Health insurance for digital nomads: how to choose (Thailand and beyond)

The two kinds of cover, in one minute

Nomad travel medical insurance covers emergencies and unexpected illness while you travel. It is sold per four weeks or per month, can usually be bought after you have left home, and costs less because it covers less: no routine care, limited time in your home country, and little or nothing for conditions you already had. SafetyWing Essential and Genki Traveler are this kind.

International health insurance is built for living abroad. It covers hospital treatment, and with an outpatient option your doctor visits, tests and prescriptions, plus optional maternity and dental. It renews every year with no end date and is what most visas mean by health insurance. Cigna Global and Allianz Care are this kind.

A third option, local insurance from an insurer in your base country, is sometimes required by a visa (Spain, for example) but usually covers only that country. See travel insurance vs health insurance for the full comparison.

SafetyWing, Genki, Cigna Global and Allianz Care compared

These four come up in almost every nomad insurance guide, so here is what each insurer's own page said on 14 October 2026. They are not four versions of the same thing: two are travel medical plans, two are annual health plans.

SafetyWing Nomad Insurance Essential: US$250,000 overall limit, evacuation up to US$100,000 lifetime, up to 30 days of cover in your home country, the USA as a paid add-on for non-residents. No cover for pre-existing conditions, maternity or cancer treatment. Bought for 4 weeks up to 364 days at a time, before you leave or while abroad; US$62.72 per four weeks for ages 18 to 39, paid as you go or 10% less if paid in full. Underwritten by SafetyWing Insurance I.I. (Puerto Rico). SafetyWing's Complete plan adds routine care, cancer and mental health and renews indefinitely, at US$177.50 a month for ages 18 to 39.

Genki Traveler: €1,000,000 for medical treatment, outpatient and inpatient, with a €50 deductible per case (none for hospital stays). Monthly, for up to 12 months, cancel any time after the first month. Home country: emergencies only, in the first six weeks of a visit, after four weeks abroad. USA and Canada: emergencies for the first seven days of a stay unless you pay for more. Pre-existing conditions are excluded if they showed symptoms or were treated in the year before cover starts; mental health and maternity are not covered. Join up to age 69, from home or while travelling (emergencies only for the first 14 days if you had no cover before). Insurer: Squarelife. Genki's Native plan is its international health insurance for the things Traveler excludes.

Cigna Global: annual international health insurance in three levels. Silver pays up to US$1,000,000 a year, Gold US$2,000,000 and Platinum in full. You start with core hospital cover and add modules only if you want them: outpatient (US$15,000, US$35,000 or paid in full), medical evacuation, health and wellbeing, vision and dental. Maternity is on Gold and Platinum after a 12-month wait (24 months for treatment in the UK, Hong Kong or Singapore). Mental health US$5,000, US$10,000 or paid in full by level. Deductibles from US$0 to US$10,000 and an optional cost share cut the premium. From age 18 with no upper age limit; areas worldwide or worldwide excluding the USA. Insurer: Cigna Global Insurance Company Limited, Guernsey.

Allianz Care: annual international health insurance in three levels, Care Base (US$1.35m), Care Enhanced (US$2.7m) and Care Signature (US$5m), with optional outpatient and dental plans. Medical evacuation and repatriation, oncology and in-patient psychiatry are included on every plan. Maternity is on Enhanced and Signature after 12 months. You can choose moratorium underwriting, where a past condition becomes eligible after 24 clear months, instead of a medical questionnaire. Join up to 75 (64 with moratorium). Four areas: worldwide, worldwide excluding the USA, Europe, or Africa. Fully completed claims are processed within 48 hours, by Allianz Care's own promise. Insurer: AWP Health & Life SA, Irish Branch. Plan-by-plan detail: Cigna Global vs Allianz Care and Bupa Global vs Allianz Care.

Two honest caveats. The travel plans are far cheaper because they do nothing for routine care, pregnancy or anything you already had; the moment you want a GP for a recurring problem, you are paying out of pocket. The health plans cost more and ask about your medical history; in exchange, they are the cover a hospital, a visa officer or a specialist expects to see.

