Your home country does not have necessarily to be your birth country or the country where you're currently residing, but it must be a country where you either have citizenship or a permanent residence permit.
"Your home country must be a country where you either have citizenship or a permanent residence permit."
Many digital nomads and expats have different nationalities and addresses, or, they might not even have a registered address at all, which can make things confusing when choosing their home country when signing up for insurance.
Choosing your home country for Genki Resident
So, what should you consider to help you make the decision about which country is your home country?
The first thing to understand is that the Genki Resident is an International health insurance, therefore, its purpose is not to replace completely a local home country insurance, which means it has a few limitations of coverage in your home country, although it still offers a very comprehensive home country coverage which in most cases will remove your need to have any local coverage if you're an expat or digital nomad that does not wish to stay in their home country most of the year.
We recommend (if possible) that you choose as your home country a country where you keep some type of local coverage, either by using local health insurance or having access to a national health system. It's also important to have the support of family and friends in case of an emergency repatriation. Why?
Coverage in your home country is of 180 days per calendar year (6 months each year). That includes all benefits, even check-ups and vaccinations with the Genki Resident premium e.g.
Coverage is only activated when you leave your home country after the insurance start date, or if you're already traveling outside your home country when the insurance starts. Meaning, If you're still in your home country upon the insurance start date, you will have to leave your home country first before coverage can be effectively activated.
You can request a medical repatriation back to your home country if the duration of the treatment justifies the request, and if the responsible doctor clears you as fit-to-fly. However, you must know that your insurance is terminated as soon as you arrive back in your home country. This means any follow-up treatments once you've returned to your home country should be covered by a local insurance or national health system. You decide if you want to request the repatriation back to your home country, it’s completely your choice. You can keep receiving the initial treatment in the country where the accident or emergency happens until you're able to return to your travels, and you can resume any possible follow-up treatments in different countries with the prior knowledge of the insurer.
Still not sure which country to choose? Drop us a chat message or email at [email protected] and one of our support agents will help you!