Care Expat World: Prices, Cover and Who Can Join

Written by Steffan Grund · Insurance specialist (Versicherungsfachmann BWV) · Updated October 27, 2026Facts checked: October 27, 2026

From €40 a month · any nationality

• 🏛️ Insurer: Barmenia, arranged by Care Concept AG (Bonn, Germany)
• 📄 Written policy confirmation after acceptance
• 🔒 No annual overall limit; no end date
• 🏷️ Age 50-54: from €140 a month (Zone 1)

Is Care Expat World right for you?

It suits people of any nationality under 65 in the starting year who live or will live outside their home country and want cover with no end date; it does not suit people who need cover during long visits to a home country outside the EU and Schengen area.

What does Care Expat World cost by age? (Zone 1, EUR per month)

In Zone 1 this long-term international health insurance costs from €40 a month at 0–24 on Basic with a €3,600 deductible, and from €325 to €800 a month at 60–64, depending on level and deductible. Each table shows one level, with the three deductible options side by side. Your price follows your age band; the next band applies from 1 January of the year you reach it. Prices as of 2026-10-27, taken from the insurer's official premium table. Zone 2 and Zone 3 cost more: at 60–64, from €560 and €960 a month respectively (Basic, €3,600 deductible); all three zones are in our price index.

Basic

Comfort

Premium

Ages 65–69 and 70+ apply to people who are already insured and grow older; new applicants must start before the year they turn 65.

Which deductible pays off?

The €3,600 deductible pays off when the premium you save in a year is larger than what you would pay yourself in that year, which is most likely if you are healthy and rarely see a doctor. The deductible is what you pay yourself per calendar year before the insurer steps in. The table compares Comfort with no deductible and with €3,600. "Yearly saving" is what the lower premium saves you in a year without big bills; "after a bad year" subtracts the full €3,600 you would then pay yourself.

Rule of thumb: if you rarely see a doctor and could pay €3,600 from savings, the high deductible usually wins. If you have regular treatment or medicines, compare the €1,200 option in the calculator.

Which zone covers which countries?

Zone 1 covers the whole world except the USA, China and Singapore, Zone 2 adds China and Singapore, and Zone 3 adds the USA.

Your home country (the country of your citizenship or permanent residence that you declare) is never part of the zone. Trips into a higher zone are covered for medical emergencies for up to 42 days per trip, but never in your home country: a US citizen has no cover in the USA in any zone. You can change zone on the 1st of any month.

What are the five limits to know before you apply?

The five limits are the entry age, home-country visits, residence in Germany, the previous-insurance rule and the lack of any visa confirmation.

1. Entry age: make sure cover starts by 1 December of the year you turn 64. If you turn 65 or older in the year cover would start, you cannot join. See our guide to age limits on international health insurance.
2. Home visits: covered for up to 180 days a year only if your home country is an EU or Schengen state. Americans, Britons, Canadians, Australians and Indians get no cover at home. More in our guide to international health insurance with home-country cover.
3. Germany: not for people living in Germany for more than 180 days a year.
4. Previous insurance: a gap of up to 12 months since your last cover means a 31-day waiting period.
5. Visas: the insurer does not confirm acceptance for any visa, and it does not pay for medical exams needed for residence or work permits.

What does it cost in practice? Three examples

A 57-year-old on Comfort, a 31-year-old on Basic and a couple aged 62 show how level, deductible and age shape the monthly bill.

Linda, 57, US citizen retiring to Portugal. She picks Comfort with a €1,200 deductible in Zone 1: €505 a month, €6,060 a year. Dental and check-ups are included. She knows trips back to the USA are not covered under the terms and keeps separate travel cover for them.

Tom, 31, British digital nomad in Thailand and Vietnam. He wants protection against a big hospital bill at the lowest price: Basic with a €3,600 deductible costs €70 a month (€840 a year).

A couple aged 62 retiring to Costa Rica. She takes Premium with no deductible for psychotherapy and 80% dentures; he takes Comfort with €1,200. Together: €1,455 a month, €17,460 a year. Both start cover by 1 December of the year they turn 64, so their cover has no end age while they live abroad and pay.

What does each level cover?

Basic covers hospital, doctor visits, medicines and diagnostics; Comfort adds dental, check-ups, physiotherapy, pregnancy and up to 15 outpatient psychotherapy sessions a year; Premium raises that to 25, adds inpatient psychotherapy and removes the cancer cap.

* The binding German terms grant home-country cover only if your home country is an EU or Schengen state. Citizens of the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, India and other non-EU countries are not covered in their home country. Full benefit list with every cap: plan details.

Two points stand out for people aged 50–64. First, there is no annual overall limit, so a long hospital stay is not cut off by a yearly ceiling; only individual benefits such as cancer treatment in Basic and Comfort, dentures and check-ups have their own caps. Second, the chief-physician hospital standard applies in every level, so the main difference between the levels lies in dental, prevention and mental health, not in hospital care.

What does Care Expat World not cover?

It does not cover treatment in a home country outside the EU and Schengen area, treatment that was a reason for going abroad, medical exams for residence or work permits, or a pregnancy that already existed when cover started.

