Digital Nomad Health Insurance Review: World Nomads vs Genki vs SafetyWing
I have a confession to make…
I have been a digital nomad since 2020 and have never had health insurance outside the US… sorry mom!
So while I was doing research to decide what nomad health insurance is right for me, I figured I’d share my findings with you too.
I compare the old favorite, World Nomads; the new kid on the block, Genki; and the in-vogue, SafetyWing, to find out who has the best health insurance for digital nomads.
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Why do I need digital nomad health insurance?
No one plans to get injured or sick (or worse) while traveling. But by being prepared with the proper travel insurance can prevent you or your loved ones from paying for unexpected medical bills or transportation costs.
If you work for a company, your current health insurance likely doesn’t help you as soon as you leave the country.
Not only does travel health insurance cover accidents or illness that occur on your trip, but they help you cover costs if your travel is cancelled or disrupted as well. And even assist with lost or stolen luggage.
What about travel insurance through my credit card?
All this talk about digital nomad health insurance got me thinking… what coverage do I already have with my credit card? Isn’t that enough?
What is included?
- Trip Cancellation / Interruption Insurance by sickness, severe weather
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver
- Emergency Evacuation and Transportation
- Trip Delay Reimbursement (+6hrs or overnight stay)
- Travel Accident Insurance / Accidental death or dismemberment coverage
- Baggage Delay Insurance
- Roadside Assistance
- Emergency Medical and Dental on a ‘covered trip’
Read the full description of Chase Sapphire Preferred coverage.
What is NOT included?
- Anything not purchased on the credit card
- Pre-existing conditions
- Extended-trip coverage
The main draw to buying your own travel insurance vs relying on your credit card’s travel insurance, is that credit cards seem to cover a lot less and have more restrictions. And the trip needs to be paid for by said credit card.
Credit card’s also have short time limits your trip is covered. For example, Chase Sapphire Reserve only covers trips between 5-60 days long. What what is even deemed a ‘covered trip’ is confusing.
A few countries will require a “visa letter” with insurance confirmation for entry. I’m not sure the limited coverage of my credit card will suffice or where to even get that information.
On the plus side, most travel credit cards offer these insurance benefits at no extra charge. So even if you buy an additional policy, it doesn’t hurt to be double-covered!
Does travel health insurance meet Affordable Care Act requirements?
Travel insurance plans are not defined as health coverage by the US government and do not fall under the requirements of the Affordable Care Act. Therefore, they do not meet the minimal essential coverage required.
Prior to 2019, if you were a US citizen you could be taxed for not maintaining minimum essential coverage without additional US-specific insurance..
That part of the Affordable Care Act was repealed, so for now there is no penalty for not having additional health insurance along with any travel health insurance. However it could be an issue again in the future
Consult your accountant or tax professional to determine whether these policies affect your taxes or meet any obligations you may have.
What is the best health insurance for digital nomads?
World Nomads
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, I’m sure you’ve already heard of World Nomads, if you haven’t used it by now. They are an industry leader in travel and nomad health insurance. But with so many competitors nipping at their heels, are they still the best?
My Quote
| Standard Plan | Explorer Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Age: 32 Countries: Worldwide Home Country: USA | Cost: $150/month* | Cost: $217/month |
| Age: 32 Countries: Turkey & Greece Home Country: USA | Cost: $86/month** | Cost: $123/month |
Who is covered?
World Nomads covers residents of over 140 countries – from kids to grandparents. Their age limit goes as high as 70 years old (but may be increasing).
Where are you covered?
World Nomads offers travel insurance to most countries in the world, however war or sanctions may affect coverage available to a destination or region.
World Nomads is prohibited from offering coverage to US travelers who are traveling to countries that have economic or trade sanctions against it.
When getting a quote and applying for a policy, you must specifically list the countries you will be visiting in that time period. Selecting “worldwide” is possible, however the cost increases significantly compared with naming individual countries (as seen in my quote above).
What is covered?
