Written by Steffan Grund · Insurance specialist (Versicherungsfachmann BWV) · Updated Facts checked: Tick your conditions and enter a few dates. The builder lists the documents an insurer is likely to ask about and checks the timing rules of Care Expat World. It does not predict whether you will be accepted.
A preparation aid only. The insurer decides after the interview; outcomes can be acceptance, a surcharge, an exclusion or a decline.
Yes, you can apply, but the insurer decides individually and the result can range from normal terms to a decline. What changes from insurer to insurer is how your health is assessed and when: before the policy starts, or only when you make a claim.
For people aged 50 to 64 moving abroad, the question is more pressing than at home. A UK resident leaving the NHS, or an American leaving an ACA Marketplace plan or employer cover, steps out of a system that does not look at medical history and into a market where private insurers may. The earlier you apply, the more of your health record is still clean, and the more options remain open before entry-age limits close them. Our pillar guide to expat health insurance explains the wider choices; this page is only about medical history.
Care Expat World, the long-term plan we feature, takes a middle route. Its binding German terms say pre-existing conditions are included in the cover, subject to a health check carried out as an interview. The insurer may then charge a premium surcharge, exclude individual benefits or decline the contract. You can read the full plan in our Care Expat World guide and every benefit line in the plan details.
| Topic | Rule (as of October 2026) |
|---|---|
| How health is checked | Video interview on Zoom or Teams instead of a long questionnaire |
| Records looked at | Medical reports and test results from the past five years |
| Possible outcomes | Acceptance, premium surcharge, exclusion of individual benefits, or decline |
| Who cannot be insured | People who need nursing or custodial care; people turning 65 or older in the year cover starts |
| General waiting period | None if insured until the start; 31 days if previous cover ended up to 12 months earlier |
| Pregnancy existing at the start | Excluded, except unforeseen complications before week 36 |
| After acceptance | No age at which cover ends; the insurer cannot cancel the contract with ordinary notice |
| Upgrading the level later | Needs a new video interview (changes on 1 January); downgrading does not |
| Document conflict | The product information sheet lists known pre-existing conditions as not insured; get your decision in writing |
Source: Care Concept / Barmenia, Care Expat World terms VB-KV 2026_05, product information sheet and English product page, read October 2026.
Insurers use full medical underwriting, a moratorium, or an individual assessment such as an interview, and the method decides whether you know your exclusions before you buy or only when you claim.
| Method | When your history is checked | What you know at the start | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full medical underwriting | At application: you answer a health questionnaire, sometimes with records | Your exclusions and any surcharge, in writing | A long list of exclusions if your history is complex |
| Moratorium | At claim time: the insurer looks back (five years in the policies below) for symptoms, treatment or advice | Only the general rule, not which of your conditions it will apply to | A claim refused months later because an earlier symptom or a "related condition" is found |
| Interview-based (Care Expat World) | At application: video interview plus records of the last five years | The insurer's decision, which should be confirmed in writing | Surcharge, exclusion or decline; the product sheet wording conflicts with the terms |
Whichever method applies, the insurer is not testing whether you are healthy; it is pricing the risk that a known problem will lead to claims. That is why stable, well-documented conditions are easier to assess than vague symptoms still under investigation. If you are in the middle of tests, ask your doctor to write down the result before you apply.
A moratorium suits people with minor, fully resolved issues who want to buy quickly, while full medical underwriting (or an interview) suits anyone with a long-term condition who needs certainty before moving abroad.
Two decisions of the UK Financial Ombudsman Service, the statutory complaints body for UK insurers, show how moratorium clauses work in practice. In a 2023 decision about a Vitality group policy, the clause excluded any condition for which, in the five years before cover started, the member had treatment, symptoms or advice, or was aware of it. A condition could become eligible again only after two continuous years after the start without consultations, treatment or medication for it. The ombudsman also accepted that the condition did not need a formal diagnosis for the clause to apply.
