Insurance
International health insurance for people who live abroad
Travel, nomad, health or expat cover: four products that sound interchangeable and are not. Here is which one fits how you actually live, what each quietly leaves out, and how the answer changes across the 73 countries we map.
The choice
Four products, and the one question that separates them
Almost everyone arrives here having already been sold the wrong thing. The four categories overlap enough to look like the same product at different prices, and they are not. The question that actually sorts them is not where you are going. It is how long you are staying, and whether you still have healthcare somewhere else.
A two-week trip is a travel-insurance problem. You have cover at home, you want protection against an emergency and a cancelled flight, and the policy can safely expire when you land back. Once you are gone for months, that logic breaks. Travel policies cap out around 90 days, exclude the routine care you now have nowhere else to get, and treat a chronic condition as somebody else’s problem. Stretching a travel policy across a year abroad is the single most common mistake we see, and people usually discover it at the worst possible moment.
Nomad insurance exists for the middle case: long stays, several countries a year, no fixed home, but not a formal relocation either. Expat and international health insurance is for when you have actually moved, whether you call it that or not. It is also, in practice, the only category that reliably satisfies a nomad visa’s insurance requirement, because those permits run for a year or more and a trip policy expires inside the term.
Browse by insurance type
Health
Health insurance
Long-term residents, slow travelers spending 6+ months in one place, expats.
What it covers & by countryTravel
Travel insurance
Short trips (under 3 months), vacations, weekend trips, gig travel.
What it covers & by countryNomad
Nomad insurance
Long-stay nomads, perpetual travelers, slowmads who change country every few months.
What it covers & by countryExpat
Expat insurance
Expats with a residence permit or long-stay visa, families, retirees abroad.
What it covers & by country
One cover cuts across all four: medical evacuation insurance, the benefit that pays to move you to care, or home, and the one most often underfunded by a visa-minimum policy.
Why country matters
The same policy is a different bet in a different country
Cover that is more than enough in one country is thin in the next, and the reason is rarely the policy. It is the healthcare system underneath it. Whether foreigners can use the public system at all, whether private hospitals expect payment before they treat you, whether a serious case gets handled locally or flown out, and what any of it costs: those four facts change the amount of insurance a sensible person carries far more than the wording of the policy does.
That is why the country guides exist rather than one generic explainer. We have mapped 73 countries, 73 of them with local treatment-cost benchmarks, so you can see what an actual hospital day or emergency admission costs before you decide how much cover is enough. If you want the blunt version of that argument, the cost of going uninsured puts a number on it.
How we work
What we will not tell you
We do not publish premiums. Not because we are hiding them, but because a price quoted without your age, your medical history and the countries you need covered is not a price. Adding the United States to a plan can double it on its own. Any site showing you a headline monthly figure before it knows those things is showing you an advertisement.
What we will put in writing is what treatment actually costs, what each policy type genuinely excludes, and which visas will reject the cover you were about to buy. We are an independent broker: the insurer pays us a commission when a policy is placed, you pay the same premium you would pay going direct, and because we are not tied to one carrier we have no reason to steer you.
We will also tell you when the answer is to buy nothing from us. If you are taking a two-week holiday and you already have cover at home, a cheap travel policy from a comparison site is the correct product and we are the wrong people to ask. The cases we are useful in are the awkward ones: a long stay, a medical history, a visa with conditions attached, a family, or a plan that has to work across several countries in the same year. That is where the differences between carriers stop being cosmetic.
The exclusions
What each type leaves out
Cover is sold on what it includes. It fails on what it excludes, and the exclusions are where the four types genuinely differ. These are the gaps that matter, per type, stated plainly rather than buried on page forty of a policy wording.
Health insurance does not cover
- Routine cover in your home country (usually excluded if you're a tax resident)
- Cosmetic procedures
- Pre-existing conditions on day-one of most plans (medical underwriting)
Travel insurance does not cover
- Routine care, chronic-condition management
- Maternity, mental-health
- Trips longer than the policy's max (often 90 days)
Nomad insurance does not cover
- Treatment in your home-country tax residence (often excluded)
- Long-term chronic-condition management on the cheaper plans
- Routine preventive care (varies by plan)
Expat insurance does not cover
- Cover in your home country (limited windows on some plans)
- Pre-existing conditions during initial underwriting
- Cosmetic procedures
Read those four boxes next to each other and the decision usually makes itself. The pattern is that the cheaper the product, the more of your life it declines to cover, and the exclusions cluster exactly where a long stay abroad puts you: routine care, chronic conditions, and anything happening in the country you came from.