- Emergency accident and sickness medical expenses
- Emergency dental expenses
- Adventure and sports activities
- Emergency evacuation
- Return of your remains
- Transportation expenses in case of civil or political unrest
- Trip cancellation or interruption due to covered sickness or accident
- Accidental death or dismemberment
- Reimbursement for lost or damaged luggage (including tech)
- No deductible, $100,000 max limit for emergency accident and sickness (~$400,000 max limit total) (Standard Plan)
What is NOT covered?
- Pre-existing conditions
- Rental car damage (Standard Plan)
- Routine checkups and preventative care
How long are you covered?
Your policy can be purchased for the duration you choose (from 1 day up to 180 days).
If you want to travel longer, you can buy a new policy online while you are traveling.
Read the full description of World Nomads coverage.
Genki
Genki is relatively new on the scene; I stumbled across them coincidentally just the other day. They seem like a great option, but do they have what it takes to compete? Here is my Genki insurance review.
My Quote
| Base Plan | No-Deductible Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Age: 30-39 Countries: Worldwide Home Country: USA | Cost: $58/month* | Cost: $69/month* |
Who is covered?
Genki offers coverage for many age brackets at varying price points, including 0-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-69, and 60-69. Youngsters (0-29) can get nomad insurance for less than 40 euros. Another new product Genki is working on is nomad insurance for families.
Where are you covered?
You are covered in every country on this planet.
Cover in your home country is limited to 6 weeks per 180 days and only includes accidents and life-threatening emergencies.
The base plan does not include coverage in USA or Canada, but you can change your choice on a monthly basis. However, the added countries are an extra (and significant) mark up. For example my base plan quote was €54.60 and after adding USA and Canada it jumped to €108.60.
What is covered?
- Medical treatment everywhere (inpatient and outpatient)
- Sports injuries (everything not excluded under dangerous activities: Surfing, kitesurfing, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, cycling, mountain biking, and hiking, for example, are covered)
- Hospital visits
- Medical transport
- Return of your remains or alternatively a burial abroad
- Pregnancy check-ups up to the 12th week
- Emergency dental treatment
- Initial mental issue treatment
- Medically necessary medication, remedies, and dressing material
- €50 deductible per case, no cost limit. For example for a doctor’s bill of €1,000 we would pay €950 and you would pay €50. Alternate plan offers no deductible for +€10/month.
What is NOT covered?
- Pre-existing conditions
- Dangerous activities (Motorcycle and car racing, parachuting, paragliding, bungee jumping, base jumping, mountaineering, free climbing, and diving)
- Accidents or illness caused by alcohol or drugs
- Preventative tests and check-ups
How long are you covered?
Cover starts from the date you choose and ends 2 years after it has started, billed monthly like a subscription.
You can cancel your subscription anytime on our website for the end of the current monthly cycle.
Read the full description of Genki coverage.
SafetyWing
Although it may not have the name recognition as World Nomads (yet), it’s becoming more popular by the day. It’s the only insurance company I’ve researched that truly touts itself as the health insurance for digital nomads. Let’s see what all the buzz is about.
My Quote
| Policy | |
|---|---|
| Age: 10-39 Countries: Worldwide Home Country: USA | Cost: $45/month* |
Who is covered?
SafetyWing covers anyone between 15 days old and 69 years old. One child under 10 can be added to each adult for no added cost.
Where are you covered?
Anywhere in the world outside of your home country, with the exception of any country or area that is sanctioned (Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine).
You are covered for incidental visits in your home country for 15 days every 90 days aboard.
What is covered?
- Unexpected illness or injury
- Eligible expenses for hospital
- Doctor or prescription drugs
- Emergency travel-related benefits such as evacuation from local unrest
- Unplanned overnight stay and lost checked luggage
- Wide range of sports and activities
- $250 deductible, $250,000 max limit
What is NOT covered?
- Routine checkups and preventative care
- Cancer treatments
- Pre-existing conditions
- Professional sports or activities
- Excluded sports and activities such as ATVs, boxing, cave diving, kitesurfing, paragliding, powerlifting, and white water rafting, for example.
How long are you covered?
Automatic monthly renewal of coverage will automatically extend every 4-weeks until you cancel or for a maximum of 364 days, like a subscription.
After 364 days you have to re-purchase new coverage (deductible and benefits will reset).
Which insurance is better for adventure nomads?
