Written by Steffan Grund · Insurance specialist (Versicherungsfachmann BWV) · Updated Facts checked: Enter the days you have already spent in your home country since 1 January and the days of your next planned visit. The counter applies the 180-day rule of the Care Expat World terms.
Rule: stays in an EU or Schengen home country are covered for up to 180 days per calendar year, and cover ends at the latest after day 180 (Care Expat World terms AVB VB-KV 2026_05, §6 no. 1 b and no. 4 f). The count resets on 1 January. A planning aid, not a coverage decision; the insurer may ask for proof of your travel dates.
Your passport gives you rights inside the EU system, but those rights follow residence and insurance status, not nationality, so a move abroad changes them.
| Question | Answer (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Does the EHIC cover life abroad? | No: temporary stays in another EU country, public providers only, no private care, rescue, repatriation or planned treatment |
| Which system covers you after a move within the EU? | Depends on economic status and residence, not nationality: workers where they work, pensioners usually via the pension-paying country and an S1 |
| German statutory cover after moving outside the EU | Generally ends with the move; suspended from departure where no social security agreement applies |
| Dutch basic insurance after moving abroad | In most cases ends; cancel before you leave |
| Care Expat World home-country cover | EU or Schengen home country: stays at home of up to 180 days per calendar year, not only emergencies |
| Trips outside your zone | Medical emergencies only, up to 42 days per trip; never in your home country |
| Living in Germany | Not insurable: more than 180 days a year in Germany or subject to German statutory insurance |
| Entry age | Cover must start by 1 December of the year you turn 64; no end age once insured |
| Start date | Always on the 1st of a month, no more than 4 months after you apply, and only once you have left the country |
| Price, Zone 1, age 55–59 | €200 to €655 a month, depending on level and deductible |
Sources: European Commission Your Europe (health cover and EHIC pages, last checked August and September 2026); Verbraucherzentrale (19 May 2026); Barmer (2 Oct 2026); ONVZ and CAK (read 28 Oct 2026); Care Expat World terms AVB VB-KV 2026_05 and premium table.
No: the European Health Insurance Card is built for visits, not for a new life in another country.
The European Commission describes the card as proof that you are insured in an EU country. With it you get treatment that cannot wait until you get home, on the same terms as people insured where you are, and only from public providers. Its own page lists what it leaves out: private healthcare, rescue and repatriation, and planned treatment in another EU country. The card is free and comes from your health insurer, which is the key to the problem. Once you stop being insured at home, the card has nothing behind it.
That is why "EHIC abroad long term" is a common search with a short answer. If you move to Portugal for good, the EHIC is not your health insurance there; you either join the Portuguese system or bring an S1. If you move to Thailand, the card does not apply at all, because the EHIC system ends at the EU’s external border. Even inside the EU, relying on the card for a stay that is really a move can leave you without cover once your home insurer learns you no longer live in the country.
| Tool | Who issues it | Where it works | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| EHIC | Your home health insurer, free | Temporary stays in other EU countries | No private care, rescue, repatriation or planned treatment; no use outside the EU |
| S1 | The country that pays your pension or employs you as a posted worker | Your new EU, EEA or Swiss country of residence, once registered | No private care; no use outside the EU, EEA and Switzerland |
| Registration in the new country’s system | The local insurer or social security body | Your new country of residence | Only open to people who meet that country’s rules (work, residence, contributions) |
| Long-term international plan | A private insurer | A chosen zone; with Care Expat World also an EU or Schengen home country for 180 days a year | Health check at entry; not a substitute for compulsory insurance in Germany |
Rights for UK nationals work differently since Brexit; Britons will find the pensioner route on our S1 form guide.
The country whose system covers you depends on your economic status and your place of residence, not on your nationality, according to the European Commission.
This is the rule to understand first. A German who retires to Spain does not keep "German insurance" in the everyday sense, and does not automatically join the Spanish system either. Which country pays decides which form you need and where you register. The Commission’s Your Europe portal sets out the main cases:
| Your situation after the move | Who covers you (EU rules) | What you do |
|---|---|---|
| Working in the new country | The country where you work | Register with its health insurance institution |
| Posted by your employer for under 2 years | You can stay insured at home | Request an S1 before you go; hand it to the local health insurance institution on arrival |
| Working in several countries | Usually your country of residence if at least 25% of your work is done there | Ask both institutions which law applies |
| Pensioner with a pension from your new country that includes healthcare rights | Your new country | Register locally |
| Pensioner with a pension only from your old country | Your old country pays, if you would be entitled to care there | Request an S1 from your old country’s health insurer; register it on arrival |
| Not working, no pension yet (early retiree, partner) | Depends; local cover may be needed | The social security institutions decide which system applies; to live there more than 3 months you need comprehensive health cover |
Source: European Commission, Your Europe, "Your health insurance cover" (last checked 19 Aug 2026) and "Residence rights of pensioners" (last checked 1 Jul 2026).