In a December 2024 decision about a WPA policy bought online, no medical underwriting took place at the start; the insurer assessed the history when the claim came in. It used the same five-year look-back and two-year symptom-free rule, and it declined coronary investigations because high cholesterol in earlier years counted as a related condition. The insurer's own guide, quoted in the decision, warned that long-term conditions needing regular treatment are unlikely ever to reach two symptom-free years, naming diabetes, uncontrolled hypertension, fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis as examples.
| Question | Moratorium (as in the two decisions) | Full medical underwriting / interview |
|---|---|---|
| Health questions at application? | No | Yes |
| Look-back period | Five years before the start date | As set by the insurer (five years of records for Care Expat World) |
| Can an excluded condition become covered? | Yes, after two continuous years without symptoms, treatment or advice | Only if the insurer accepts it, with or without a surcharge |
| Long-term conditions on regular medicine | Unlikely ever to clear the two-year rule | Assessed individually; may be accepted, surcharged or excluded |
| When you find out | When you claim | Before you pay the first premium |
| Best for | Minor past issues, fully resolved | Diabetes, heart, cancer history, any condition still treated |
These two policies are UK domestic products, quoted here because the ombudsman describes them precisely; other insurers and other countries use different periods. Portugal's insurance-contract law, for example, says known pre-existing conditions are covered unless the contract excludes them and allows a waiting period of at most one year, and the Portuguese insurance regulator ASF notes that such exclusions are usual. Always read the clause in the policy you are actually offered.
You book a video call on Zoom or Teams, talk through your health with the insurer's team, and provide medical reports and test results from the past five years; the insurer then issues its decision.
| Outcome | What it means | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Acceptance on normal terms | Published premium, no special conditions | That the letter says so, and that every condition you mentioned is on record |
| Premium surcharge | An extra amount on top of the premium; the condition stays insured | The amount, and whether it applies to the condition named |
| Exclusion of individual benefits | Treatment for a named condition or benefit is not paid | How narrow or broad the wording is; whether related conditions are included |
| Decline | No contract | Your fallback: the public system of your new country (see the table below) |
After acceptance, the contract has no end date and no age at which cover stops, and the insurer waives its right to cancel with ordinary notice. That matters for anyone with a condition: a policy you already hold cannot simply be ended because you became ill, which is exactly the risk you want to remove before your 60s are over.
Because the binding terms and the short product information sheet use different wording: the terms include pre-existing conditions subject to the interview, while the product sheet lists known pre-existing conditions as not insured.
Under "what is not insured", the product information sheet names treatment of illnesses and complaints that already existed and were known when the contract was concluded. The terms (VB-KV 2026_05, section 2, paragraph 4), which are the legally binding German text, say the opposite in principle: pre-existing conditions are included, and the interview decides on a surcharge, an exclusion or a refusal. We cannot resolve the conflict for you, so we state it openly.
The English documents are a service translation; the German terms are binding. If the written decision and a brochure ever differ, the decision letter and the German terms are what a claim will be measured against.
With Care Expat World there is no general waiting period if you were insured right up to the start date, a 31-day wait if your previous cover ended up to 12 months earlier, and longer special waits for pregnancy, dentures and laser eye surgery.
| What | Waiting period | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| General waiting period | None, if you had health insurance until the start date | 31 days if your previous insurance ended up to 12 months before the start |
| Pregnancy and childbirth (Comfort, Premium) | 10 months | A pregnancy existing at the start is excluded, except unforeseen complications before week 36 |
| Dentures and orthodontics (Comfort, Premium) | 10 months | Waived if the treatment follows an accident |
| Laser eye surgery (LASIK) | 2 full calendar years | Always applies |
The 31-day gap rule in practice: the terms make prior health insurance a condition of joining, and it must not have ended more than 12 months before the start. So the cleanest route is to keep your current cover until the last day of the month before Care Expat World starts. If you have been uninsured for longer than 12 months, ask Care Concept before applying whether you can join at all.
Mind the visa timing too. Care Expat World cannot start before you cross the border, so it cannot be the policy you show for a visa that must be valid from the application date. Use travel or visa insurance for the application, then start long-term cover on arrival. Country rules are in our guide to visa health insurance requirements by country.
Prepare a short, dated summary of every diagnosis, treatment and medicine from the last five years, backed by the reports and test results the insurer may request.
Two habits make the interview faster. First, answer the question asked and add dates: "type 2 diabetes since 2019, metformin 1,000 mg twice a day, last HbA1c in March" is better than "a bit of sugar". Second, mention planned treatment. The terms exclude treatment abroad that was the reason, or one of the reasons, for the trip, and an operation already recommended is exactly what an insurer wants to know about.
