Nobody enjoys buying health insurance, which is exactly why so much of it is sold badly. The cheap policies assume you’ll never use them; the expensive ones assume you can’t read. For a life across borders the question isn’t “which is cheapest” but “which one behaves when I’m ill in a country I don’t live in.”

Three answer it well, for three different kinds of person. Here’s who should buy which — and where each falls short.

The nomad default

SafetyWing

SafetyWing built its name on a simple idea: cover sold like a subscription, billed monthly, easy to start the week you leave and stop the week you settle. For long-term travellers and remote workers that flexibility is the entire point — you’re not locked into an annual policy for a life that changes every few months.

The catch is that it’s lean. At heart it’s travel-medical: strong on emergencies, thinner on the routine, in-depth care a settled family would expect. Read what’s actually covered before you assume it’s comprehensive.

Best for: long-term travellers and remote workers who want flexible, month-to-month cover.

The readable one

Genki

Genki does the rare thing of writing its plans in language a human can follow — worldwide cover, monthly billing, aimed at the same nomad crowd but leaning a little more like ongoing health cover than a thin travel add-on.

The catch: it’s still built around mobility, not putting down roots. If you’re settling with a family, look hard at whether the everyday care you need is genuinely in.

Best for: nomads who want straightforward, readable cover with a bit more medical depth.

The full plan

Cigna Global

When you stop travelling and start living somewhere — especially with people who depend on you — you usually want the real thing: comprehensive, customisable international private medical insurance. Cigna Global is the established name, with modular cover you build up, direct-billing networks, and the heft to handle serious, ongoing treatment.

The catch: it’s priced like the grown-up product it is, and the quote is the start of a conversation, not a checkout. Worth it when the alternative is fronting a hospital bill in a currency you don’t earn in.

Best for: expats and families who want full, renewable health cover — not an emergency patch.

“You don’t find out what your policy really covers until you’re standing in a foreign hospital. Buy the one that reads well long before then.”

So which one

Be honest about which life you’re in. Moving constantly with no home base? SafetyWing or Genki, kept flexible. Settling somewhere, especially with family? Pay for the comprehensive plan and stop pretending travel cover is the same thing. If you want the checklist rather than the verdict — coverage areas, the United States question, pre-existing conditions, how claims actually pay — it’s in our guide on what to cover when your life isn’t in one country.