Expatriate Healthcare international health insurance for expats in Africa

Expatriate Healthcare is a value-focused international insurer whose four plans start lean and keep evacuation at full refund throughout, with moratorium underwriting and a choice of three currencies. IPMIAfrica explains how it works for expats and families in Africa.

Four plans from lean to comprehensive

Expatriate Healthcare is built for people who want solid international private medical insurance (IPMI) without paying top-tier prices. The range starts with an inpatient-focused entry plan and climbs to a comprehensive option, so you match the cover, and the premium, to what you will actually use. Cover is underwritten by Gen Re / Guardrisk, and every plan is available in US dollars, euros or pounds sterling with benefit limits in the matching currency.

Exact limits and your area of cover are confirmed at quote.

What each plan covers

• Hospital and surgery, all plans: private room, surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre, specialist and nursing fees, and intensive care, at full refund.
• Outpatient: full outpatient cover, including GP, specialist, diagnostics such as MRI, CT and PET, oncology and physiotherapy, on Select and Primary+; capped on Primary+ Lite; Primary is inpatient-led.
• Evacuation, all plans: emergency medical transport and local ambulance at full refund, with companion travel and accommodation benefits.
• Other: accidental emergency dental on every plan; organ-transplant cover with a limit that scales by plan; HIV/AIDS cover on Select, Primary+ and Primary+ Lite.

The value logic is simple. Primary protects you against the large, expensive events, hospitalisation and evacuation, for a lower premium, and leaves routine GP visits to you. Our guide to inpatient versus outpatient cover helps you decide whether that trade is right for your household or whether Primary+ Lite's capped outpatient layer is the better middle ground.

Moratorium underwriting, explained

Expatriate Healthcare uses moratorium underwriting, which keeps the application simple: there are no medical questions when you apply. The trade-off is in how pre-existing conditions are treated.

1. Any condition you had, or were treated or advised on, in the two years before joining is automatically excluded at the start.
2. Each of those conditions becomes covered once you have gone two continuous years treatment-free and symptom-free for it after joining.
3. Genuinely new conditions that arise after you join are covered immediately, from day one.

For someone whose recent health has been stable, this is a clean, low-friction route to cover. For someone with an active condition, it means a two-year gap on that condition, and a full-medical-underwriting plan from another insurer might accept it sooner. Our pre-existing conditions guide compares moratorium with the alternatives.

Claims and pre-authorisation

• Planned inpatient treatment should be pre-approved as soon as reasonably possible, and at least seven days before a non-emergency admission.
• Emergencies and evacuation are covered on every plan. Emergency transport moves you to the nearest appropriate facility, with travel benefits for accompanying family.
• Plans are serviced in your chosen currency, which avoids exchange friction on claims.

Using Expatriate Healthcare from Africa

Expatriate Healthcare's area of cover is confirmed at quote rather than published as fixed regions, so readers in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania and Mauritius should ask which area applies and whether it includes the countries they might travel to for treatment. Our guide to regional versus worldwide cover explains how to weigh that.

Cover is underwritten by Gen Re / Guardrisk, as Expatriate Healthcare states, with Expatriate Healthcare distributing and administering the plans. The three-currency choice is useful on the continent: hold the plan in US dollars, euros or pounds to match how you are paid, and claims settle without exchange friction. The seven-day pre-authorisation rule for planned admissions is the habit to adopt from day one. IPMIAfrica quotes Expatriate Healthcare alongside the rest of the market so the saving from the inpatient-led Primary plan shows as a real number next to more comprehensive options.

Who Expatriate Healthcare suits

Expatriate Healthcare is a strong fit if you are price-conscious and want dependable cover for what matters most, hospital treatment and emergency evacuation, without paying for a top-tier comprehensive plan. The currency choice helps if you are paid or billed in dollars, euros or pounds, and moratorium underwriting suits anyone whose recent health has been stable.

It is worth comparing alternatives if you want extensive routine outpatient, dental and maternity as standard, or the very highest benefit limits. Browse all insurers we cover to see it beside more comprehensive plans.

Frequently asked questions

This page is general information, not personal or medical advice, and is based on Expatriate Healthcare plan documentation; exact terms, limits and underwriting are confirmed by the insurer at quote. Prices are indicative. Expatriate Healthcare and related names and logos are the property of their respective owners.