Budgeting the health line of your move abroad: the method

The insurance premium is an amount known in advance, paid whether you fall ill or not — monthly or annual depending on the contract. The out-of-pocket cost is, by contrast, an amount that only exists if care is actually received: it depends on the real cost of the care received, on what the contract reimburses for that type of procedure, and on the caps or deductibles that apply.

A realistic health budget for living abroad adds up both: the premium, which is certain, and an estimate of the likely out-of-pocket cost, which depends directly on the destination country — see also how CFE reimbursements are calculated to understand why this out-of-pocket cost can be significant even with active cover.

Every country page on the site publishes a table of real observed costs (consultation, hospitalisation, imaging) in the public and private sectors, and the country-by-country comparison sets out the price of a simple GP visit side by side. These figures are the concrete starting point for estimating an out-of-pocket cost, even before looking at a contract: the higher the local price level, the bigger the gap with what a cover actually reimburses can become.

Three very different readings depending on the destination, already detailed on the published country pages:

• In Thailand, a GP visit in the private sector ranges from about €21 to €135 depending on the facility: the gap to budget for already exists within a single country, depending on the hospital chosen.
• In Canada, the public non-insured rate for a family-medicine visit (CAD 62.27) gives a floor order of magnitude for a resident not yet covered by the provincial scheme — useful for pricing a waiting period.
• In the United Arab Emirates, with no accessible public sector for foreigners, the displayed private price (≈150-500 AED for a consultation) is directly the real price to factor into the budget, with no public rate for comparison.

Two contracts at the same monthly price can offer very different protection. A higher deductible or lower coverage caps, particularly on hospitalisation, dental or optical, mechanically bring the displayed premium down — at the cost of a heavier out-of-pocket amount in the event of a real claim. Comparing price alone, without looking at the deductible and caps category by category, amounts to comparing two budgets that don’t cover the same risk.

The question to ask is therefore never “which contract is cheapest” but “what is the likely total budget”: the certain premium, plus an out-of-pocket cost estimated from the real local price level of the destination country and the caps of the contract being considered.

• Determine the medical price level of the destination country from its country page, and check at the same time the coverage zone you actually need to subscribe to.
• Collect the annual premium for one or more comparable contracts on that zone.
• Note, category by category (hospitalisation, routine care, dental, optical), the deductible and cap of each contract compared.
• Add the annual premium and a cautious estimate of the likely out-of-pocket cost (the categories most likely to be used, at the local price level observed on the country page) to get a realistic annual health budget, not just the displayed price of the contract.