Pre-existing conditions
The question everyone asks last and should ask first
If you have a medical history, this is the single variable that decides which carrier is right for you, and it is the one where carriers differ most. Some will underwrite you individually and cover a declared condition at a higher premium. Some exclude the condition permanently but insure everything else. Some apply a waiting period and cover it after a couple of claim-free years. Some decline the application outright.
Four different answers to the same question, from four companies selling what looks like the same product. Which is why comparing headline benefits across carriers tells you very little if you have a condition: the benefit table looks similar and the underwriting decision is completely different.
The mistake that costs people is not declaring. It feels harmless, because the condition is under control and unrelated to anything likely to happen. But a non-disclosure gives the insurer grounds to challenge a claim years later, including a claim that has nothing to do with the undeclared condition, and the point at which you discover this is the point at which you are least able to deal with it. Declare everything, accept that it affects the price, and get the exclusion in writing so you know exactly what you are carrying.
This is also the clearest case for using a broker rather than a comparison table. Working out which carrier treats your particular history most favourably is not something a filter can do, and it is the part of the job we are actually useful for.
Browse by country
Each country guide maps the healthcare system, local costs and visa requirements, the context behind every insurance type for that country.
Thailand
Thailand is the default landing pad for digital nomads in Southeast Asia. Private healthcare in Bangkok and Chiang Mai is genuinely world-class, English-speaking doctors are common, and costs sit at a fraction of US or Western European pricing. The trade-off: visa rules keep shifting, public hospitals are a step down, and most expat-friendly clinics still expect upfront payment unless your insurer has a direct-billing agreement. For stays past six months, international health insurance (not travel insurance) is the right tool.
Country guideBali (Indonesia)
Bali is the world's busiest digital nomad hub and one of the most under-insured. A handful of solid private hospitals on the island handle routine and moderate care, but anything serious gets flown to Singapore. Scooter accidents dominate claims, and many cheap nomad policies quietly exclude two-wheelers when you don't hold a motorcycle license. Picking insurance here is less about price and more about cashless access at the two or three hospitals that expect upfront payment from foreigners.
Country guidePortugal
Portugal is one of Europe's most popular bases for digital nomads, with Lisbon, Porto, Madeira, and the Algarve hosting steady inflows on D7, D8, and D2 visas. Public healthcare (SNS) is solid for legal residents, and private networks like Hospital da Luz, CUF, and LusÃadas offer fast, English-friendly care. Insurance still matters: every long-stay visa requires proof of cover, and SNS access only kicks in once your residency card is issued.
Country guideMexico
Mexico is the default Latin American base for North American nomads. Cheap flights from anywhere in the US or Canada, world-class private hospitals in CDMX and Guadalajara, and a tourist permit system that historically allowed six-month stays with little friction. That last part is tightening. Healthcare is where Mexico genuinely shines: ABC Medical Center and Médica Sur charge a fraction of US prices for comparable procedures, US-trained doctors are common, and English coverage in expat hubs is solid. International insurance still matters because the public system isn't built for foreigners and private hospitals expect payment on arrival.
Country guideCosta Rica
Costa Rica is one of the easiest places in the Americas to base as a nomad: good private healthcare, a generous 180-day tourist entry, and a digital nomad visa that exempts foreign income from local tax. Private care around San José is genuinely good and a fraction of US prices, with English-speaking, often US-trained doctors. The thing to plan for is the visa's insurance line, which sets a hard $50,000 medical-cover minimum for the whole stay. Public care exists but is slow, so private cover plus solid evacuation is the realistic setup.
Country guideVietnam
Vietnam is cheaper than Thailand, less polished on healthcare, and the visa rules keep shifting. Public hospitals are crowded and Vietnamese-speaking; private care is concentrated in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi and is improving but uneven. For nomads, international cover with strong medical evacuation matters more here than almost anywhere else in Southeast Asia. If something serious happens outside the two major cities, the realistic answer is being flown to Bangkok or Singapore.
Country guideSpain
Spain is a top-five nomad base in Europe, with Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Málaga, and Las Palmas pulling in steady inflows on the digital nomad visa, non-lucrative visa, and autónomo routes. The Sistema Nacional de Salud (SNS / Sanidad) is well-rated for clinical quality, and private hospital networks like Quirónsalud, Vithas, and HM Hospitales are widespread. English availability in private care is patchier than Portugal: fine in Madrid and Barcelona, thinner elsewhere. Insurance is mandatory for most visa classes.
Country guideGeorgia
Georgia has become one of the most accessible long-stay bases in the world for digital nomads. Citizens of around 95 countries get a full year of visa-free entry on arrival, the Individual Entrepreneur (IE) Small Business regime taxes turnover at just 1% up to roughly 500,000 GEL, and private healthcare in Tbilisi costs a fraction of Western Europe. The trade-off is real: clinical quality concentrates in the capital, English-speaking specialists are limited outside the major private networks, and serious cases often mean evacuation. Most established nomads still carry international cover for catastrophic care and repatriation.