What to check before you buy

Every country you will be in, including transit countries and your home country. SafetyWing allows 30 days at home; Genki six weeks of emergencies after four weeks abroad; Cigna and Allianz cover whatever area you buy.

The USA. It is excluded or limited on every nomad travel plan and costs considerably more to include on an annual plan. If you will not spend time there, choose a worldwide-excluding-USA area and save.

Trip length or annual renewal. SafetyWing Essential runs up to 364 days per purchase and Genki Traveler up to 12 months; an annual health plan renews each year regardless of claims.

Routine care or emergencies only. If you see a doctor for anything that is not an emergency, you want outpatient cover, which only the health plans offer.

Pre-existing conditions. Travel plans exclude them, sometimes with a small allowance for sudden flare-ups. Health plans either underwrite them up front or, with Allianz Care's moratorium, cover them after 24 clear months. Declare everything; non-disclosure can void a policy. See pre-existing conditions.

Buying after you have left. SafetyWing and Genki sell to people already abroad (Genki with 14 days of emergency-only cover if you had nothing before). Annual plans can also start while you are abroad, subject to underwriting.

Evacuation, direct billing and a 24-hour line. Who moves you if the local hospital cannot treat you, and whether the insurer pays the hospital directly. Genki arranges direct payment for hospital stays; Allianz offers direct settlement for most in-patient treatment; Cigna has in-network direct billing. See direct billing explained and medical evacuation cover.

Your visa's rule. Some visas accept travel insurance, some do not, and a few set a minimum amount. Check the rule before you buy, not after.

Thailand: what nomads actually run into

Thailand is the most common base our readers ask about, so three specifics. First, the Royal Thai Embassy's Destination Thailand Visa (DTV) page does not list health insurance as a requirement, as checked on 8 September 2026; other Thai long-stay visas do, and the rules are in our Thailand cost guide. Second, the UK government's travel advice says Thai hospitals require a deposit or a guarantee of payment before treatment, so a plan that can guarantee payment, or pay the hospital directly, matters more here than a low price. Third, a travel medical plan is fine for a few months in Chiang Mai, but if you stay a year and want a Bangkok private hospital for routine care, the maths favour an annual plan. What that costs, by insurer and by age, is in the Thailand guide, from real quotes with the date on them.

Beyond Thailand: when the visa decides for you

Of the 21 nomad and remote-work visas we track, 15 require health insurance. Spain's telework visa needs health insurance equivalent to the Spanish national system from an insurer authorised in Spain, and does not accept travel insurance. Portugal's D8 checklist asks for travel insurance covering urgent medical assistance and repatriation, with no minimum. A few visas set a figure: Japan JPY 10 million, South Korea KRW 100 million, Costa Rica USD 50,000. Every rule, with its official source, is in our nomad visa insurance table, and countries that require insurance at the border are on the entry requirements page.

How to choose, in five steps

1. Decide what you are. Moving every few weeks with no base: a nomad travel plan. Months in one base, or a visa that needs health insurance: an annual international plan. Both is common: a health plan as the main cover, a travel plan for luggage and cancellation.

2. Fix the area. Worldwide excluding the USA unless you will be there.

3. Decide on routine care. Emergencies only, or outpatient too.

4. Be honest about your history. It decides which insurers will cover you and on what terms.

5. Check the visa rule, then compare like with like. Compare travel plans with travel plans and health plans with health plans, on limits, exclusions and how claims are paid, not only on the monthly price.

Use the matcher

Our travel plan matcher, Jet, checks your age, trip length, residence and activities against each partner insurer's rules and shows only the plans that fit, with indicative prices. For annual international health insurance, get a quote to see the insurers that cover your base, side by side. Every price on this site is indicative until an insurer confirms it.

Checked 14 October 2026 against each insurer's published pages, linked below. General information, not advice; read the policy wording before you buy.