For each condition an insurer wants dates, current treatment, stability and complications; the table shows typical questions and the papers that answer them, not a prediction of the outcome.
| Condition | What an insurer will ask | Papers to bring | Rules elsewhere worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (type 1 or 2) | Type and year of diagnosis; insulin or tablets; recent HbA1c; eye, kidney, nerve or foot complications; hospital stays | Lab reports, endocrinologist letter, medicine list | A UK insurer guide quoted by the ombudsman names diabetes as unlikely to clear a moratorium. Mexico's IMSS: late complications of diabetes make a person not insurable |
| High blood pressure, cholesterol | Readings, medicines, whether controlled, any heart or kidney findings | Recent readings, lab values, GP summary | Uncontrolled hypertension is named in the same UK guide; high cholesterol was treated as related to heart disease in a 2024 ombudsman decision |
| Heart (coronary disease, stent, bypass, rhythm, valve) | Event dates, procedures, current function, medicines, follow-up | Cardiologist letters, ECG, echo, discharge reports | IMSS: heart-valve disease, heart failure and sequelae of ischaemic heart disease are not insurable |
| Cancer history | Type, stage at diagnosis, treatment and end date, current follow-up, remission | Oncology letters, latest scans and markers | Care Expat World caps cancer treatment at €50,000 (Basic) and €100,000 (Comfort); Premium is uncapped. IMSS: malignant tumours are not insurable |
| Joints, back, planned surgery | Diagnosis, imaging, injections, whether surgery is recommended | Imaging reports, orthopaedic letters | Planned treatment is the riskiest item to leave out. IMSS: 2-year wait for orthopaedic surgery |
| Mental health | Diagnosis, therapy, medicines, hospital stays, current stability | Psychiatrist or therapist letter, medicine list | Care Expat World: inpatient psychotherapy only in Premium (up to 42 days); outpatient none in Basic, 15 sessions a year in Comfort, 25 in Premium |
| Lungs (asthma, COPD, sleep apnoea) | Severity, lung-function tests, inhalers or devices, hospital stays | Spirometry, specialist letters | IMSS: COPD with respiratory failure is not insurable |
| Kidney or liver disease | Lab values over time, cause, specialist follow-up | Blood tests, ultrasound, specialist letters | IMSS: chronic kidney failure and chronic liver disease are not insurable |
| Pregnancy | Due date | Maternity record | Care Expat World excludes a pregnancy existing at the start (except unforeseen complications before week 36) |
| Need for nursing care | Daily care needs | Care assessment | People who need nursing or custodial care cannot be insured under Care Expat World |
None of these conditions automatically leads to a decline, and none is guaranteed to be accepted. What helps in every row is the same: precise dates, a stable recent history and papers that show it. If tests are still running, it can help to apply once the results are in writing, as long as you stay inside the age window.
Several countries let foreign residents join their public system, and some of them set residence rules rather than health checks, which makes them a fallback if a private insurer declines or excludes your condition.
| Country | Public route for foreign residents | Health check or pre-existing rule we found | Our guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mexico | IMSS voluntary scheme (Seguro de Salud para la Familia); 2026 fees 14,850 MXN a year at 50–59, 20,600 MXN at 60–69 | Yes. Art. 82 lists conditions that are not insurable; Art. 83 sets waits up to 2 years; Art. 84 excludes chronic conditions needing permanent control; cover can be cancelled in year one if a pre-existing condition is found | Mexico insurance, Mexico healthcare |
| Portugal | SNS user number for any legally resident foreigner (residence permit, tax number, address) | Access is based on residence; no health check among the listed conditions | Portugal insurance, Portugal healthcare |
| Spain | Convenio especial after 1 year of residence and padrón registration: €60 a month under 65, €157 at 65+; or the UK S1 | Conditions are residence, padrón and no other public cover; no health check among them | Spain healthcare |
| France | PUMa after 3 months of stable residence (at least 6 months a year); a 2026 contribution awaits a decree | Residence conditions only | France insurance |
| Costa Rica | CCSS (the "Caja") is mandatory for residents; contribution based on income | We found no CCSS rule excluding pre-existing conditions for insured residents | Costa Rica insurance |
| Panama | CSS voluntary group B2 for foreigners: proof of residence and CSS medical exams | Yes, medical exams; press in 2016–17 reported a suspension for foreigners, so apply and confirm | Panama insurance |
| Philippines | PhilHealth for foreigners with a work permit or ACR card; 2024 charter: PHP 17,000 a year, PHP 15,000 for PRA retirees | No health-check rule found; local HMO contracts must state their pre-existing-condition rules | Philippines insurance |
| EU countries (UK pensioners) | S1 for people receiving the UK State Pension: same state care as local residents, paid by the UK | Entitlement-based; no health check; no private care | S1 form guide |
Public systems come with their own trade-offs: waiting lists, language, and limited choice of doctor. Some people with a condition combine both, using a public scheme for long-term management and private cover, with the condition surcharged or excluded, for everything else. If cost is the deciding factor, compare these systems with living costs in our list of the cheapest countries to retire.