Country guideUnited Arab Emirates
The UAE, Dubai and Abu Dhabi in particular, runs one of the most regulated and most expensive private healthcare markets in the world. Health insurance is mandatory for residents and is actively enforced at residency renewal, with the Dubai Health Authority and Department of Health Abu Dhabi running parallel emirate-level frameworks. For digital nomads on the Virtual Working Programme, Golden Visa, or freelance permits, insurance is a non-negotiable line item, and the international plan you bring from home often won't satisfy the local mandate on its own.
Country guideColombia
Colombia turned itself into a serious nomad base over the last decade. MedellÃn leads on lifestyle (spring weather, coworking density, fast fibre), Bogotá runs the deepest specialist network at altitude, and Cartagena handles the coastal crowd. Private clinical quality is strong and cheap, but the trap most nomads fall into is treating a domestic prepagada like Colsanitas as real insurance. It isn't. It only works inside Colombia, and the V-type Digital Nomad Visa explicitly requires international cover.
Country guideJapan
Japan runs one of the world's strongest healthcare systems, but for nomads the user experience is harder than in Lisbon or Bangkok. Clinics expect payment in yen at the counter, direct billing with foreign insurers is rare, English support is patchy outside central Tokyo and Osaka, and the National Health Insurance system is closed to short-stay nomads. The April 2024 digital nomad visa added a mandatory private insurance requirement and a six-month cap. Picking cover for Japan is about cash flow, language support, and evacuation.
Country guideBrazil
Brazil is a vast, well-connected nomad base, with fast internet (Florianópolis averages around 266 Mbps), a real digital nomad visa, and JCI-accredited private hospitals in São Paulo and Rio. Public care through the SUS is free even to foreigners but crowded, so nomads use the private sector. The catches: dengue hit record numbers in 2024, the roads are dangerous, and since April 2025 US, Canadian and Australian visitors need an eVisa.
Country guideMalaysia
Malaysia is one of Asia's most practical nomad bases: a proper nomad visa (DE Rantau), fast internet, low costs, English spoken almost everywhere, and JCI-accredited private hospitals in Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Public care is cheap but crowded, so nomads use the private sector. Watch for dengue, the roads, seasonal haze, and a kidnapping-risk security zone off the east coast of Sabah.
Country guideArgentina
Argentina pairs Buenos Aires, one of the most liveable nomad cities in the Americas, with a digital nomad residency, near-100 Mbps internet, and free emergency care at public hospitals for everyone. The catch since 2025: non-emergency public care is now billed to non-residents, a dormant decree wants proof of health insurance on entry, and the peso makes prices a moving target. Dengue and petty crime are the day-to-day risks.
Country guidePhilippines
The Philippines is the most English-fluent base in Asia, with friendly tourist rules that stretch to a 36-month stay, low costs, and JCI-accredited private hospitals in Manila. A formal digital nomad visa was created on paper in 2025 but is not yet confirmed to be issuing, so most nomads still run on extended tourist visas. Watch for dengue, typhoon season, and a do-not-travel zone in the far south.
Country guideTurkey
Turkey gives nomads a big, cheap, well-connected base in Istanbul, a digital nomad visa launched in 2024, visa-free entry for most Western passports, and JCI-accredited private hospitals at medical-tourism prices. The wrinkle on insurance: residence permits require a Turkish-licensed health policy, not just any international plan. The country is also highly seismic, with a major earthquake in 2023 and a tremor off Istanbul in 2025.
Country guidePanama
Panama is a natural base for US-earning nomads: it uses the US dollar, has a remote-worker visa, the fastest fixed internet in Central America, and Panama City private hospitals affiliated with Johns Hopkins. Tourist stays are long, up to 180 days for Americans and Canadians. The catches are top-hospital prices that approach US levels, the Darién Gap on the Colombia border, and mosquito-borne disease.
Country guideGreece
Greece offers one of Europe's better-known digital nomad visas, island and city living, English-speaking private hospitals, and a 50% income-tax break for people who move their tax residence. Schengen rules make short visits easy. The visa wants real health insurance, not a short-term travel policy, and the things to plan around are wildfire season, earthquakes and summer heat.
Country guideItaly
Italy's digital nomad visa went live in April 2024, and for an insurance site it stands out: the rejection most applicants hit is inadequate health cover, against a confirmed €30,000 minimum valid in Italy. Add Schengen entry, world-class cities and food, and good private hospitals in Milan and Rome. The things to plan around are earthquakes and volcanic unrest near Naples, summer heat, and city pickpocketing.
