International Health Insurance Companies: One Set of Criteria, From Their Own Documents

Written by Steffan Grund · Insurance specialist (Versicherungsfachmann BWV) · Updated October 28, 2026Facts checked: October 28, 2026

Who pays us?

Only Care Concept AG pays us, as a referral commission for Care Expat World; none of the other ten insurers on this page pays us.

We put this first because it is the most important fact about any comparison page. A publisher paid by one insurer has a reason to favour it. Our safeguards are set out in the method section below: we never score or rank, we list insurers alphabetically, we take facts only from each insurer's own documents, and we show the limits of the plan we are paid for at the same level of detail as everyone else’s. You can read the full arrangement on how we are paid.

What is an international health insurance company?

An international health insurance company sells medical cover that works across borders, for people who live outside their country of nationality for long periods rather than for a short trip.

The products go by several names: international private medical insurance, global health insurance, expat health insurance. What they share is a policy that is not tied to one national health system. Cigna Global, for example, is a yearly contract that renews; Care Expat World has no end date. They differ in where they pay (with or without the USA), whether you are covered on visits home, which care is included or sold as an add-on, and how they treat conditions you already have. The pillar guide to expat health insurance explains how such plans work in general.

A brand name is not the same as the insurer. Cigna Global, for example, publishes separate policy rules for several licensed Cigna companies and branches, depending on where the policy is arranged, and the company named in your own policy is the one that pays claims and that a regulator supervises. Care Expat World is a plan name: the insurer is Barmenia, the plan is arranged by Care Concept AG, and cover runs through a group contract of an association. These details sit in the first pages of the policy documents, and they are the first row of our criteria table.

How do we compare international health insurance companies?

We compare every insurer on the same 16 criteria, using only that insurer's own documents, with no scores, no ranking and the insurers in alphabetical order.

The method follows five rules. Official sources only: each fact comes from the insurer's policy wording, table of benefits, product information document, application form, public price list or legal notice, and we record the document name, edition, the date we read it and the page. We use nothing from brokers, blogs, forums or review sites. One table for everyone: every review has the same rows in the same order, including Care Expat World. If a document does not answer a row, the cell says so. No verdicts: no stars, no points, no "winner" labels and no statements about who a plan fits; we describe plan design in the insurer's own words. Prices only from published lists: if an insurer publishes no price list, we say prices come only from a personal quote. Corrections: insurers and readers can report errors, and we fix them within 10 working days with a dated change log.

Two legal ideas shape the method. Under EU rules on comparative advertising, a comparison may only cover features that are material, relevant, verifiable and representative, and must not denigrate anyone. Under the EU Insurance Distribution Directive, recommending a plan to a person counts as advice, while the mere provision of information does not. That is why we inform and do not advise. Cigna’s own policy rules make the same point about themselves: "Cigna Healthcare does not provide any personal recommendation to you with respect to you entering into this policy." The full method, including who pays us and how corrections work, is on our page on how we review insurers, and our wider editorial approach is on the about and methodology page.

Which 16 criteria do we use to compare insurers?

The 16 criteria run from the company behind the plan to the edition of the document we read, and each one points to a specific place in an insurer's paperwork.

Some criteria decide whether you can join at all (eligibility, entry age), others what the plan pays (limits, outpatient, maternity, pre-existing conditions), and others how secure the contract is over time (renewal and cancellation). Price is deliberately near the end. Without a published list, a price is a quote for one person on one day, and it tells you nothing about whether the plan pays where and when you need it.

Which insurers does this page cover?

This page covers eleven insurers and plans, listed below from A to Z; five have been checked against their own documents so far.

Listed alphabetically. Order does not reflect quality or commission.

Each published review, for Allianz Care, Cigna Global, IMG and William Russell, gives every fact with its page number. William Russell’s documents name AWP Health & Life SA, an Allianz group company, as insurer; Allianz Care’s documents name the same insurer, and the two ranges have separate plan documents and administrators. We write about an insurer only once its current policy wording is publicly available; if it is not, that review will not be published. Naming an insurer here does not mean it has approved this page or has any link with us.

How do the checked long-term plans compare on the same criteria?

Allianz Care, Care Expat World, Cigna Global, IMG Global Medical Insurance and William Russell are all long-term plans for people living abroad, and on our 16 criteria they differ in limits, entry age, home-country rules, module design and contract length.

The columns are alphabetical. Every cell is a fact from the plan's own documents, and the limits of the plan we are paid for are shown at the same level of detail. The table does not rank the plans and does not say which fits anyone. The Care Expat World plan page has its full benefit table; each insurer’s review has its own, with page references.

IMG’s travel-medical plans are a different product type and are not in this table. As other reviews are published, their columns will be added here in alphabetical order. A column appears only when all 16 rows can be filled from the insurer's own documents, or marked as not stated in them.

