The 10 Best International Health Insurance Companies
When signing up to international health insurance from the best international health insurance companies, it is essential to make the right choice. it is essential to make the right choice. Optimally, you select your international private medical insurance once and for a lifetime. Like every private medical insurance, the application for top international health insurance comes with a medical declaration in the form of a questionnaire. Medical conditions you have experienced before the application may be excluded from cover. Such conditions are called “pre-existing conditions” and do not only include conditions for which you have received a formal diagnosis, but also any symptoms you may have experienced in the past. To avoid gaps in your cover, you should therefore decide and apply for the best international health insurance plan when you are healthy. Making the right choice is essential to ensure you do not have to change private medical insurance again at the later time and after you have developed new medical issues that will likely be excluded as pre-existing medical conditions at a new application.
How to identify the best international medical insurance
The aspects to consider finding the best international private medical insurance differ from person to person. It depends if you are a Global Citizen, Multi-Resident, Expat, HNWI, or if you are a retiree. However, in any case the following are key aspects:
- Service quality and reputation of the insurance company
- Insurance benefits range
- Simplicity of claims reimbursement process
- Options to adjust the cover, including insurance benefits, deductibles and co-pays
- Long-term financial stability
Many key aspects can be researched online, and we always suggest you do your own research. Keep in mind that on paper, most things always look great and promising. How such key aspects are rated in practice is difficult to assess with online research. Asking for advise and a comparison of the best international medical insurance options for your individual situation can therefore be of great added value at no cost. Insurance professionals that work with all top insurance providers and insurance plans on a daily basis, will be able to share how nicely worded brochures and benefit tables convert in reality.
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April International UK
April International UK is a subsidiary of the French-based April Group, and a specialized provider of international health insurance solutions tailored to the needs of private individuals and companies. The company is based in London, United Kingdom, and well known for its high-end service level.
To be able to cater to individual needs, the company offers a wide range of global medical insurance plans. For private individuals such as expats, frequent travellers or multi-residents, April International UK offers four levels of coverage under their Long-Term International Health Insurance product range: International, International Plus, Executive, and Executive Plus.
Now Health International
Now Health International is a specialist international health insurance provider headquartered in Hong Kong, with regional service centers around the world such as for example in Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai, Jakarta, the UK, Spain and Malta. Depending on where you are situated geographically, your insurance policy will be administrated by the locally responsible service center. This ensures that employees are well aware of the local circumstances in your country of residence.
Its flagship product set is called WorldCare and offers four tiers of long-term international plans: Essential, Advance, Excel, and Apex. The four levels of cover differentiate from inpatient cover only, to a policy including cover for outpatient services, dental services, and eventually also maternity on the Apex product.
Cigna Healthcare
Being part of the Cigna Group out of the USA, Cigna Healthcare is one of the worldwide leading and best insurers for international private medical insurance. With their operations out of Greenock, Scotland, and offices around the world, they insure expats and HNWIs globally.
Their modular insurance plan set-up allows insurance cover to be granularly tailored to individual needs. On their three levels of coverage, Silver, Gold, and Platinum, expatriates can decide to opt only for the core cover module (for major medical expenses such as hospitalizations, surgeries, cancer, and mental health), or add-on the respective modules to be insured for outpatient medical services, dental and vision care, evacuation and repatriation, or preventive medicine.
Bupa Global
Being one of the best-known brand for international private medical insurance, Bupa Global also is within the list of the 10 best international health insurance companies. Headquartered out of the United Kingdom and Ireland, the following products are offered only to residents across Europe.
Their Bupa Global Health Plan suit offers five different insurance levels: Major Medical, Select, Premier, Elite and Ultimate. The Ultimate insurance plan is considered to be the most comprehensive medical insurance plan available globally. It comes with a dedicated concierge servicing team at Bupa that only takes care of VIP clients to ensure personal, fast, and highest-quality responses. The insurance benefits include access to hospital suites and generous allowances for annual check-ups beyond the offering of any other international health insurance plan.