Country guideCroatia
Croatia was among the first EU countries to launch a digital nomad permit, and it pairs that with a rare perk: nomad income is not taxed in Croatia. Add Schengen and euro convenience, a safe low-risk environment, English-speaking private clinics, and Adriatic living. The permit runs up to 18 months but isn't directly renewable, and the main hazards are earthquakes and coastal scrapes.
Country guideEstonia
Estonia launched the EU's first digital nomad visa in 2020, and it remains one of the most digital-friendly bases anywhere: e-government, near-universal e-prescriptions, and high English proficiency. It's a Schengen country with low crime and solid public and private care. The trade-offs are the income bar (€4,500 a month), long dark winters, forest ticks, and its position on the Russian border.
Country guideCyprus
Cyprus is an under-rated nomad base: a dedicated nomad visa, English spoken almost everywhere, around 300 sunny days a year, low crime, and a genuine bureaucratic perk. Because it's in the EU but not Schengen, time there doesn't count against the Schengen 90/180. Healthcare for nomads is private (the public GESY isn't open to them), the summers are extreme, and they drive on the left.
Country guideSouth Africa
South Africa offers world-class private healthcare, a 2024 remote-work visa, Cape Town as a top-ranked nomad city, strong value, and a time zone (UTC+2) that overlaps the European workday almost perfectly. The honest trade-off is safety: violent crime is a real and defining consideration. Load-shedding has eased a lot since 2023, malaria is limited to the northeast, and the cities' tap water is generally safe.
Country guideMauritius
Mauritius offers a free, renewable one-year Premium Travel Visa, bilingual English and French, year-round warmth, and a rare distinction: it's among the most stable and peaceful countries in Africa. Private clinics handle most expat care, with complex cases sometimes flown to Réunion or South Africa. The things to plan around are cyclone season, mosquito-borne outbreaks, and that serious cases may need evacuation, so insurance with evacuation cover matters.
Country guideMalta
Malta is the rare Mediterranean nomad base where English is an official language, so nothing gets lost in translation, paired with a Nomad Residence Permit, EU and Schengen access, around 3,000 hours of sunshine, and low crime. The catch on insurance is specific: the permit demands comprehensive health cover for Malta, pre-paid for a year, and explicitly rejects travel insurance. Watch the summer heat, the left-hand driving, and the crowded roads.
Country guideHungary
Hungary pairs Budapest, one of Europe's best-value nomad capitals, with the White Card digital nomad permit, EU and Schengen access, thermal baths, and Europe's cheapest high-quality dentistry. Emergency public care is free even to visitors, but nomads use Budapest's English-speaking private clinics for everything else. The White Card needs comprehensive health cover for Hungary; watch the nightlife overcharging scams and forest ticks.
Country guideCzechia
Czechia (the Czech Republic) gives nomads Prague, one of Europe's best-value capitals, with two routes to stay: the long-standing Živno freelancer visa and a newer Digital Nomad Programme open to a set list of nationalities including the US, UK, Canada and Australia. The standout, and the catch, is insurance: long-term stays require comprehensive health cover of at least €400,000 from a Czech-authorised insurer, not your home policy. Mind the forest ticks (Czechia is a TBE hotspot) and Prague's taxi and exchange scams.
Country guideBarbados
Barbados ran the original pandemic-era nomad visa, the 12-Month Welcome Stamp, and it still works: English-speaking, no local income tax on the visa, famously clean tap water, and good private clinics. The catches are island-scale. Serious cases can be flown off-island, so evacuation cover matters; private clinics expect prepayment; and you need to earn at least $50,000 to qualify. Hurricane season and mosquito-borne disease are the seasonal risks.
Country guideSri Lanka
Sri Lanka launched a real digital nomad visa in early 2026, and it pairs that with a south-coast surf-and-coworking scene, very low costs, English-speaking private hospitals in Colombo, and a free 30-day tourist ETA for many nationalities. The catches are island-scale and tropical: serious medical cases are flown to India or Singapore, so evacuation cover matters; dengue is a year-round risk; the roads are dangerous; and the power is less reliable than the internet.
Country guideMontenegro
Montenegro offers an Adriatic base with a digital nomad residence permit that taxes foreign income at zero, visa-free entry, the euro, and low costs, outside the EU and Schengen so its days don't burn your Schengen allowance. Healthcare is basic in the public system, so nomads use private clinics, and complex cases go abroad to Belgrade or the EU, so evacuation cover matters. The mountain and coastal roads are the real daily risk.
Country guideSouth Korea
South Korea offers a high-tech base with the Workation digital nomad visa, world-class hospitals, very low crime, and famously fast connectivity. The visa stands out for one number: it requires private medical insurance covering more than â‚©100 million (about $75,000), including emergency repatriation. Seoul's big hospitals run English-speaking international centres. Plan around spring air quality, the summer monsoon and typhoons.
