When you leave a job, your work health cover usually ends with it. How to avoid a gap, keep past conditions covered where possible, and choose cover for life abroad.
Your cover usually ends with the job
Most employer health plans stop on your last day, or soon after. If you are moving abroad to freelance or work remotely, arrange new cover before you hand in your notice, because a gap is when people end up uninsured.
Option 1: Continue your group cover
Some insurers let you move from a company plan to an individual one without new medical questions. Cigna Global offers continuation for people leaving a Cigna group plan, and Allianz Care can continue the underwriting terms from a previous insurer. In the US, COBRA lets you keep an employer plan for a period, but you pay the full premium and it is built for US care.
Option 2: Buy international health insurance before you leave
If you are moving abroad for a year or more, an international plan is usually the long-term answer. Buy it while you are still healthy and before any gap. How past conditions are treated depends on the underwriting: with full medical underwriting you declare your history and the insurer decides up front, and with moratorium underwriting, offered by Allianz Care, a condition can become covered after 24 months without symptoms or treatment.
Option 3: Short-term or travel medical cover
If you will be abroad for a set period, short-term health insurance covers 1 to 12 months. If you will move often, nomad travel medical plans cost less but mainly cover emergencies and exclude most existing conditions.
Option 4: The local public system
Once you are resident, some countries let you join their public system, such as Portugal's SNS or Spain's Convenio Especial after a year. Our cost guides explain the rules for each country.
Check your visa
Many residence and nomad visas ask for health insurance that meets set rules. Check the requirement before you buy. Our visa insurance guide lists them with official sources.
Making your decision
Line up your new cover to start the day your work cover ends. Then compare international plans for your age and destination.