One of the requirements of the D7 or D8 visas—and most other residency visas—is that you purchase travel insurance, such as that offered by AXA Schengen.
This travel insurance is to cover you for the period between arriving in Portugal and attending your interview with AIMA (previously SEF) at which point you’ll be given your temporary residence permit and will become a resident.
However, when you attend your AIMA appointment, you will normally need to show health insurance, which is different from the travel insurance you need for your visa application.
Confused? It’s understandable, but hopefully this article will explain things.
Travel Insurance VS Health Insurance
- Travel Insurance: When you submit a visa application (e.g. a D7 or D8 application) you will need to show travel insurance. One of the key requirements is expatriation, which is why health insurance usually won’t work here. Some people take out a simple travel insurance plan (enough to meet the consulate requirements) such as that offered by AXA Schengen but take out health insurance at the same time.
- Health insurance: You will normally need to show health insurance at your AIMA appointment. Although you could purchase it just before your AIMA appointment, there’s an argument to getting it earlier—to get ahead of the waiting periods insurance policies typically have (the time before you’re able to start claiming certain procedures). Normally this is around 60-90 days, but it can be longer for certain cases (e.g. pregnancy or cancer).
Buying Health Insurance
The two main ways to purchase health insurance in Portugal are through your bank or through an insurance broker.
Most banks in Portugal sell insurance of all sorts to their customers and it’s often very affordable. It’s not necessarily cheaper than what a broker can provide, however, so it’s a good idea to compare both. A broker will also be able (and willing) to compare the market whereas the bank will want to sell you their own products. Although a broker has an incentive to sell you specific products, they are more able to offer a multitude of serves than a bank is. Plus, their expertise is insurance whereas someone working in a bank doesn’t have that same knowledge.
Common names in the Portuguese health insurance space include:
The largest options are Multicare, Medis, AdvanceCare, and Allianz.
If you’re over 70, you can probably go straight to MGEN, which is the only health insurance provider to cover this age group. MGEN is also one of the few providers that covers pre-existing conditions, although there are instances where some other insurance providers will cover you.
What about the public health system?
After this interview, and after you’re received your residency card, you’ll be a resident and can sign onto the public health service. Well, in theory. In practice, things don’t always go as smoothly.
Some people find it difficult to get registered at their local health centre (centro de saúde) and to obtain their número de utente. Often they’re asked for a NISS number or told they aren’t eligible.
Should I keep paying for health insurance?
Should you keep paying for a health insurance plan once you’ve registered for the public health system?
Technically, you don’t need to. The public health system will meet all of your needs.
In practice, however, the public health system suffers from understaffing and long waiting periods. This means if you have a condition that is non-urgent, you may have to wait months to get an appointment.
Having health insurance cuts the cost of using private hospitals which normally have shorter waiting lists. You may still need to use the public hospitals for certain procedures, but going through the private system initially can speed things up.
It’s worth noting that you don’t need private health insurance to use a private hospital in Portugal. You can pay out of pocket. A doctor’s appointment might cost €50-€150 (perhaps more for certain specialists), which is far less than what you would expect to pay in the USA.
What Type of Travel Insurance Do I Need?
Let’s get back to travel insurance, which you need for your initial visa application at your consulate or through VSF.
The travel insurance required is Schengen Area travel insurance (i.e. it covers the whole of the Schengen Area, including Portugal).
According to the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
“The insurance should be valid for the entire territory of Member-States and cover the entire duration of stay or transit of the visa applicant. The insurance should be valid only for the duration of the stay and not for the duration of the visa.
“The insurance should cover medical expenses including those of medical repatriation, medical emergency and/or hospital emergency, and the minimum required coverage is 30,000 Euros.”
The key points are:
- It covers your entire stay (i.e. 120 days)
- Covers repatriation
- Emergency medical cover of at least €30,000
- It’s a good idea to make sure the insurance covers Covid-19 treatment as well
AXA Schengen is probably the most popular option, but it’s not the only one. Other popular options include:
Using a comparison site like Squaremouth allows you to compare multiple options at once.
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