Country guideUruguay
Uruguay is the safest, most stable base in South America, with a light-touch digital nomad permit, a clear path to residency, safe tap water in Montevideo, and a well-regarded health system. The trade-offs: it is the priciest country in the region, English is less common than in some neighbours, and a 2023 decree technically requires all visitors to carry medical insurance. The nomad permit itself asks mainly for a sworn declaration of means.
Country guideAlbania
Albania is a low-cost, non-Schengen base with a digital nomad permit that renews up to five years, a beautiful Ionian coast, and a genuinely unusual perk: US citizens get a full year visa-free. The catch is healthcare. Public care is poor, private care is decent only in Tirana, and crucially the country has no air ambulances, so for any serious case you rely on your insurer to evacuate you to Greece, Italy or Turkey. That makes evacuation cover the single most important thing here.
Country guideTaiwan
Taiwan is a high-tech, exceptionally safe base with world-renowned healthcare, and the route in for remote professionals is the Employment Gold Card, an open work-and-residence permit rather than a classic nomad visa. The insurance angle is unusual: the card doesn't demand private cover, it routes you into Taiwan's National Health Insurance, but there's a roughly six-month wait before that starts, which is the gap to bridge. Plan around earthquakes and typhoons.
Country guideKenya
Kenya launched a digital nomad permit (Class N) in 2024, and Nairobi, Africa's "Silicon Savannah," pairs a real tech scene and good private hospitals with safari on the doorstep. The insurance angle is strong and concrete: the permit requires health cover, and Kenya is home to AMREF Flying Doctors, because for serious cases air evacuation is the norm. Mind the dangerous roads, Nairobi crime, the malaria map, and the do-not-travel zones near the Somali border.
Country guideDominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a popular Caribbean nomad base, Punta Cana, Las Terrenas, Cabarete and Santo Domingo, but, unlike many neighbours, it has no dedicated digital nomad visa. Nomads use long tourist stays or a fast residency route. It has a genuine nationwide 911, good private hospitals in the cities, and serious cases are flown to the US. The honest headlines: some of the most dangerous roads in the hemisphere, hurricane season, and dengue.
Country guideLatvia
Latvia runs a Digital Nomad Visa, introduced in 2022, for remote workers tied to employers or businesses registered in OECD countries, inside the EU and Schengen. The visa makes health cover compulsory, with a stated minimum insurer liability of €42,600, and the standout health risk is tick-borne encephalitis: Latvia has one of the highest rates in Europe.
Country guideRomania
Romania runs a proper digital nomad visa, launched in 2021, and it sets a clear bar: private health insurance covering at least €30,000 for the whole stay, plus a high income threshold tied to the national average wage. It is an EU member and, since January 2025, a full Schengen country, so the permit doubles as a base for travelling Europe. Care is good and cheap in private city clinics, but the insurance requirement is non-negotiable and worth getting right.
Country guideIceland
Iceland runs a long-term visa for remote workers that lets high-earning non-EU nomads stay up to 180 days, and it explicitly demands private health insurance valid in the country, not a travel policy. The bigger reason cover matters: only two hospitals do advanced emergency care, serious cases are flown by air ambulance, and the most specialised ones leave the country entirely, so strong medical and evacuation cover is the whole game.
Country guideNorway
Norway has no dedicated digital nomad visa, so most remote workers come on the 90-day Schengen clock or, for non-EU citizens who can build a real Norwegian sole proprietorship, the self-employed residence permit (around NOK 341,000 a year in business profit). Public healthcare is excellent once you are a registered resident in the National Insurance Scheme, but short-stay visitors self-pay, and on Svalbard, where anyone can live visa-free, the insurance question becomes a medical-evacuation question.
Country guideSerbia
Serbia is a low-cost, non-Schengen base with no Schengen-style clock burning, fast and genuinely good private healthcare in Belgrade, and a quiet path to legal residence for remote workers. There is no branded digital nomad visa, so people use temporary residence, usually by registering a small Serbian company, and that route does require health insurance. The thing worth insuring for is not the cheap day-to-day care but serious cases and repatriation home.
Country guideSlovenia
Slovenia opened a dedicated digital nomad permit on 21 November 2025: up to 12 months for non-EU remote workers, inside Schengen and the euro. The permit demands valid health insurance for the whole stay, and the insurance case is sharpened by one number: the public system has some of the longest elective surgery queues in the OECD, so private cover is what buys you speed.
Country guideAndorra
Andorra is a Pyrenean micro-state wedged between Spain and France, and it runs a genuine digital nomad permit alongside its older active and passive residency routes. The permit does not enrol you in the public system, so it leans on private health insurance valid in Andorra. The insurance point that matters most: the country has a single hospital, and anything serious gets referred down the mountain to Barcelona or Toulouse, sometimes by helicopter.