The last row is where most private cover is sold inside the EU. An early retiree of 58 who leaves Germany for the Algarve has no pension yet and no job in Portugal, so there may be no S1, and EU residence rules ask non-workers to hold comprehensive health cover in the host country. Germany’s consumer advice centres add that for a move within the EU your status in the German statutory system generally continues, with benefits by the rules of the new country, and that you should tell your Krankenkasse so it can issue the S1. Whether that applies to you depends on why you were insured. Our pages on moving to Portugal and healthcare in Spain for expats show the local steps once you know which country pays.
Spain needs a separate warning. For a residence registration the policy wording is checked by Spanish offices, and secondary sources describe a standard of cover equal to the Spanish public system without co-payments. A plan with a deductible may not fit that description, so for Spanish residence we treat any international plan, including Care Expat World, as information only. Check with the Spanish office that handles your registration which policies it accepts before you buy.
In most EU countries it ends or is suspended, because statutory health insurance is tied to living or working in the country, and the EU coordination rules stop at the EU’s border.
Moving to Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica or the Philippines is a different decision from moving to Portugal. Inside the EU, a pensioner can carry home rights across the border with an S1. Outside, there is generally no form to carry, and the home system usually stops paying the day you leave. Some EU countries, Germany among them, have social security agreements with individual non-EU states, which can change the result for workers and pensioners, so check the agreement for your exact pair of countries before you rely on either answer.
Three consequences follow for anyone retiring or working outside Europe. First, you need a private plan that works where you live, from the date you arrive. Second, you lose cover at home too, so a family visit or a check-up during a summer at home is suddenly uninsured unless your new plan covers your home country. Third, getting back in later can be harder than leaving, which is why the return rules below matter even if you never plan to return. For the country-by-country picture of public systems, see healthcare systems by country.
Not outside the EU: the Verbraucherzentrale states that statutory cover generally ends when you move your residence out of the EU, and that without a social security agreement your membership is suspended from the day you leave, for pensioners as well.
This is the most searched version of the question, and the answer differs by destination and by how you are insured. The table brings together what Germany’s consumer advice centres and two large statutory funds say.
| Your case | What happens to German statutory cover (GKV) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Permanent move within the EU, EEA or Switzerland | Insurance status generally continues; benefits follow the rules of the new country; ask your fund for an S1 | Verbraucherzentrale, 19 May 2026 |
| Permanent move outside the EU | Cover generally ends with the move of residence; private international insurance needed | Verbraucherzentrale |
| Outside the EU, no social security agreement | Membership is suspended from departure, also for compulsorily insured pensioners, even if you return soon after | Verbraucherzentrale (§16 SGB V) |
| Compulsory member | Membership ends when compulsory insurance ends, e.g. with deregistration of your German residence | Barmer, 2 Oct 2026 |
| Voluntary member | You usually cancel yourself, with the deregistration certificate and destination; the 12-month binding period does not apply to a permanent move | Barmer |
| Planning to come back | An Anwartschaft keeps your place in the fund; no benefits while it runs | Techniker Krankenkasse |
Two points are easy to miss. The suspension rule does not wait to see whether you stay: the consumer advice centres say cover is suspended even if you decide after a short time to come back. And the Anwartschaft is not insurance. TK describes it as a reserved place that starts the day after you leave and ends the day before you return, during which you have no right to benefits from German health insurance; it recommends private cover abroad, including for family members who go with you.
The reverse search, "German health insurance for foreigners", runs into the hardest limit of the plan on this page. Germany requires everyone living there to hold health insurance, and Care Expat World is not built for that: its terms exclude anyone staying in Germany more than 180 days in a calendar year or subject to German statutory insurance, and state that it is not a substitute that meets the German duty to insure. Foreigners moving to Germany need statutory or German private cover. Germans moving out are the people the plan suits.