During my research to find the best insurance for digital nomads, the differences in sports and activities really stuck out to me. Some of them were even quite surprising. I outlined them here for easy comparison.
World Nomads
Included Activities
Any sport not specifically excluded is included in either the Standard or Explorer Plan.
Excluded Activities
Base jumping, Mountain guide (mountaineering; rock climbing instructor or guide using ropes or specialist equipment), mountaineering, high altitude climbing or expeditions
Genki
Included Activities
Any sport not specifically excluded.
Excluded Activities
Motorcycle and car racing (including the training related), parachuting, paragliding, bungee
jumping, base-jumping, mountaineering (as long as special climbing equipment is required), free
climbing, sport diving and scuba diving
SafetyWing
Included Activities
Any sport not specifically excluded (surfing, skiing, and freediving are a few that come to mind).
Excluded Activities
ATV’s, American Football, Aviation, Base Jumping, Big Game Hunting, Bobsleigh, Boxing, Cave Diving, Cliff Jumping, Hang-Gliding, Heli-Skiing, Ice Hockey, Jousting, Kite-Surfing, Luge, Martial Arts, Modern Pentathlon, Motorized Dirt Bikes, Parachuting, Paragliding, Parasailing, Powerlifting, Quad Biking, Racing, Rugby, Running with the Bulls, Snow Mobiles, Spelunking, Tractors, Whitewater Rafting, Wrestling
Despite the higher cost, World Nomads is the better choice for high-adventure travelers, and to my surprise SafetyWing appears to have the most restrictions.
Jack and I love kitesurfing, scuba diving, surfing, and freediving; but unfortunately none of these sports are included in the same plan besides the pricey World Nomads Explorer Plan.
TLDR: Best Health Insurance for Digital Nomads
World Nomads
World Nomads may be the industry leader, but I found their website to be so clunky and difficult to navigate while researching this post.
They are also quite a bit more expensive compared with the other options, even with the Standard Plan. If you get very specific on the countries you plan to travel, the price goes down. The cheapest coverage I was able to get was inputting ‘Canada’ for $81/month.
But when I chose their ‘worldwide’ option to be a true apples-to-apples comparison – Genki and SafetyWing’s worldwide coverage is default – the price was astronomical.
On the flip side, you seem to get what you pay for as World Nomads offers no deductible, has high max benefit limits compared with SafetyWing, and insures over 200 sports and activities.
Genki
Genki seems like a great, simple option and their website is easy to navigate and use. They even have a convenient live-chat feature that answers any of your basic questions in seconds.
The monthly cost of Genki is much less than World Nomads at only 54€/month for worldwide coverage (ages 30-39, all their pricing is in Euros, so make sure you convert to USD if needed). It’s less than 40€ if your under 29! Plus their plans come with no max benefit limit, and a premium plan with no deductibles.
They recently expanded coverage to ages 50+ and hope to include families as well. Genki is even piloting mental health and well-being sessions. Needless to say, this newcomer is trying to make a big splash so keep an eye on them as they continue to innovate and release new features.
SafetyWing
For me personally, SafetyWing is the most cost-effective of the three and provides worldwide coverage for no extra charge. It’s perfect for those nomads who don’t plan ahead. I also love their user interface and found their live-chat feature super helpful.
Unfortunately, SafetyWing is the most limited when it comes to insuring sports and activities.
| World Nomads | Pros: “Explorer Plan” offers additional coverage; no deductible, high max limits; over 200 sports and activities covered Cons: confusing website; most expensive; lump sum cost for 6 months max |
| Genki | Pros: simple website; pay monthly for 2 years; no max benefit limit; most cost effective for <29 years Cons: “dangerous activities” limits; |
| SafetyWing | Pros: helpful and straightforward website; most cost effective for over 30; pay monthly for a year Cons: limits on many common sports and activities |
Conclusion
For my own digital nomad health insurance I choose… SafetyWing!
Despite not covering kitesurfing, I still think SafetyWing is the best value.
It is super easy and straightforward to create a policy, and I’ve already had positive experiences with their customer service.
But I will definitely be keeping my eye on Genki as they seem to be a solid and noteworthy competitor.
