Insurance without permanent residency

Hi everybody,

I recently read one of TK’s articles from March about travel insurance, and I’m in the situation mentioned, where I need the said worldwide primary health insurance - or so I think. Since I officially left Denmark I technically don’t have a primary residency, and I therefore don’t have the right to healthcare in Denmark. I’m not sure a regular travel insurance will be enough and the information seems ambiguous. I will return in December and therefore need something that can cover me until then.

  1. Do I need a worldwide primary health insurance, or is travel insurance enough?
  2. Do you have any suggestions on finding a health insurance that will cover be in a specific set of Lain American countries until December?
  3. So far Expatriate and Bupa Global have indicated that they will cover me. Do you have any experience with these companies?
  4. What I have been told by Expatriate and Bupa Global is that they will not cover me in my home country. How do I get an insurance that will?

Hope that someone can light the way through this insurance jungle. Thanks!

Hi Thomas!

  1. You need some sort of primary health insurance. In theory, you could buy private insurance that cover you in one specific country that you have free access to (no visa restrictions, etc), and buy travel insurance to cover you while you’re outside this country. But it’s probably more convenient to just get one that covers all or most of the countries where you will travel, and if you go to some countries not covered, just take out travel insurance for those parts of the trip.

  2. I personally use MSH International, which I’m quite happy with. You’ll have to tell them a “country of expatriation”, but that could be any country where you can move to freely—so ideally one in the EU in your case. Which country you choose doesn’t actually affect anything other than which Zones you will need to buy coverage for. Zones are based on the cost of healthcare in a given country, and if you choose Zone 3 you get coverage in most countries except a handful of very expensive ones. You also get coverage for emergency care in all countries (even those in a higher Zone) for up to 60 days in a row.

  3. Not with their primary health insurance product. Bupa Global is the underwriter in most countries for World Nomads, so I have some experience with them indirectly as they have processed my WN claims. They seem OK.

  4. MSH International will cover you for up to 6 months in your home country per year, as long as you have purchased a zone that’s high enough.

PS! If you are only leaving Denmark for about half a year (and then returning indefinitely), I think you can apply to stay registered there. In that case I think you could get by with just travel insurance. But if you want to leave the Danish system behind, that obviously wouldn’t work.

3 Likes

Thanks a lot for your elaborate response. I’m glad I can finally get some help - this has bothered me for a while.

What happens if I don’t have a primary health insurance? Because as I see it, a travel insurance will cover me outside of my home country, and in worst case, send me home to be treated in Denmark. I’m now trying to investigate how much time it will take, after moving back to Denmark, before I’m eligible for government health insurance gain. But if it’s a policy issue, and they simply won’t cover unless I have primary health insurance, then that’s an issue.

MSH International has also contacted me, so I’m waiting for a response for them now. I will see if I can get a primary health insurance with them since it seems like the safest route. Unfortunately many of the companies only sell health insurance for a minimum of 12 months.

I was told by BUPA that it would be a lot more expensive to get a primary health insurance. Do you know the ballpark of a primary health insurance with MSH? The contact with the companies is generally progressing quite slow.

Again, thanks a lot for the help, and it seems like a great forum. Will definitely have a look around!