Health insurance when retiring abroad

Checkpoints

Destination: EU, agreement country or other?
How are you insured today?
Do you get a state pension in the new country?
What applies to your partner?

EU, EEA, Switzerland

Moving to the EU, the EEA or Switzerland

If you receive a pension from the German statutory pension insurance (or a comparable benefit such as a civil servant’s pension) and have no entitlement of your own to health insurance in the new country, you stay insured with your health fund in Germany. You keep paying contributions in Germany, and none are due in the new country [source].

In your new country you are treated like people insured there, with the usual local co-payments. You prove your entitlement with the S1 form, which you get from your German health fund [source]. During visits to Germany you can keep using your health card [source].

Special rules apply to some countries, for example the United Kingdom, or if you are not a national of an EU country. In these cases ask your health fund before you move [source].

Agreement countries

Moving to an agreement country

Some countries outside the EU have rules for pensioners, including Turkey, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Tunisia and the United Kingdom. Statutory health insurance for pensioners (KVdR) continues there as long as you have not applied for or receive a further statutory pension in the new country [source].

If you are voluntarily insured, this only applies to some of these countries; moving to the others ends voluntary insurance. The DVKA names Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and the United Kingdom as countries where it can continue [source].

All other countries

Moving to any other country

If you move to a country that belongs neither to the EU, the EEA or Switzerland nor to the agreement countries, your health insurance in Germany ends [source]. This applies, for example, to Thailand, the USA, Canada, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

You then need your own cover for life there: international health insurance or a solution in your destination. Many retirement visas require proof of this. As you get older, health questions and premiums weigh more, so plan the switch early.

Partner and family

What applies to family members moving with you

If you move to another EU country with family members insured through you, their family insurance follows the law of the new country from the move. If they do not meet the conditions there, your health fund checks how their cover can continue [source]. More on families: Health insurance for families abroad.

Clarify first

Your checklist before the move

Health fund: Do I stay insured, and will I receive the S1 form?
Pension: Do I receive or apply for a state pension in the new country too? Questions on the pension itself go to the German pension insurance.
Long-term care: What applies to long-term care insurance? The DVKA has a separate leaflet [source].
Gaps: Which costs does the system in the new country not cover, such as co-payments or repatriation?
Way back: What applies if I move back later?

Frequently asked questions

Do I stay in German health insurance as a pensioner if I move to Spain or Portugal?

Usually yes, if you receive a German pension and have no entitlement of your own to health insurance in the new country. You keep paying contributions in Germany and are treated in the new country with the S1 form.

Benefits then follow the law of the new country, with the usual local co-payments.

Sources: [1]

What happens to my health insurance if I retire to Thailand or the USA?

Your health insurance in Germany ends, because these countries belong neither to the EU nor to the agreement countries with rules for pensioners. You need your own cover for life there.

Contact your health fund before you move. It will explain your options.

Sources: [1]

What is the S1 form?

The portable document S1 certifies that you are entitled to treatment in your country of residence through your German health fund. You present it to the competent health insurance body at your new home.

Your health fund can also send the data digitally to the body in your new country.

Sources: [1]