Country guideGermany
Germany has no dedicated digital nomad visa, but its freelance "Freiberufler" residence permit makes Berlin a serious long-stay base for self-employed remote workers. The catch that trips people up is insurance: for the permit, foreign travel or "nomad" cover is not accepted, and you need German statutory or comparable private health insurance. Tourist visits from the US, UK, Canada and Australia stay visa-free for 90 days.
Country guideNetherlands
The Netherlands has no dedicated digital nomad visa, but US citizens have a uniquely easy route through the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty (DAFT): register a business, park €4,500 in it, and get a two-year self-employment residence permit. The catch that trips people up is insurance: DAFT itself does not check your cover, yet once your permit takes effect you are legally obliged to buy Dutch basic health insurance within four months.
Country guideAntigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda runs a two-year Nomad Digital Residence (NDR) visa: English-speaking, no local income tax on foreign earnings, and one of the longer nomad permits in the Caribbean. The catch is island-scale healthcare. There is a single public hospital on Antigua and an eight-bed facility on Barbuda, so serious cases are flown off-island, which makes medical evacuation cover the part of any policy that actually matters. Insurance for the full stay is a condition of the visa.
Country guideCuraçao
Curaçao runs a genuine remote-work permit, the @HOME in Curaçao visa, on a Dutch Caribbean island where English is widely spoken and the tap water is safe. The visa makes medical insurance a condition of approval, and the island's own US Consulate calls local care limited and says critically ill patients are normally flown to Colombia at their own expense. That single fact is why evacuation cover, not just a doctor's bill, is the point here.
Country guideBahamas
The Bahamas built a remote-work permit early on, the Bahamas Extended Access Travel Stay (BEATS), and it asks every applicant to hold medical insurance that covers the islands. Care is English-speaking and the private side in Nassau is genuinely good, but this is an archipelago of 700 islands: serious cases get flown to Nassau or on to Miami, so medical evacuation cover is the part that actually matters.
Country guideCayman Islands
The Cayman Islands run a genuine remote-work route, the Global Citizen Concierge Programme, but it is aimed at high earners: you need roughly US$100,000 a year to qualify and the visa is built around health insurance. It is English-speaking and tax-free on personal income, with modern hospitals on Grand Cayman, yet the islands sit far out in the Caribbean. Life-threatening cases are flown to Florida or Jamaica by air ambulance, which is why evacuation cover is the single most important thing to get right.
Country guideDominica
Dominica's Work In Nature (WIN) Extended Stay visa lets remote workers live on the island for up to 18 months: English-speaking, no local tax on foreign earnings, and valid health insurance is a hard condition of approval. The catch is island-scale healthcare. There is one main referral hospital, and serious cases are flown off-island to Martinique, Guadeloupe or the US, which makes medical evacuation the part of any policy that actually matters.
Country guideAnguilla
Anguilla runs the Work from Anguilla program, a remote-work permit of up to 12 months on a British Overseas Territory with no income tax. What sets it apart from other Caribbean nomad visas is the insurance rule: the policy you submit must specifically cover air ambulance, because Anguilla has one small public hospital and serious cases are flown to St. Maarten, Puerto Rico or Miami. Evacuation cover is not a nice-to-have here, it is written into the program.
Country guideGrenada
Grenada runs a remote-work visa under its 2021 Remote Employment Act: English-speaking, no local tax on foreign income, and valid for up to a year with a one-year renewal. The catch is island-scale healthcare. There is one main public hospital and a handful of small private clinics, so serious cases are flown to Barbados, Trinidad or the US, which makes medical evacuation the part of any policy that actually matters. Proof of health insurance is a condition of the visa.
Country guideMontserrat
Montserrat runs a one-year Remote Workers Stamp for digital nomads: English-speaking, a British territory, and one of the quietest corners of the Caribbean. Health insurance valid in Montserrat is a written condition of the stamp, but the figure that matters is medical evacuation, because the island has a single small hospital and serious cases are flown to Antigua or further. With an active volcano in the south and a hurricane belt overhead, evacuation cover is the line that earns its keep here.
Country guideSaint Lucia
Saint Lucia runs a "Don't Just Visit, Live It" extended-stay program that lets remote workers live on the island for up to a year, English-speaking and with no fixed income floor. Health insurance is a stated condition, but the figure that matters is not on the application: this is a single-island health system where serious cases are flown abroad, so medical evacuation cover is the part of any policy that earns its keep.
Country guideAruba
Aruba's "One Happy Workation" is a tourism marketing package, not a real visa, so most nomads simply arrive as visitors and stay inside the tourist limit. Entry needs no insurance, but the moment you extend past 30 days Aruban immigration requires travel insurance with medical and liability cover. On an island with one general hospital, the consideration that should drive your policy is off-island medical evacuation, because critically ill patients are flown abroad at their own expense.