• Home country outside the EU/Schengen area: no cover during visits, for example for Americans in the USA or Britons in the UK.
• Planned treatment abroad: treatment that was the only reason, or one of the reasons, for the trip abroad.
• Visa and permit medicals: examinations needed to obtain a residence or work permit.
• Existing pregnancy: a pregnancy that exists at the start and its consequences, apart from unforeseen complications before week 36.
• Higher zones: outside your zone, only emergencies for up to 42 days per trip, never in your home country; treatment planned before a zone change is not covered in the new zone.
• Individual exclusions: a specific condition the insurer excludes after your health interview, as stated in your confirmation.
• Benefits outside your level: for example dental treatment in Basic, psychotherapy in Basic, or inpatient psychotherapy in Comfort.

A summary, not the full list of exclusions. The German policy terms are binding.

What waiting periods apply?

There is no general waiting period if you were insured right up to the start date; otherwise 31 days apply, and pregnancy, dentures and orthodontics always have 10 months.

The practical lesson: keep your current insurance running until the day Care Expat World starts. A gap does not stop you joining as long as your last cover ended no more than 12 months before, but it adds a month without general cover at the start.

How do the contract, price changes and cancellation work?

You sign up for at least 12 months, can then cancel to the end of the following month, and the insurer cannot cancel with ordinary notice; premiums change only on 1 January.

Fees

Premiums are exempt from German insurance tax, so the price in the tables is what you pay. The full cost picture over 10 years, for couples and after 65 is in our international health insurance cost guide.

How do claims and emergencies work?

You pay the doctor or hospital, send the itemised bill and get reimbursed in euros, and for an emergency or hospital stay you call the 24/7 emergency line first.

1. Emergency or hospital: call the 24/7 emergency line, available in every level. Ask whether a payment guarantee for the hospital can be arranged.
2. Everyday treatment: pay on the spot and keep the itemised invoice (name, date, diagnosis, treatment, price).
3. Claim: send the invoice to the insurer; bills in other currencies are converted into euros.
4. Deductible: claims first count against your deductible for the calendar year, if you chose one.
5. Transport home: medically advised transport back home is included in every level; rescue costs after an accident are capped at €5,000, €10,000 or €15,000 by level.
6. Visits home (EU/Schengen home countries only): no advance notice is needed, but the insurer may ask for proof of when the stay started and ended.

How does it fit with Medicare, the NHS or an S1?

It replaces what Medicare and the NHS generally do not provide abroad, and it can sit on top of an S1 for private care, but it does not cover you during visits to the USA or the UK.

Americans: Medicare.gov says Medicare usually does not cover care outside the USA, apart from narrow exceptions. Care Expat World is cover for your life abroad; for trips back to the USA you need separate cover, because the USA is your home country under the terms. Whether to keep Medicare Part B for later is a separate decision; Medicare.gov describes a late-enrolment surcharge of 10% for each full 12-month period you could have had Part B but did not sign up, usually for as long as you have Part B. More in our guide to health insurance for Americans living abroad.

Britons: NHS entitlement is generally based on living in the UK. UK State Pension recipients in an EU country, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein may qualify for an S1, which gives local public healthcare but not private care. Before state pension age, or outside those countries (for example in Thailand, the Philippines or Panama), private cover such as this plan is usually the main protection. See our pillar guide to expat health insurance and the visa guides for Thailand, Portugal, France, Greece, Panama and the Philippines.

How to apply in four steps

Choose zone, level and deductible, fill in the online form, do the short video health interview and wait for your policy confirmation.

1. 1
   Pick zone, level and deductible

   Use the calculator above. Zone 1 fits everyone who lives outside the USA, China and Singapore.

2. 2
   Fill in the online application

   Personal details, home country, country of stay and your start date (1st of a month, up to 4 months ahead).

3. 3
   Short video health interview

   Via Zoom or Teams. Have medical reports from the last five years at hand. The insurer then accepts you, adds a surcharge or excludes a condition.

4. 4
   Receive your policy confirmation

   Cover starts on the chosen date, once you have crossed the border and paid the first premium.

Start the application See all benefits first

Where do these facts come from?

All plan facts on this page come from the insurer’s own documents, checked on 2026-10-27; general statements about Medicare and the NHS come from official sources. Read how we check our facts.

• Care Concept / Barmenia: Care Expat World policy terms (VB-KV 2026_05, German, legally binding)
• Care Concept / Barmenia: consumer information package, product information sheet and premium table (English PDF), read 2026-10-27
• Care Concept: English product page, FAQ and brochure; ISPA association information
• Medicare.gov: travel outside the U.S. and Part B penalties; NHS Business Services Authority: healthcare when moving abroad and the S1 (checked 27 Oct 2026)

Where the insurer’s documents differ, we use the stricter reading: home-country cover only for EU/Schengen home countries, as in the binding German terms, and the calendar-year entry-age rule from the application form and FAQ. 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.

Binding terms: the insurer's German policy conditions, available with the official plan documents. This page summarises them in English. Our affiliate disclosure explains how we may earn a commission from links on this page.