In most cases it ends: Dutch insurers say you cannot keep the basic insurance (basisverzekering) after a move abroad and must cancel it before you leave.
ONVZ, one of the Dutch insurers, says you can cancel as soon as you know your moving date, and that family members who move with you also lose the right to basic insurance. For people with a Dutch pension or benefit who move to a treaty country, the CAK (the Dutch body that handles health insurance for this group) says the Dutch insurance ends on the moving date; you apply through the CAK’s form, which it processes within 4 weeks, and then register with the designated health insurer in your new country.
| Dutch citizen moving… | Basic insurance (Zvw) | Typical next step |
|---|---|---|
| To an EU, EEA or treaty country, with a Dutch pension or benefit | Ends on the moving date | Apply through the CAK; register with the designated insurer in the new country |
| To an EU country to work there | Cancel before you leave | Insure in the country where you work |
| Outside the EU without a Dutch pension yet | Cancel before you leave | Private long-term international plan |
| Abroad only to study, without paid work | May continue (insurer-specific) | Ask your insurer |
So "Dutch health insurance for expats" usually means private international cover once the basic insurance stops. A Dutch citizen who declares the Netherlands as home country gets one benefit that matters to families: Care Expat World covers stays in the Netherlands of up to 180 days a calendar year. The same logic applies to French, Belgian, Italian, Swedish or Danish citizens; check your own country’s rule with your insurer or social security office before you deregister.
Usually yes, but on your home country’s terms, and your insurance history while abroad can decide whether you go back into the statutory system or have to look for private cover.
In Germany, Social Code Book V contains a catch-all compulsory insurance for residents without other cover who were last insured in the statutory system (§5(1) no. 13 SGB V), and a separate 9/10 rule for the pensioners’ scheme. People who were last privately insured are generally outside the catch-all rule. TK adds a practical point: without an Anwartschaft you may be able to re-enrol but may not be free to choose your fund. In every case the safe approach is the same: before you leave, ask your fund or insurer in writing what will apply on return, and keep proof of every period of cover abroad.
An international plan cannot replace this. Care Expat World ends when you move back to your home country for good, so it bridges the years abroad but is not a way back in.
If your declared home country is an EU or Schengen state, time spent there is insured on normal plan terms, not only for emergencies, for up to 180 days per calendar year in total (terms §6 no. 1 b).
This is the reason the plan fits EU citizens better than anyone else. Americans and Britons get no cover at home at all, whatever they pay. For a Dutch grandmother in Portugal or a Swedish couple in Thailand, the same contract that pays the doctor where they live also pays for a check-up, an emergency or a hospital stay during a summer at home. The insurer waives the duty to notify trips in advance; if you claim, it may ask for proof of when your stay at home began and ended.
| Rule | What the binding terms say | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Which home countries qualify | EU member states and Schengen states | All 27 EU states, including Ireland (EU, not Schengen), plus Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein |
| Who counts as from there | The country you declare, where you hold citizenship or an unlimited residence permit | Your EU passport country; a permit-only case should be confirmed in writing |
| How many days | Up to 180 per calendar year | All stays at home are added up; the count resets on 1 January |
| Scope | Normal plan benefits | Not only emergencies |
| Notice | Waived | No need to announce trips; keep tickets as proof |
| End of cover | After day 180 at home in a calendar year, and on final return home | Plan your year so you stay below 181 days |
| Germany as home | Fees up to 3.5× the German scale; shared hospital room | Expect some private-patient bills to be partly yours |
The counter at the top of this page does the arithmetic for you. A caution on wording: the English marketing pages promise 180 days at home without mentioning the EU or Schengen condition, but the German terms are binding. For the details that apply to all nationalities, read our page on international health insurance with home-country cover.
When you travel to a country outside the zone you pay for, Care Expat World covers medical emergencies there for up to 42 days per trip (terms §6 no. 1 a), never in your home country, which has its own 180-day rule; routine care in that country needs the higher zone.