Axa Global Healthcare
Based in London and Dublin, AXA Global Healthcare (previously known as AXA PPP International) is the international health insurance arm of the AXA Group.
The company offers a structured suite of international health plans, typically across five levels: Foundation, Standard, Comprehensive, Prestige, and Prestige Plus—with annual limits from basic coverage to unlimited. Due to its very attractive pricing and benefit structure, AXA plans can be interesting for expatriates and retirees, especially in countries with generally lower healthcare cost. For example, in Thailand
William Russel
Also part of the top 10 best international private medical insurance providers is William Russell. Founded in 1992 by Inez Cooper, the company has its administrative headquarters in the United Kingdom and has been long and well-known as a boutique provider of international insurance solutions.
Their international health insurance product offer four different tiers of cover from Bronze, to Silver Lite, Silver, and Gold with annual benefit limits between USD 1.5 million to USD 5 million. The company insures individuals in more than 160 countries and has specific strengths in South America and Africa.
Foyer Global Health
As opposed to many other providers, Foyer Global Health is headquartered out of continental Europe. Being part of the Luxembourg based Foyer Group, they serve primarily expatriates leaving Europe. While not being so well-known industry, Foyer should definitely not be left out of this list.
Their insurance options and benefits are structured much simpler, compared to other international health insurance companies. Foyer offers only insurance plans: Essential, Special and Exclusive. Only an outpatient deductible can be selected, and no significant modular add-ons are possible. For this reason, their insurance proposition is often much easier to understand for insured individuals. Slightly at cost of flexibility to tailor the insurance benefits. Their strict underwriting for pre-existing conditions allows the company to offer very attractive premiums.
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April International France
Also being part of the April Group, April International France is the Paris-based counterpart of April International UK. The company is highly specialized on accompanying French individuals and families abroad as their insurance proposition is more aligned with what people may be used to from the French social security system.
Their long-term insurance policies are called MyHealth International and come with six different coverage levels: Emergency, Basic, Essential, Comfort, and Premium. All different levels of cover can be further customized with deductibles, co-pays, and sometimes add-on modules. While most insurers would offer either and area of coverage that is worldwide including USA or worldwide excluding USA, the territory of cover where you have free choice of doctors and hospitals is priced into different zones with April International France. The large range of options makes it very important to carefully consider all aspects to identify and tailor the best international health insurance plans.
Allianz Global Healthcare
Also known as Allianz Care, Allianz Global Healthcare is the specialized subsidiary of the Allianz Group for private medical insurance for globally mobile individuals and expats. Apart from their global proposition for private individuals, Allianz also has regionally compliant offering in selected countries such as the UAE or Switzerland.
Allianz flagship insurance product suite is called Care and comes in a modular set-up. For the hospital core cover, you can select between Care, Care Plus, and Care Pro. For the outpatient additional module, you can mix any hospital cover with one of the levels of cover for outpatient services: Active, Active Plus, Active Pro. In addition, you can add a module for maternity, dental and repatriation inclusion in your policy.
IMG
International Medical Group (IMG) is headquartered in Indianapolis, USA. Being less known in Europe and Asia, IMG is very well knowing in their home territory.
IMG’s Global Medical Insurance offers four levels of cover: Bronze, Bronze Plus, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Very popular with IMG is the option to opt for an area of coverage that is only for Europe. Also you can select a deductible as high as USD 7’500 to only insure yourself for major medical events with significant costs and save of the annual premium. This can help to slightly reduce the premium compared to being insured worldwide, excluding the USA.
Subscribe to the 10 best international health insurance companies with the help of SIP Medical Family Office
As an independent insurance broker with more than 25 years of experience, we work daily with all the best international private medical insurance providers. For a private individual, it is very complex to be able to precisely identify the own needs, obtain all quotations for potentially suitable insurance plans, and compare the benefits and premiums. We do this every day and are happy to compare international health insurance options for you in a full market review.
We support our clients daily with claims, guarantees of payment, renewal negotiations and further. As such, we can also advise you on the quality of service of the best international insurance companies and what you need to be attentive of when subscribing and eventually using your private medical insurance plan.