Are nomad and travel-medical plans compared in the same table?

No: nomad and travel-medical products are a different product type, so they will get their own table, and it will open with an explanation of the difference.

By definition, a long-term expat plan is cover for living abroad, while a travel-medical product is cover for trips. Nomad products sit between the two, and their terms decide which group each one belongs to. Putting the two in one table would compare products that do not meet the same need, which EU and UK comparative-advertising rules do not allow. Before we publish a single fact about a nomad or travel-medical product, we will confirm its type from its own terms.

Readers who travel for months at a time rather than settle in one place will find the general questions in our digital nomad health insurance guide.

Why do maximum entry ages differ between insurers?

Each insurer sets its own entry rules in its documents, so the age at which new applicants are still accepted is a fact to check insurer by insurer, never an assumption.

The five plans checked so far show how wide the range is. William Russell takes new applicants under 76 with full medical underwriting, under 70 when switching from another international insurer (CPME) and under 40 on moratorium terms (plan agreement 2026, p. 7). Allianz Care considers new applicants up to the day before their 76th birthday with full medical underwriting, or the day before their 65th with a moratorium (Benefit Guide valid from 1 November 2025, p. 51). IMG’s certificates require an insured person to be "not yet seventy-five (75) years old", and its rate sheet prices ages 70 to 74 only on request. Care Expat World accepts new applicants only if cover starts before the calendar year they turn 65; the binding terms speak of the 65th birthday, but the application form applies the stricter calendar-year rule. Existing members keep their cover with no exit age. Cigna's web pages say "no upper age limit - applications welcomed regardless of age", while its policy rules set only a minimum age of 18 for the policyholder, and acceptance is "subject to eligibility, underwriting, local availability and policy terms".

What matters is not only the entry age but what happens later: whether the contract has an end date, whether the insurer can refuse renewal, and how premiums change with age. Our international health insurance age limit page explains the Care Expat World deadline with a calculator, and the page on expat health insurance over 65 sets out the options for people past that age.

How do insurers handle the USA and your home country?

All five plans checked so far treat the USA as a separate area or zone, or limit cover there, and each sets its own home-country rule, which depends on the insurer and on your citizenship.

US citizens will find the Medicare side on our page on health insurance for Americans living abroad. British readers can turn to health insurance for UK expats, and the general rules are in our guide to international health insurance with home-country cover.

How do insurers treat pre-existing conditions?

Each insurer uses its own method, from exclusion unless agreed to inclusion after a health interview, and the method is written in the exclusions and underwriting sections of its documents.

Cigna Global’s General Exclusion 2 excludes a pre-existing condition "in respect of which we have not expressly agreed to provide cover", and every applicant completes a health questionnaire; Cigna may remove an exclusion for an extra premium at its discretion. We found no mention of moratorium underwriting in Cigna's 02/2026 documents. Care Expat World’s terms include pre-existing conditions after a video health interview, with a possible surcharge, exclusion or rejection; its product information sheet, however, lists known conditions as not insured, and we flag that conflict wherever the plan appears. Allianz Care applies one of three methods shown on the Insurance Certificate: full medical underwriting, a 24-month rolling moratorium, or continuation of a previous insurer’s terms. IMG excludes pre-existing conditions on Bronze, covers disclosed conditions on Silver and Gold unless a Rider excludes them, and never covers a condition left off the application. William Russell excludes pre-existing conditions unless it has agreed otherwise under full medical or CPME underwriting; under a moratorium, open only below age 40, a condition may become eligible after two years of continuous cover free of symptoms, advice and treatment (plan agreement 2026, p. 7).

Before you compare prices, compare what happens to the conditions you already have: excluded for good, excluded with a review date, covered for an extra premium, or covered after an interview. Our guide to international health insurance and pre-existing conditions explains the terms insurers use.

Why don't we show prices for every insurer?

We show a price only when an insurer publishes its own price list, because a quote-engine figure depends on one profile, goes stale and cannot be checked.

Of the five plans checked so far, two publish a premium table (Care Expat World, 2026 table; IMG, rate sheet with footer 0726 for new business from 01/02/2026) and three do not (Allianz Care and Cigna Global: no public price list found on 28 October 2026; William Russell: none found on 29 October 2026). On this page we show no prices at all, so that no published list is set against an estimate. Where premiums are published, the drivers are age band, area, level and deductible. Our guide to international health insurance cost explains those drivers, and the expat health insurance price index is built only from published price lists, with their dates.

Who regulates international health insurance companies?

The insurer is supervised in the country where the insuring company is licensed, and its policy documents name that company and its regulator in the legal notice.