Country guideBermuda
Bermuda ran a popular one-year remote-work certificate, but it closed to new applicants on 28 February 2025, so the real route now is short visa-free stays or Permission to Reside on an Annual Basis. It is English-speaking and tax-free on personal income, with one modern hospital, yet it is a small mid-Atlantic island where serious cases are flown to the US east coast by air ambulance. That evacuation flight, and Bermuda's famously high prices, make medical and repatriation cover the single most important thing to get right.
Country guideEcuador
Ecuador runs on the US dollar, has a genuine two-year remote-work visa (the Rentista Nómada), and offers some of the cheapest private healthcare in the Americas. The visa makes health insurance compulsory, and if your plans include the Galápagos, insurance with strong medical evacuation cover stops being optional: serious cases get flown to the mainland or the US, and that flight alone can top $60,000.
Country guideBelize
Belize is the only English-speaking country in Central America and runs a six-month remote-work program, "Work Where You Vacation," which is rare in actually naming an insurance figure: you must carry travel insurance of at least US$50,000. The bigger consideration is medical evacuation, because serious cases routinely leave Belize for Miami, Houston or Mexico, and air ambulance flights to the US run around US$25,000.
Country guideNamibia
Namibia runs a genuine Digital Nomad Visa, launched in 2022, valid for six months, in a country where English is the official language and the landscapes are the draw. The visa asks for proof of income from abroad and health or travel insurance covering your stay. The thing to plan around is geography: serious cases are flown to South Africa, and you may be hours from a major hospital, so evacuation cover is the point.
Country guideCabo Verde
Cabo Verde runs a Remote Working Program that lets you live on the islands for six months, renewable once, and unusually it spells out the insurance rule: you must hold travel and health cover that includes medical evacuation and repatriation. That rule exists for a reason. On an Atlantic archipelago where serious cases are flown to Europe and two islands have no working airport at all, evacuation cover is the part that actually matters.
Country guideSeychelles
Seychelles runs a Workcation Retreat permit that lets remote workers stay up to a year, and it does ask you to carry health insurance covering COVID-19 and hospital care in the country. The catch that matters most: this is a small Indian Ocean archipelago where anything past intermediate care means an air ambulance to South Africa, Mauritius or Réunion, so evacuation cover is the line item that protects you.
Country guideArmenia
Armenia gives most Western passport holders a generous 180 days visa-free, and longer stays run through a one-year residence permit, usually as a registered private entrepreneur. There is no branded digital nomad visa and, unlike most countries, the permit does not demand proof of insurance, only a medical certificate. The thing actually worth insuring is serious illness and evacuation, because care thins out fast outside Yerevan and this is a landlocked country where complex cases often leave it.
Country guideKazakhstan
Kazakhstan became the first country in Central Asia to launch a digital nomad visa, the Neo Nomad Visa, in late 2024, and it pairs an income test with a hard insurance requirement: cover that is valid in Kazakhstan for the entire visa period. The biggest insurance consideration is evacuation. Almaty and Astana have decent private clinics, but anything genuinely serious tends to leave the country for Dubai, Istanbul, or Western Europe, so repatriation cover matters more here than the cheap day-to-day prices suggest.
Country guideMorocco
Morocco has a huge nomad scene, Marrakech, Tangier, Taghazout and Casablanca, but no dedicated digital nomad visa: people enter visa-free for 90 days and, to stay longer, apply for a residence card (carte de séjour). Healthcare splits sharply between a stretched public sector and good private clinics in the big cities, where you pay upfront, and the State Department openly advises carrying medical evacuation cover.
Country guideEgypt
Egypt has no formal digital nomad visa, so nomads in Cairo, Dahab and Hurghada string together 30-day tourist entries and extend on the ground. The defining insurance consideration is the Red Sea: if you dive, standard travel policies usually exclude diving accidents, hyperbaric chamber treatment and the medical evacuation that serious cases need, so cover that explicitly.
Country guideCambodia
Cambodia has no digital nomad visa, but the renewable E-class (business) visa is the de-facto long-stay route and asks nothing about your income or your insurance. That low bar cuts both ways: the entry rules will not force you to buy cover, yet the healthcare gap will. Serious cases get flown to Bangkok or Singapore, so medical evacuation is the single most important thing your policy must include.
Country guidePeru
Peru gives tourists one of the most generous stays in Latin America, up to 183 days in a 365-day window, and no insurance is required to enter. The catch that actually matters here is altitude. Cusco sits at 3,399 metres, and the day trips nomads come for, Rainbow Mountain near 5,000 metres, the Salkantay pass, Lake Titicaca, climb past the height where many travel policies quietly stop paying. The cover that counts in Peru is the one that names a high enough altitude.