Not once you live abroad: the ACA's pre-existing-condition protection applies to Marketplace plans, which require you to live in the United States, and Medicare generally does not pay for care outside the US.
HealthCare.gov states that no Marketplace plan can reject you, charge you more or refuse to pay essential health benefits because of a pre-existing condition, and that a pregnancy at application cannot be refused or charged more. The same site lists living in the US as an eligibility condition, and Marketplace plans cover providers in the US. Abroad, private insurers may underwrite again, which is why Americans with a condition should apply for long-term cover while their record is still current and their age still under the limit.
Two more points for Americans. Care Expat World never covers you in the USA: the USA is your declared home country, and home-country cover exists only for EU or Schengen home countries, whatever zone you choose (see international health insurance with home-country cover). And if you are approaching 65, Medicare's Part B late penalty (10% for each full 12-month period you could have had Part B but did not) is a separate decision, explained in our guide to health insurance for Americans living abroad.
You pay the published premium for your age band, level and deductible, plus any surcharge set in your interview decision; Care Expat World publishes no surcharge amounts, so your written offer is the only reliable figure.
| Age band | Basic, €3,600 deductible | Comfort, €1,200 deductible | Premium, no deductible |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50–54 | €140 | €335 | €510 |
| 55–59 | €200 | €505 | €655 |
| 60–64 | €325 | €655 | €800 |
Monthly premiums in Zone 1 (worldwide except the USA, China and Singapore), before any individual surcharge. A higher age band applies from 1 January of the year you reach it.
With a known condition, the deductible choice deserves more thought than usual. If you expect regular specialist visits and tests every year, a high deductible means you pay most of that routine care yourself. Our international health insurance cost guide shows when each deductible pays off, and the calculator below gives you the yearly worst case.
Linda, 58, from Arizona, has type 2 diabetes on tablets and plans to move to Mexico in spring 2027. She was born in 1968, so her cover must start by 1 December 2032 at the latest. She keeps her US plan until the end of the month before her start date, so no 31-day waiting period applies. For the interview she gathers her last five years of HbA1c results, an eye check report, her medicine list and her doctor's summary. She also checks the Mexican public option: IMSS lists late complications of diabetes as not insurable and excludes chronic conditions needing permanent control, so she does not count on IMSS for her diabetes care. If accepted on Comfort with a €1,200 deductible, the published premium at 55–59 is €505 a month before any surcharge. Her cover starts on the 1st of the month after she arrives, and it will never cover her during visits to the USA.
David, 61, from Leeds, finished treatment for prostate cancer in 2023 and is moving to Portugal. He is below UK State Pension age, so he has no S1. His D7 visa application needs travel insurance valid from the application, so he buys that first and starts long-term cover on arrival. Because his treatment falls inside the five-year records window, he brings his oncology letters, the latest PSA results and his discharge reports. He notes the cancer caps (€50,000 in Basic, €100,000 in Comfort) before choosing a level. Born in 1965, his cover must start by 1 December 2029 at the latest; the published price for Comfort with a €1,200 deductible at 60–64 is €655 a month before any surcharge. Once he holds a Portuguese residence permit, he also registers with the SNS as a second layer.
Neither example predicts an outcome. Both show the same order of steps: check the age deadline, keep current cover running, gather records, apply, and get the decision in writing before the 14-day cancellation period ends.