Zone 1 covers the whole world except the USA, China and Singapore. An EU citizen living in Thailand on Zone 1 who flies to visit a brother in Chicago is covered for an emergency there, for up to 42 days per trip, but not for a planned check-up. Zone 2 adds China and Singapore, and Zone 3 adds the USA. You can change zone on the 1st of any month; treatment already recommended or planned before the switch is not covered in the higher zone.
| Trip (EU citizen on Zone 1) | Cover |
|---|---|
| Three weeks in the USA | Medical emergencies only, up to 42 days per trip; never in your home country |
| Two months in Singapore | Emergencies for the first 42 days of the trip; routine care needs Zone 2 |
| Summer in your EU or Schengen home country | Normal plan benefits, within 180 days a calendar year |
| Holiday in another EU country, Japan or Australia | Normal plan benefits (inside Zone 1) |
| Six months a year in Germany as a German | Not possible: more than 180 days in Germany ends eligibility |
The two rules are separate. The 42-day rule is for countries outside your zone; the 180-day rule is for your home country. For an EU citizen, both can apply in the same year.
Five limits matter most: age, Germany, Spain, your declared home country and the start date.
Beyond these, the usual entry rules apply: a video health interview that can lead to a surcharge, an exclusion or a refusal (see pre-existing conditions), a 12-month minimum term, and prior health insurance as a condition of joining.
Apply up to 4 months ahead, let your home cover run until the day before the 1st of the month your new plan starts, and cross the border before that 1st.
The dates matter because of a rule that often catches EU leavers. Care Expat World makes prior health insurance a condition of joining. If your previous insurance ended up to 12 months before the start date, a 31-day general waiting period applies; with no gap at all, there is none. Statutory cover usually stops when you deregister or leave, and the plan can only start on a 1st, so a German who deregisters on 15 March and starts cover on 1 April has a gap of about two weeks.
| Step | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ask your home insurer what ends when, and whether an S1 or Anwartschaft applies | 3–6 months before | The answer depends on destination and status |
| Apply for long-term cover and do the video interview | Up to 4 months before the start | Start dates can be at most 4 months ahead |
| Consider the Option plan (AWV) if you will move later | Before 1 January of the year you turn 60 | Lets you start later without a new health check |
| Fix the deregistration and travel dates | Before the last month | Home cover should run until the day before your start date |
| Cross the border | Before the 1st of the start month | Cover never starts before you cross the border |
| Keep trip cover if a gap remains | Between the end of home cover and the start | Whether travel insurance counts as prior insurance is not stated |
The Option plan deserves a closer look by anyone still in their 50s and still at home. Under Part C of the terms it costs €29, €39 or €49 a month, runs for up to 5 years, and lets you activate the full plan later without a new health check (the interview happens when you apply for the option; activation is possible after its 12-month minimum term, on the 1st of a month). You must apply before 1 January of the year you turn 60, hold German statutory or private cover, German Heilfürsorge, or full equivalent cover in the EU, Switzerland or the UK, and keep that cover without a gap until you activate. For retirees planning their move, our expat health insurance for retirees page explains the age steps in more detail.
In Zone 1, premiums at 45–64 run from €120 a month (Basic, €3,600 deductible, at 45–49) to €800 (Premium, no deductible, at 60–64); the price is the same whatever your nationality, and the home-country cover is included for EU and Schengen citizens.
| Age band | Basic, €3,600 deductible | Comfort, €1,200 deductible | Comfort, no deductible | Premium, no deductible | Comfort, €1,200: per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45-49 | €120 | €305 | €405 | €430 | €3,660 |
| 50-54 | €140 | €335 | €440 | €510 | €4,020 |
| 55-59 | €200 | €505 | €600 | €655 | €6,060 |
| 60-64 | €325 | €655 | €750 | €800 | €7,860 |
Zone 1 (worldwide except the USA, China and Singapore), per person per month in euros, Care Expat World premium table read 27 Oct 2026; the yearly column is our arithmetic. Your band is the calendar year minus your birth year and changes on 1 January. Prices are reviewed each 1 January, and the health interview can add a surcharge. Zone 2 and 3 cost more.
Premiums are charged in euros by SEPA direct debit or bank transfer, which suits people who keep a euro account at home. Comfort adds dental care, check-ups, vaccinations, physiotherapy and 15 outpatient psychotherapy sessions a year to the hospital and doctor cover of Basic; Premium raises the refunds and removes the cap on cancer treatment. Full tables are on the plan details page, and the age curve is on international health insurance cost.
Bernd, age band 55–59, retired early from Cologne to Hua Hin. Bernd was a compulsory GKV member through his job, which ended on 31 March, the same day he deregistered his German address and flew out. Thailand has no S1 route, so his statutory cover ends with the move. He applied in January, did the video interview, and his Care Expat World Comfort cover with a €1,200 deductible starts on 1 April at €505 a month (€6,060 a year). Because his GKV cover ran until the end of March, he has no gap and no 31-day waiting period. In his first full year he spends 35 days in Cologne in spring and 50 in summer: 85 days, well within 180, with German bills reimbursed up to 3.5 times the fee scale. He also asks his Krankenkasse about an Anwartschaft in case he returns. Thai visa and daily life details are on retire in Thailand.