Country guideNorth Macedonia
North Macedonia is cheap, friendly to a 90-day stay, and home to private clinics in Skopje that see you fast and in English. It sits outside the EU and outside the EHIC system, so there is no reciprocal public cover to fall back on, and routine care is affordable enough to self-pay. The real reason to carry insurance here is the big-ticket one: a serious case means a costly medical repatriation, and Skopje's notorious winter air pollution can turn a respiratory condition into exactly that kind of case.
Country guideEl Salvador
El Salvador has gone from a country people avoided to one that actively markets itself to remote workers, and the surf towns west of the capital now run on laptops and cold brew as much as boards. It earns and taxes in US dollars, which takes the exchange-rate friction out of every medical bill if you already earn in dollars. Private healthcare is concentrated in San Salvador and is good and cheap by US standards, while the public system is free but stretched. The 2023 digital nomad visa lets you stay a year at a time on foreign income, exempt from local tax, and it asks for health insurance covering the whole stay. The reason to insure well is less the visa's paperwork than the real cost of a serious admission or an air ambulance out.
Country guideFrance
France has one of the world's strongest healthcare systems, and once you are in it, care is cheap: a GP visit is set at 30 euros. The catch for nomads is getting in. The public system, Assurance Maladie through PUMA, only opens to you after about three months of legal residency, and the permanent Carte Vitale can take six to eight months more, so private cover is essential for the gap. France also has no digital nomad visa, and since mid-2025 it explicitly bans remote work on the long-stay visitor visa, which changes the honest answer about how to be here legally. Cover for France is about the months before the public system takes over, and about a visitor visa whose insurance requirement is strict.
Country guideIsrael
Israel has excellent, English-friendly healthcare and a large medical-tourism sector, but for a nomad two things dominate the insurance question. First, tourists are not in the public system, so you self-pay everything and a policy has to be bought before you arrive. Second, and more important, the security situation drives cover more than cost does. As of mid-2026 the United States rates Israel "Reconsider Travel" with several "Do Not Travel" border zones, and standard travel and nomad policies are commonly invalidated when you travel against a government advisory, with war and terrorism as routine exclusions. Choosing cover for Israel is mostly about reading those clauses before you buy, and checking the current advisory the day you go.
Country guideNew Zealand
New Zealand draws remote workers who want mountains, coast, and English-speaking cities in one small, safe country, and since January 2025 you can legally do that work on an ordinary visitor visa. There is one insurance detail that shapes everything: the public ACC scheme covers accident and injury treatment for everyone in the country, including visitors, but it does not cover illness. Break an ankle skiing and ACC steps in; catch pneumonia or need a scan for chest pain and you pay privately or through insurance. New Zealand has no standalone digital nomad visa, so the route is remote work on a visitor visa, capped at nine months. Health and travel cover for illness, plus evacuation, is the piece ACC leaves out.
Country guideSingapore
Singapore has some of the best healthcare on earth and no language barrier, since English is an official working language. The catch for nomads is money. Foreigners are not in the subsidised public system, so you pay full unsubsidised rates at both public and private hospitals, and both living costs and private care are among the highest in the world. There is also no digital nomad visa, so most people are here short-term on a visit pass and cannot legally work. Picking cover for Singapore is about affording excellent but expensive care, not about evacuation, since Singapore is the place the rest of the region gets evacuated to.
Country guide
FAQ
Common questions
Travel insurance is built around a trip. It covers emergencies while you are away, plus cancellations and luggage, and it usually stops at 90 days. Health insurance is built around a person. It covers routine and ongoing medical care wherever you live, with no trip length to expire. If you are away for a fortnight, you want the first. If you have moved abroad, you want the second.
It depends on how you actually live rather than how you describe yourself. If you keep moving every few weeks and still have healthcare at home, travel or nomad cover is usually enough. If you have left home behind, spend months in one place, or need a policy that satisfies a visa, you need proper health cover. Nomad insurance sits between the two and is designed for people who are neither tourists nor settled residents.
Often yes. Most nomad visas require cover for the full length of the permit, which a 90-day travel policy cannot provide, and a few will only accept an insurer licensed in that country. Check the requirement for your specific visa before you buy a policy, not after.
We do not publish premiums, and you should be wary of sites that do. Pricing depends on your age, your medical history, the countries you want covered, and whether the plan includes the United States, which can double a premium on its own. Any single figure quoted without those inputs is marketing rather than a price.
Nothing. We are an independent broker and the insurer pays us a commission when a policy is placed. You pay the same premium you would pay going direct, and we are not tied to a single carrier, so we have no reason to push you toward one.