The costly mistakes are leaving out a condition, letting old cover lapse, applying too close to 65, and assuming a brochure overrides the binding terms.
| Mistake | Why it matters | Better |
|---|---|---|
| Leaving out a condition or symptom | Under the German insurance law applied in the terms, a misstatement can let the insurer withdraw from or end the contract | Disclose everything, including undiagnosed symptoms and planned tests |
| Letting your old policy lapse early | Gap of up to 12 months = 31-day wait; longer gap can block joining | Keep cover until the day before the new start |
| Waiting until 64 or 65 | Entry closes in the calendar year you turn 65; new diagnoses add exclusions | Apply in your 50s or early 60s; see international health insurance age limits |
| Relying on the product sheet or a brochure | The documents conflict on pre-existing conditions | Get the interview decision in writing |
| Using long-term cover for the visa application | Cover starts on the 1st of a month after you cross the border | Travel or visa insurance for the application, long-term cover on arrival |
| Upgrading the level after a diagnosis | An upgrade needs a new interview | Choose the level you need at the start |
| Moving zone for a planned operation | Treatment already planned is not covered in the higher zone | Pick the right zone before treatment is recommended |
| Switching insurer before the new acceptance | The new insurer underwrites from scratch | Keep the old policy until the new decision is in writing |
If you are under 65 and still working, perhaps as a remote worker, the same rules apply (see digital nomad health insurance); our overview of digital nomad visas by country lists which visas ask for insurance at all. Insuring a partner or children too? See our guide to international family health insurance.
Then Care Expat World is closed to you, and the realistic options are the public system of your new country, the UK S1 if you receive the UK State Pension and live in the EU, or a local plan with no entry-age limit.
Age is counted as calendar year minus year of birth, so someone born in 1962 is treated as 65 from 1 January 2027, so cover must start by 1 December 2026 at the latest. Some public systems keep their doors open at older ages: Mexico's IMSS fee table runs to 80 and over, and Spain's convenio especial costs €157 a month from 65 after a year of residence. Medicare, for Americans, generally does not pay abroad.
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): €140 at 50–54, €200 at 55–59, €325 at 60–64; €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.
Pre-existing conditions are assessed in the video interview; a surcharge or exclusion may apply. 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.
It can, but not always on the same terms as a healthy applicant, and no one can promise the outcome before the insurer has seen your records. Care Expat World includes pre-existing conditions in its binding terms, subject to a video health interview; the result can be normal acceptance, a surcharge, an exclusion of one condition, or a decline.
Usually anything you had symptoms of, were treated for, took medicine for or asked a doctor about before cover starts. In moratorium policies described in UK Financial Ombudsman decisions, a condition did not need a formal diagnosis to count, and "related conditions" (for example high cholesterol and heart disease) were treated together.
With full medical underwriting you declare your health history when you apply, and the insurer sets any exclusions or terms before cover starts. With a moratorium you answer no medical questions at the start; the insurer checks your history only when you claim and excludes conditions from a look-back period until you have stayed free of symptoms and treatment for a set time.
It depends on the policy’s look-back period. The moratorium policies described in UK Financial Ombudsman decisions looked back five years before the start date, and the Care Expat World video health interview looks at medical reports and test results from the last five years.
No insurer can promise to accept every condition. It depends on how the insurer assesses health (full medical underwriting, a moratorium or an individual interview), on your condition and how recent it is, and on the outcome: normal acceptance, a surcharge, an exclusion or a decline. Care Expat World includes pre-existing conditions in its binding terms, subject to a video health interview; get any decision in writing.
It depends on the policy. The two moratorium policies described in UK Financial Ombudsman decisions from 2023 and 2024 looked back five years before the start date and let a condition become eligible after two continuous years after the start without symptoms, treatment, medication or advice. Read the exact clause of the policy you are offered.
Not necessarily. In a 2023 decision about one individual policy, the UK Financial Ombudsman Service accepted that its moratorium clause applied to symptoms that had not yet been formally diagnosed. Tell the insurer about symptoms and tests, not only about named diagnoses.
You can apply, and the insurer will decide after seeing your records. Expect questions about the type of diabetes, the year of diagnosis, insulin or tablets, recent HbA1c results and any eye, kidney, nerve or heart complications. One UK insurer guide quoted by the Financial Ombudsman names diabetes as a long-term condition that is unlikely ever to clear a moratorium, so an underwritten decision is usually clearer.
You can apply, but heart conditions are assessed individually and the insurer may exclude the condition, add a surcharge or decline. Bring cardiologist letters, ECG and echo results, details of any stents, bypass or valve procedures and your current medicines. Expect related findings such as high cholesterol or blood pressure to be looked at together.
You can apply; the insurer looks at the type, stage, treatment end date and recent follow-up results. Note the Care Expat World caps for cancer treatment: €50,000 in Basic and €100,000 in Comfort, while Premium has no cancer cap. Ask for any exclusion to be stated in writing.
