SafetyWing Strikes Back!

SafetyWing has improved their health insurance for travelers! So how do they stack up to Genki now?

Brent Hartinger

Apr 05, 2024

This article contains several affiliate links where we may earn a commission from purchases.

Update: See my most recent healthcare article here!

This article has also been updated.

For several years, I’ve been writing about health care insurance for nomads, expats, and long-term travelers.

There are two kinds of health insurance for such folks:

Travel Insurance, which is a temporary, term-limited policy that covers you outside your home country, and which usually only pays for emergencies and “medically necessary” treatments — and also, hopefully, for emergency evacuation. This kind of insurance is usually purchased in addition to more comprehensive coverage in your home country, which is where you get your routine medical care.
Full International Health Insurance — sometimes called “expatriate” or “long-term international” insurance — which is comprehensive coverage outside your home country and is not term-limited and continues as long as you pay the premiums. These policies typically replace any other coverage you have.

When it comes to travel insurance, there are essentially only three companies that sell travel insurance of practical use to most long-term travelers:

SafetyWing, which calls their travel insurance “Nomad Insurance Essential.”
Genki, which calls their travel insurance “Genki Explorer.”
And World Nomads, which I do not recommend.

When it comes to full international health insurance, travelers have many more options. But two of the above three companies — SafetyWing and Genki — now offer this kind of expanded policy too.

Genki calls this their “Genki Native” plan. They also have an older plan, “Genki Resident,” for folks 55 and up, that they don’t currently advertise on their website. It’s more generous than Genki Native, with fewer limitations, but you have to specifically request it.
SafetyWing calls this their “Nomad Insurance Complete” plan.

Analyzing all these plans in previous articles, I came to the conclusion that while SafetyWing was a bit more affordable, Genki’s products were fundamentally better in both categories.

But in the months since I wrote those articles, an interesting thing happened: SafetyWing announced that they’ve improved their products.

Why now?

In the category of health insurance for long-term travelers, SafetyWing was the more “established” player (despite only being founded in 2018).

Meanwhile, Genki, founded in 2021, was the young upstart — which is, I think, why their products were so superior: they were trying to make a big, attention-getting splash and capture market share.

In short, the relationship between the two companies is not entirely unlike the Empire versus the Rebel Alliance in the Star Wars universe.

And I think the “Rebel Alliance” of Genki finally got the attention of the SafetyWing “Empire,” forcing them to strike back.

And who knows? Maybe pressure from journalists like yours truly helped too.

But the more important question is: which company has the better products now?

Below, I’ll look at each of SafetyWing’s improvements: first, in their travel insurance, then in their full international health insurance. I’ll also compare them to Genki’s existing products — they’ve changed lately too.

And at the end, I’ll let you know if I’ve revised my overall recommendations.

(The usual caveats apply: I’m not an “expert” on this topic — I’m just a guy on the internet who asks a lot of questions. Do your own due diligence! And ask a lot of your own questions — both Genki and SafetyWing have great “chat” features — then save a record of the answers they provide.)

Nomad Insurance Essential: SafetyWing’s Travel Insurance

What changed in SafetyWing’s latest travel insurance plan?

No Deductible

Previously, SafetyWing’s travel insurance included a $250 USD deductible per term. But with Nomad Insurance Essential, there is no deductible.

How is this different from Genki?

Genki Explorer — Genki’s travel insurance plan — has always had the option of either no-deductible or 50-euro deductible per claim, which is a bit cheaper.

A More Streamlined Claims Process

I know from personal experience that SafetyWing’s previous claims process was very cumbersome and frustrating. They say they’ve completely revamped the system, and they also now promise a turnaround of 7-10 business days.

How is this different from Genki?

Genki Explorer’s claims process is already pretty simple: you fill out a very basic online form and upload a receipt. I’ve also found Genki’s payouts to be within two weeks.

My sense is that Genki is also more liberal on pay-outs in general, but this is purely anecdotal, based entirely on Michael’s and my own experience with both companies.

SafetyWing tells me that, in emergencies, they can also arrange payment directly with doctors or hospitals. But with non-immediate issues, when Michael and I were on the previous version of this policy, I found it impossible to find out beforehand which specific treatments were covered and which were not.

They repeatedly told me: “Get the care you need, submit the claims forms and paperwork, and then we’ll let you know if we’ll cover it.”

These days, SafetyWing tells me, “Your point about not being assured ahead of time that your claim will be paid out is totally valid. I will bring this to our team as a suggestion for improvement.”

Two New Add-ons

For Nomad Insurance Essential, SafetyWing is now offering two optional add-ons — both for additional fees.

The first covers “extreme” sports, like parachuting, ski-flying, spelunking, and cave-diving. Injuries from more conventional sports — surfing, skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, mountain biking, and hiking — are covered even without the add-on.
The second add-on covers theft of electronics like laptops, phones, and cameras. Even without the add-on, the policy has some modest coverage for trip interruption and delay (but not cancellation), lost luggage, and theft of non-electronics.
They also had an existing optional add-on for medical coverage in the U.S., but it’s only available to non-Americans — and it will almost double your premiums.

How is this different from Genki?

Genki Explorer covers conventional sports injuries, but doesn’t offer an additional rider that covers “dangerous” activities. (Both Genki Native and Resident, and SafetyWing’s Nomad Health Complete — the “full” policies — cover everything except “professional” sports.)

Genki also offers only health insurance and includes no other travel coverages (though they tell me they’re discussing these options as add-ons).

What Hasn’t SafetyWing Changed That They Should?