Cigna’s CLICE edition, for example, names Cigna Life Insurance Company of Europe S.A.-N.V., a Belgian company supervised by two Belgian authorities (the National Bank of Belgium for prudential matters and the FSMA for conduct), with English law governing the contract and complaints going to the UK Financial Ombudsman Service. Cigna’s own document list shows other Cigna companies and branches issuing the same plan elsewhere. A brand’s website may name a different company again, so the company in your own Certificate of Insurance is the one that counts. Allianz Care’s documents name AWP Health & Life SA, a French insurer acting through its Irish Branch and regulated by the French Prudential Supervisory Authority. William Russell’s plan agreement names the same insurer, AWP Health & Life SA, with William Russell Europe SRL registered with the Belgian FSMA as mandated underwriter and its UK branch authorised by the FCA. IMG’s certificates name SiriusPoint Specialty Insurance Corporation as insurer under US surplus lines law, without naming a regulator. For Care Expat World, the insurer is Barmenia Krankenversicherung AG; the regulator is not recorded in our fact sheet, and we will add it once checked against the terms.

What should you ask any insurer in writing?

Ask for the current documents and for written answers on the points the documents leave open, and keep the replies with your policy.

• Which company insures me, and which regulator supervises it?
• Which edition of the policy wording applies to my policy, and where can I read it?
• Am I eligible with my nationality, residence and age, and is there a maximum entry age?
• Does my area or zone include the USA, and what happens on short trips outside it?
• Am I covered in my country of nationality, for how many days, and under which conditions?
• How will my existing conditions be handled, and can an exclusion be reviewed later?
• Which waiting periods apply to maternity, dental and other benefits?
• Can the insurer refuse to renew or cancel my policy, and on what grounds?
• Is evacuation included, or is it a separate option?
• How are hospital bills settled, and what is the deadline for claims?

If you want a personal recommendation on which plan to choose, that is the job of a licensed insurance broker or adviser, not of an information site.

Where these facts come from

• Cigna Healthcare: Cigna Global Health Options Policy Rules, edition "CLICE EXP EN 02/2026"; Customer Guide, edition "EN 02/2026"; Application Form, broker version, edition "EN 02/2026"; Cigna Global web pages "Plans & Documents for Brokers", "Cigna Global Health Options Worldwide Cover" and "International Health Insurance for Seniors" (all read 28 October 2026)
• Allianz Care (AWP Health & Life SA): Individual Benefit Guide and Table of Benefits "Care", both valid from 1 November 2025; IPID file DOC-IPID-EN-24; web pages and news release of 19 November 2025 (read 28 October 2026)
• International Medical Group (insurer SiriusPoint Specialty Insurance Corporation): Global Medical Insurance sample certificates Bronze, Silver and Gold without Creditable Coverage, and Platinum (01.01.26); rate sheet footer 0726; application footer 0126 (read 28 October 2026)
• William Russell Europe SRL and AWP Health & Life SA: "Individuals & families: Health insurance plan agreement" for policy years starting in 2026 (v2); tables of benefits Bronze, SilverLite, Silver and Gold 2026 (v2); IPID "10 November 2025, v1"; coverage zone helpsheet of 23 February 2026; excess web page updated 21 October 2026 (read 29 October 2026)
• Care Concept AG / Barmenia: Care Expat World terms VB-KV 2026_05, product information sheet (IPID), English FAQ and brochure, premium table 2026 (read October 2026)
• EU law, named for the method only: Directive 2006/114/EC on misleading and comparative advertising (Art. 4); Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices as amended by Directive (EU) 2019/2161; Insurance Distribution Directive (EU) 2016/97 (Art. 2); UK CAP Code section 3

No facts are shown for April International, Genki, GeoBlue, Now Health or SafetyWing, or for IMG’s travel-medical plans: their documents have not yet been read. No facts are shown for Bupa Global either, because its full policy terms are not publicly available. Cigna, IMG and William Russell amounts are the US dollar figures printed in their documents; Allianz Care amounts are the EUR figures printed in its documents.

How do we correct errors on this page?

Errors reported by insurers or readers are checked and corrected with a dated change log.

Spotted an error? Any insurer named here, or any reader, can write to [email protected]. We check against the insurer's documents and correct within 10 working days.

Facts are checked every six months, and within 30 days of any new policy wording or price list we learn of. Every change is listed below with its date.

Changes

• October 28, 2026: page published with Care Expat World and Cigna Global checked; nine insurers named without facts.
• October 28, 2026: link to our review method added; general statements about "most" or "usual" insurer practice replaced by what the two checked plans state.
• October 28, 2026: Allianz Care and IMG Global Medical Insurance reviews published; their columns, entry ages, USA rules, regulators and price sources added, and both entries now link their reviews.
• October 28, 2026: William Russell review published; its column, entry ages, USA and home-country rules, pre-existing rule, regulator and price source added. Bupa Global marked as not reviewed because its policy terms are not publicly available.

This page gives general information, not advice. Check the policy documents or ask a licensed broker.