You can apply, and the insurer will ask for your readings, your medicines and whether the pressure is controlled. A UK insurer guide quoted by the Financial Ombudsman lists uncontrolled hypertension among long-term conditions that rarely clear a moratorium.
It depends on the underwriting result and on the plan level. Care Expat World pays inpatient psychotherapy only in Premium (up to 42 days) and outpatient psychotherapy for 15 sessions a year in Comfort and 25 in Premium, each at up to €150. Basic has no psychotherapy cover.
You talk to the insurer by video call on Zoom or Teams instead of filling in a long questionnaire. The interview looks at medical reports and test results from the past five years. Afterwards the insurer accepts you on normal terms, adds a surcharge, excludes individual benefits or declines.
For Care Expat World: medical reports and test results from the last five years. In practice that means a GP summary, hospital discharge letters, specialist letters, recent lab and imaging results and a medicine list with doses. Our interview preparation builder at the top of this page turns your conditions into a document checklist.
Yes. The Care Expat World terms allow the insurer to decline the application after the interview, as well as to add a surcharge or exclude individual benefits. If you are declined and you are under 65, look at the public system of your new country as a fallback; several are listed in our table.
An extra amount added to the normal premium because the insurer expects higher claims from a known condition. In exchange the condition stays covered. Care Expat World sets surcharges individually and publishes no amounts, so the only reliable figure is the one in your written offer.
The policy runs as normal, but treatment for one named condition (and often for conditions related to it) is not paid. Read the exact wording: a narrow exclusion ("left knee") is very different from a broad one ("musculoskeletal disorders").
It can cost you the policy when you need it most. Care Expat World is governed by German insurance law, and its terms apply the statutory rules on misstatements: an incomplete answer can let the insurer withdraw from the contract or end it, typically discovered at the time of a large claim.
It depends on the insurer and country. Care Expat World has no special waiting period for pre-existing conditions; instead the interview decides. Its general waiting period is none if you were insured until the start date, or 31 days after a gap of up to 12 months. Portuguese law allows policies a waiting period of up to one year for known conditions.
If your previous health insurance ended up to 12 months before your Care Expat World start date, a general waiting period of 31 days applies. If you were insured right up to the start date, there is none. The terms also make prior insurance within those 12 months a condition of joining, so do not let your old policy lapse early.
Not with Care Expat World: a pregnancy that already exists when cover starts is excluded, except unforeseen complications before week 36. Pregnancy and childbirth in Comfort and Premium are covered only after a 10-month waiting period.
Because Care Expat World documents disagree: the binding terms include pre-existing conditions subject to the interview, while the product information sheet lists known pre-existing conditions as not insured. A written acceptance letter naming any surcharge or exclusion is the record that will count at claim time.
You can, but a new insurer underwrites you again, and a condition that is covered today may be excluded by the new one. Keep your current policy until the new acceptance is in writing. Within Care Expat World, moving to a higher level also needs a new video interview, while a downgrade does not.
Some do, some do not. Mexico's voluntary IMSS scheme lists conditions that make a person not insurable and excludes chronic conditions needing permanent control. Residence-based systems such as Portugal's SNS or France's PUMa set residence conditions rather than health checks. Spain's convenio especial is €60 a month under 65 after a year of residence.
No. HealthCare.gov says Marketplace plans cannot reject you or charge you more for a pre-existing condition, but you must live in the United States to enrol and the plans cover providers in the US. Once you move abroad, foreign insurers may underwrite you.
Not with Care Expat World: you must cover must start by 1 December of the year you turn 64. Your options are the public system of your new country (Mexico's IMSS fee table, for example, runs to 80 and over) and, for UK State Pensioners in the EU, the S1. We are preparing a comparison of plans without an entry-age limit.
It can. The published Zone 1 premium depends on age band, level and deductible, for example €505 a month for Comfort with a €1,200 deductible at 55–59. A surcharge from the interview comes on top of that and is set individually.
The ombudsman decisions describe individual UK policies and are quoted as examples, not as market rules. We found no official statistics on acceptance, surcharge or exclusion rates, and none are used on this page.
Start cover by 1 December of the year you turn 64: the interview looks at your last five years, and once accepted, the cover has no end date.
Referral link: we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you (how we are paid).