In addition to the difficulty of finding out in advance if a specific ailment or treatment is covered, some of my other frustrations with SafetyWing Nomad Insurance remain:

Their medical evacuation coverage only pays to get you to the nearest appropriate hospital, not necessarily back to your home country (unless a doctor agrees you need the transportation for additional medical care). SafetyWing tells me that they will pay for an economy ticket back to the area where you were injured or your home country, whichever you choose, even without a doctor’s approval. But this is not medical transport, which can be far more expensive.
This “emergency evacuation” coverage also maxes out at $100,000 USD — which isn’t that much when it comes to medical transport; it can involve helicopters and other bankruptcy-causing expenses. Genki Explorer, meanwhile, has no maximum payout limit here.
SafetyWing’s total maximum coverage for all other treatments is $250,000 (or $100,000 for US residents over the age of 65). Which, frankly, seems stingy. Genki Explorer has no maximum payout limit here either.
In eliminating their deductible and improving their claims process, SafetyWing has also raised their prices. They’re now generally more expensive than Genki. Price calculators for the two products are here and here. But keep in mind that SafetyWing Essential bills you every 28 days (or 13 times a year) while Genki bills monthly (only 12 times a year).
If you don’t get the U.S. add-on (or if you’re an American citizen), Nomad Insurance Essential includes only minimal emergency coverage in the U.S.: 15 days per 90 days of coverage after you’ve had the policy 90 days (and you don’t accumulate unused days). This is less generous than Genki Explorer, which gives you up to six weeks of limited coverage in the U.S. every 180 days, and you merely have to leave your home country for this to immediately go into effect.

It’s fine that SafetyWing eliminated their deductible, but I think they should have kept the deductible as an option, in order to get a lower premium. Genki’s optional 50-euro deductible (per claim), drives their already-cheaper prices lower still.

Learn more about SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance Essential — their travel insurance — here.

Learn more about Genki Explorer — that company’s travel insurance — here.

Nomad Insurance Complete: SafetyWing’s Full International Insurance Plan

In addition to the recent changes to their travel insurance, SafetyWing has also made changes to their full international health insurance plans.

A Single Plan

With their full international insurance, SafetyWing had been experimenting with different “tiers” of coverage. Now they have only one plan that includes:

Coverage for medical treatment and hospitalization. But the plan has a yearly pay-out maximum of $1.5 million, and a yearly “outpatient” maximum of only $5000 (but that goes up to $500,000 for surgeries).
Limited coverage for routine medical care ($300 yearly maximum), wellness treatments (up to 10 visits, $60 per visit), and maternity care ($2500, with a 20% deductible, and up to $50,000 for “newborn coverage and maternity complications”).
All treatments over $500 require prior authorization — otherwise, you pay a 30% penalty. You can also arrange payments from SafetyWing directly to your medical provider.
Various travel coverages, including lost checked luggage ($500 per item), travel delay (up to $100/day for 2 days), stolen belongings ($5000), and trip cancellation (due to factors beyond your control, before you leave, $600 per year).

How Is This Different From Genki?

Genki Resident — their older plan which you have to specifically request — has no maximum pay-outs for almost anything, while Genki Native — their newer plan — has a yearly pay-out maximum of $1,087,000 USD.

But the Genki plans have no outpatient limit of $5000. You also don’t need prior authorization for treatments over $500 (although you should notify them in the event of a serious illness; they too offer direct payments).

In fact, despite having fewer exclusions and higher pay-outs, Genki’s price is now comparable to SafetyWing — and Genki, unlike SafetyWing, offers three different deductible choices that can lower the price further still. Calculators for price comparisons are here and here Weirdly, with their “Complete” international plan, SafetyWing bills monthly — 12 times a year, not 13, as with Essential.

That said, SafetyWing allows you to pay an entire year in advance, saving 10% off the price. Genki does not offer this option.

Also, Safetywing Nomad Insurance Complete — similar to the Essential plan — includes some non-medical coverages: for trip interruption, delay, lost luggage, some theft, and even a very modest trip cancellation coverage. Genki doesn’t offer any non-medical coverages.

A Streamlined Claims Process

SafetyWing uses the same new, improved claims process, described above, for both their Essential and Complete plans. They promise a 7-10 business day turnaround.

How is this different from Genki?

The claims process for Genki Resident and Genki Native — which is different from Genki Explorer — is faster: only three days.

What Hasn’t SafetyWing Changed That They Should?

SafetyWing’s $1.5 million annual maximum pay-out was always on the low end of comprehensive insurance policies, and their outpatient yearly maximum of $5000 is ridiculously low. I’m also disappointed by their low maximums for routine care ($5000, $60 per visit), wellness ($300), and pregnancy ($2500 with a 20% deductible).
SafetyWing and Genki both provide limited “emergency” coverage while briefly visiting America, but if you’re looking for full coverage, you’ll need an expensive add-on.

Learn more about SafetyWing’s Nomad Insurance Complete here.

Learn more about Genki Native or Genki Resident insurance here.

So Which is Better, SafetyWing or Genki?

Did the Empire effectively strike back?

SafetyWing did make a few minor improvements to their products. But they also raised their prices, eliminating one of the two clear advantages they had over Genki, which was generally lower prices.

SafetyWing still has one other advantage over Genkie: those non-medical travel coverages. They’re slightly more robust with Nomad Insurance Complete than Nomad Insurance Essential. But they’re all pretty modest, and you may already have some or all of these coverages through your travel credit card.

If you’re specifically looking for coverage of your electronics and/or your higher-risk activities, sure, their two new add-ons could be helpful.

But in most respects, Genki’s products still seem markedly better.

For the time being, the Rebel Alliance still doesn’t have much to worry about from the Empire.

Learn more about SafetyWing here.

Learn more about Genki here.

My other nomad/expat health insurance articles:

Brent and Michael Are Going Places

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