accidents or accidental sickness of an urgent nature — not routine treatment.
Good news when you visit your home country
As an expat with us you are fully covered for the first 3 months in your country of origin — every year.
This applies to all nationalities: when you head home for a holiday, family visit or seasonal stay, your hospital care, doctor visits, prescriptions and emergencies are covered just like back where you live abroad. The 3-month cover resets each calendar year — perfect for an annual home trip.
If your stay will be longer than 3 months:
- Contact us before you travel — we can arrange a top-up cover or a temporary plan so you don’t lose protection.
- This applies in any country — not just your home country — if you plan to stay outside your chosen Area for longer than the standard limit.
- The same logic applies to short visits to other countries outside your chosen Area: emergency cover for up to 7 weeks per stay.
This is a summary of the our policy rules. Your individual situation, residency status and the specific module you choose can affect what is covered. Contact us if you want a personal review.
Important to Know — Waiting Periods
These rules apply to new policies and also when you upgrade or change an existing cover. Read carefully before you apply or adjust your plan.
Under 65 years old
- No health check-up required.
- 6 months waiting period for the specific diseases listed below.
- 5 years waiting period for degenerative diseases.
65 years and older
- Two options at application: with a health check-up (less than 30 days old) or without.
- With check-up: 6 months waiting period for specific diseases.
- Without check-up: 1 year waiting period for specific diseases.
- Degenerative diseases: 5 years waiting period — only covered if no condition is found at check-up. If no check-up is done, degenerative diseases are not covered.
Specific diseases — 6 months waiting period (12 months if 65+ without medical check-up)
Coverage starts after the waiting period only if no condition is found during that time. The waiting period is 6 months for applicants under 65, and also for applicants 65+ who provide a medical check-up (less than 30 days old). For applicants 65+ who do not provide a check-up, the waiting period is 12 months. If a condition is found during the waiting period, the specific disease is not covered.
- Hypertension & Cardiovascular Disease
- All Tumors, Polyp or Cyst
- Hemorrhoids
- Prostate Disease
- Diabetes
- Cancer
- Endometriosis
- Cholecystitis, Cholelithiasis
- Calculi of the Urinary Organ
- Hernias (1 year)
Degenerative diseases — 5 years waiting period
Conditions linked to ageing, genetic or progressive diseases that affect the nervous system, muscles, joints, eyes or metabolism. Cover starts after 5 years only if no diagnosis is found during the waiting period.
- Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig’s)
- Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT)
- Chronic traumatic encephalopathy
- Cystic fibrosis
- Cytochrome c oxidase deficiencies (Leigh syndrome)
- Ehlers–Danlos syndrome
- Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressive
- Friedreich’s ataxia
- Frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
- Huntington’s disease
- Infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy
- Keratoconus, Keratoglobus
- Leukodystrophies
- Macular degeneration (AMD)
- Marfan’s syndrome (MFS)
- Mitochondrial myopathies
- Mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome
- Mueller–Weiss syndrome
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Multiple system atrophy
- Muscular dystrophies (MD)
- Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis
- Niemann–Pick diseases
- Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis
- Parkinson’s disease
- Pulmonary arterial hypertension
- Prion diseases (Creutzfeldt–Jakob, fatal familial insomnia, etc.)
- Progressive supranuclear palsy
- Retinitis pigmentosa (RP)
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sandhoff Disease
- Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA)
- Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis
- Substance Use Disorder
- Tay–Sachs disease
- Vascular dementia
Existing customers — upgrades and re-applications
If you are already a our member and want to upgrade, downgrade or re-apply for a cover, the same 6-month waiting period applies for specific diseases — unless you provide a medical check-up less than 30 days old.
Any pre-existing condition that has previously generated a claim, and any condition that was already known, will be excluded from the new cover. If a claim has been made under your existing plan, downgrading is generally not accepted.
This is a summary only. The full and binding terms are set out in the our policy document. We are happy to walk you through the details before you apply.