Health Insurance

Health cover is the first insurance question almost every English-speaking arrival in Portugal asks, and the one where the answer travels least well. The SNS exists and legal residents can register with it. What it does not do is behave like the private systems most newcomers are used to, either in waiting times or in choice of practitioner. Private cover here is bought alongside the SNS rather than instead of it, and working out which of the two you are actually relying on for a given episode of care is most of the decision.

The articles below deal with the parts that catch people out. Pre-existing conditions are underwritten case by case, and the answer differs by insurer rather than by market convention. Waiting periods run from the policy start date, not from the date you moved. Entry ages, renewal ages and how children are treated on a family policy all vary between companies. Visa applicants have a second problem on top of the first: the cover has to satisfy a consular requirement as well as a medical one, and a policy that is perfectly adequate clinically can still be refused as proof.

We also cover the situations that sit outside a domestic policy altogether — medical evacuation and repatriation, cover that has to keep working while you are abroad for months of the year, school-age children insured outside Portugal, and long-term care planning for residents who intend to stay. Where a requirement comes from legislation or from a visa rule we say which. We do not publish premium comparisons: the price of a health policy is a function of your age and your history, and an average figure describes nobody in particular.

Looking for a quote rather than a read? See our health insurance in Portugal & Spain page.