Pieter and Sanne, age band 45–49, with two children, moving from Utrecht to Costa Rica. Both work remotely for Dutch clients. They cancel their basic insurance once the moving date is fixed and choose Basic with a €3,600 deductible: €120 a month each and €40 per child, €320 a month for the family. Every family member declares the Netherlands as home country, so their summer weeks with the grandparents are covered. A trip to Florida would be covered for emergencies only, up to 42 days. Family rules are on international family health insurance, and the remote-work angle on health insurance for freelancers abroad.
Anna, age band 50–54, Swedish, early retiree moving to Lisbon. Anna has stopped working and her state pension is years away, so she fits the hardest row of the EU table: no job in Portugal, no pension and therefore no S1. EU residence rules ask economically inactive citizens who stay longer than 3 months for comprehensive health insurance, so she takes Comfort with a €1,200 deductible at €335 a month (€4,020 a year). Sweden is her declared home country, so her autumn weeks with her sister in Uppsala are covered too. Once she draws a pension, she checks whether an S1 route opens and whether she still wants private cover on top.
Not an EU citizen? An American or a Briton gets the same prices but no cover at home. The US angle is on health insurance for Americans living abroad, and the UK pensioner route on the S1 form page.
Care Expat World is closed to anyone who turns 65 or older in the calendar year cover would start. Already 65 or older in the year cover would start? This plan is closed to you; we are preparing a comparison of plans without an entry-age limit. Pensioners moving within the EU should check the S1 route first, and the options beyond that are on expat health insurance over 65 and the international health insurance age limit page.
The plan featured on this site. We earn a referral commission if you take it out, at no extra cost to you (how we are paid); this is information, not personal advice. Lowest prices (Basic, €3,600 deductible): €120 at 45–49, €200 at 55–59; €40 for ages 0–24.
Lowest price, for people who mainly want protection against large medical bills.
Per month, Zone 1. Lower price with a €3,600 deductible, higher with none.
Adds dental, check-ups, physiotherapy, psychotherapy and pregnancy cover to Basic.
Per month, Zone 1. Lower price with a €3,600 deductible, higher with none.
Highest refunds, including more psychotherapy and 80% for dentures.
Per month, Zone 1. Lower price with a €3,600 deductible, higher with none.
Prices for Zone 1 (worldwide except the USA, China and Singapore). For an EU or Schengen home country, stays at home of up to 180 days a calendar year are included in every level. Not for people living in Germany; visa acceptance is not confirmed. Already 65 or older in the year cover would start? This plan is closed to you; we are preparing a comparison of plans without an entry-age limit. The long-term cover basics are explained in our expat health insurance guide and the Care Expat World guide.
No. The European Commission describes the EHIC as cover for a temporary stay in another EU country: treatment that cannot wait until you get home, in the public system only. It is proof that you are insured in an EU country, so once you move and leave that system, the card no longer rests on anything. People who live in another EU country register with that country’s system or use an S1.
No. The EHIC is an EU instrument for stays in other EU countries. It gives no rights in Thailand, Mexico, Costa Rica or anywhere else outside the EU system, and it never covers rescue, repatriation or private hospitals.
Only within the EU, EEA and Switzerland, and then usually through an S1. If you move your residence outside the EU, Germany’s consumer advice centres say statutory cover generally ends with the move, and without a social security agreement your membership is suspended from departure, also for pensioners. Ask your Krankenkasse before you deregister.
Yes, as a rule. Barmer states that voluntary members must usually cancel themselves, sending the deregistration certificate and the destination country, and that the usual 12-month binding period does not apply to a permanent move abroad. Compulsory membership ends when the compulsory insurance ends, for example with deregistration.
It is a reserved place in your Krankenkasse while you live outside Europe. TK explains that it runs from the day after you leave until the day before you return, that it pays no benefits in the meantime, and that it lets you return to the same fund. Without one you may be able to rejoin statutory insurance but may not be free to choose your fund.
Often, but not automatically. Social Code Book V has a catch-all rule for people without other cover who were last insured in the statutory system, and pensioners face the 9/10 rule for the pensioners’ scheme. Someone who was privately insured last is generally shut out. Your history decides, so ask a Krankenkasse in writing before you leave and keep proof of your periods of cover.
In most cases no. Dutch insurers such as ONVZ say you must cancel the basic insurance before you leave, and the CAK states that for people with a Dutch pension moving to a treaty country the Dutch insurance ends on the moving date. Those pensioners apply through the CAK and register with the designated insurer in their new country.
A private long-term plan. Dutch basic insurance generally ends when you move, and outside the EU and treaty countries there is no CAK route. Care Expat World can cover a Dutch citizen who declares the Netherlands as home country, including stays in the Netherlands of up to 180 days a calendar year.
Not this plan. Care Expat World cannot insure anyone who stays in Germany more than 180 days in a calendar year or who is subject to German statutory insurance, and its terms say it does not meet Germany’s duty to hold health insurance. Residents of Germany need statutory or German private cover.
No. For an EU or Schengen home country, the binding terms cover stays at home of up to 180 days per calendar year on normal plan terms, not only emergencies. You do not have to announce trips, but the insurer may ask for proof of when each stay began and ended.
Cover ends at the latest after day 180 of your stays at home in that calendar year (terms §6 no. 4 f). The count starts again on 1 January. Cover also ends if you move back home for good.
For medical emergencies only, up to 42 days per trip, because the USA lies outside Zone 1 and is not your home country. Routine care or a longer stay needs Zone 3. China and Singapore work the same way, with Zone 2.
Yes, if Switzerland or Norway is the declared home country. The terms grant home cover when the home country is an EU or Schengen state, and Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein are Schengen members. The same 180-day limit applies.
Yes. Ireland is an EU member state, and the terms require an EU or a Schengen home country, not both. An Irish citizen who declares Ireland as home is covered there for up to 180 days a calendar year.
The binding terms allow a declared home country where you hold citizenship or an unlimited residence permit. The English FAQ phrases the rule by nationality instead, so if you plan to rely on a residence permit rather than a passport, get the insurer’s answer in writing before you apply.
Usually, if the pension comes with German statutory cover: the Verbraucherzentrale says your status in the German statutory system generally continues on a move within the EU, with benefits by the rules of the new country, and you tell your Krankenkasse so it can issue the S1. You then register the S1 with the local health institution.
Possibly, with the Option plan (AWV) at €29, €39 or €49 a month for up to 5 years. You pass the health interview once, when you apply for the option, and can later switch to the full plan without a new one, at the earliest after its 12-month minimum term. You must apply before 1 January of the year you turn 60, hold German statutory or private cover, German Heilfürsorge, or full equivalent cover in the EU, Switzerland or the UK, and keep that cover without a gap.
Possibly a short one. Care Expat World requires prior health insurance; if it ended up to 12 months before your start date, a 31-day general waiting period applies. Plan the dates so your statutory cover runs until the day before the 1st of the month your new cover begins.
Possibly, but it is not confirmed for this plan. Spain's rules for EU citizens (Orden PRE/1490/2012, art. 3) accept health insurance taken out in Spain or in another country, provided its cover in Spain is equivalent to the Spanish national health system; a certificate from your pension country (such as an S1) also meets the rule. Whether a plan with deductibles and waiting periods counts as equivalent is decided by the office that registers you, so ask it before you rely on Care Expat World for this.
Cover must start by 1 December of the year you turn 64, because the application form counts age as calendar year minus year of birth. Once insured, there is no age at which cover ends. Already 65 or older in the year cover would start? This plan is closed to you; we are preparing a comparison of plans without an entry-age limit.
Yes, if the EU or Schengen country is their declared home too. Co-insured family members follow the same terms: a spouse, partner or children who live with you abroad can be insured on your contract, and home-country cover depends on each person’s declared home country being in the EU or Schengen area. Each pays the premium of their own age band.
Under Care Expat World, treatment in Germany is reimbursed up to 3.5 times the German medical fee scales, and a hospital stay means chief-physician treatment in a shared room. Keep your visit within the 180 days a calendar year and keep proof of your travel dates.
The English Care Concept material is a service translation; the German terms are binding. National health insurance rules change and depend on your history; confirm with your own insurer or social security office before you deregister.
Apply up to four months ahead, line up the start with the end of your statutory cover, and keep up to 180 days a year at home insured if your home country is in the EU or Schengen area.
Referral link: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you (how we are paid).