Many low retirement budgets online price health insurance for a 30-year-old on a six-month trip.
A typical retire-abroad video breaks down a couple's month: rent, food, a scooter, the odd massage. Some completely exclude health insurance but when there's a line for it, it's usually at the bottom of the list and it's usually a small number.
That number is often the price of a travel medical or "digital nomad" plan. These are legitimate products and can be a good value for travelers, but they are not designed for a 65-year-old who lives abroad. Cover that suits a retiree can add hundreds of dollars a month, and more with age.
Retiring in Asia is still affordable for most people. This article explains what these plans leave out and how to identify them, so your budget is adequate for the cover you will need.
Why these plans are so cheap
Travel and nomad plans are cheap because they pay for emergencies during a trip. They are not designed to pay for the health care of someone who lives abroad.
The UK government explains it in one sentence: "Travel insurance is not intended for permanent residence abroad." Nomad plans add monthly billing and longer trips, but generally work the same way. The premium is set for accidents and sudden illness, not years of treatment for a chronic condition.
The price promoted online is often for the youngest age band. One of the best-known nomad plans costs about $63 per four weeks for travelers under 40. For the same plan at 60 to 69, the price is nearly $220, and at 70 the plan isn't available at all. A budget that uses the under-40 price understates what a retiree will pay.
Out-of-date prices spread, too. A site for Americans moving abroad, checked in November 2026, lists that same nomad plan at under $100 a month for ages 60 to 69. The insurer's own calculator shows about $219 every four weeks.
Anyone who prices health insurance seriously discovers this gap quickly. On an Expat.com forum, someone planning to retire in Phnom Penh at 65 reported quotes of about $550 a month for health insurance, against about $850 a year for travel insurance. The post is several years old and prices have risen since, but the gap is the one this article describes and it's common.
What travel plans don't cover
Travel medical plans leave out much of what retirees claim for.
- It may not cover you once you live there. Most travel policies require you to live in your home country, and some to have public cover there. They end when you go home or when a trip reaches its limit, often a year at most. If you live abroad, the insurer may refuse a claim for that reason.
- Conditions you already have aren't covered. Travel plans pay for emergencies, not for pre-existing conditions. By 65, many people already have a condition that needs regular treatment.
- No follow-up care. An emergency plan pays to stabilize you. It does not pay for months of treatment after a cancer diagnosis or a stroke.
- Renewal isn't guaranteed. If a plan declines to renew after a diagnosis, a new insurer is likely to exclude that condition.
- Age caps. Many travel plans stop selling at 69. Some also pay out less as you age. One insurer's travel medical plan lets buyers under 65 choose up to $1,000,000 per illness or injury, but caps it at $100,000 from 65 to 69 and $50,000 from 70 to 79.
A simple check: if a policy calls itself travel insurance, asks where your home is, limits the length of a trip, or ends when you return, it isn't designed for someone who lives abroad. A plan for residents has none of these, and guarantees renewal.
Which visas require health insurance
Only Thailand and Malaysia tie health insurance to their retirement visas, and Malaysia's federal MM2H asks for it only from applicants under 60. In Vietnam, the Philippines, Cambodia and Indonesia, nothing in the visa process will stop you from relying on a travel plan, so the choice of cover is yours.
| Country | Visa route | Insurance required |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand | Non-O-A retirement visa | 3,000,000 THB (about $91,000) for all medical expenses, from a Thai insurer or a foreign insurer that signs the official Foreign Insurance Certificate. Required again at each annual extension |
| Thailand | Non-O-X (5 + 5 years) | A Thai policy with at least 400,000 THB (about $12,000) inpatient and 40,000 THB (about $1,200) outpatient, held without a gap. Foreign plans don't count |
| Thailand | Long-Term Resident (LTR) | $50,000 cover, or $100,000 held in a bank for 12 months, or another qualifying alternative |
| Thailand | Non-O retirement extension | None |
| Vietnam | All visas and residence cards | None |
| Philippines | SRRV and other routes | None. The SRRV asks for a medical certificate, not insurance |
| Cambodia | ER retirement extension and others | None. The embassy calls insurance "highly recommended" |
| Malaysia | MM2H (federal) | Required for applicants under 60, at application and renewal. No minimum cover is published |
| Malaysia | Sarawak MM2H | A Malaysian medical policy for applicants under 60, held for the whole pass |
| Malaysia | Sabah MM2H | Medical insurance required, at any age |
| Indonesia | Second-home and retirement permits | None |
Two cautions. A policy that meets Thailand's visa minimum can still fall short of adequate cover: 3 million baht (about $91,000) is well below the annual limit of about $300,000 we recommend, and some visa-compliance plans carry deductibles of 200,000 baht or more. And where no visa requires insurance, some retirees put off buying it until fewer insurers will accept them.
Example: one retiree in Bangkok
At 65 the price gap is small. The larger problems are budgets that use the under-40 price, and nomad plans that end at 70, when resident cover gets more expensive.
Take one person living in Bangkok at a Modest standard of living: about $1,400 a month before insurance. The table shows the monthly total with different insurance.
| Age and insurance | Insurance a month | Total a month |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-video version: nomad plan at its under-40 price | $68 | $1,500 |
| 65, the same nomad plan at its 60–69 price | $240 | $1,600 |
| 65, Thailand-only hospital plan for residents | $220 | $1,600 |
| 70, the nomad plan | Not sold at 70 | No cover |
| 70, Thailand-only hospital plan | $310 | $1,700 |
| 75, Thailand-only hospital plan | $570 | $2,000 |
| 75, worldwide plan excluding the USA, hospital stays | $1,300 | $2,700 |
At 65, the nomad plan at its real price and a basic resident plan cost about the same, but they cover different things. The resident plan pays for hospital stays without a trip limit and renews to 99. The nomad plan doesn't cover what you already have, may not cover you as a resident, and ends at 70.
A budget that works at $1,500 a month can need $2,000 at 75 on the most basic resident cover, and $2,700 on a worldwide plan. Check what your budget will be at 75 as well as when you arrive.
For Americans: Medicare abroad
Medicare generally doesn't pay for care in Asia, so it can't fill the gaps a travel plan leaves.
- Medicare still covers you on visits to the US, however long you've lived abroad. Part A alone pays only for hospital stays.
- You can't keep a Part D drug plan while you live abroad.
- Dropping Part B has a lasting cost. You can rejoin only from January 1 to March 31, and your premium rises by 10% of the standard premium for each full 12 months without it, for life.
- Military retirees and CHAMPVA beneficiaries have different rules, including keeping Part B to stay covered abroad. Our guides cover them in detail.
Other countries have similar rules. Canadian provincial plans don't cover you once you live abroad, and former UK residents pay for most NHS hospital care on visits. Australians keep Medicare on visits home for five years after first leaving.
What to look for instead
Buy cover in your sixties, while most insurers still take new applicants and you have fewer exclusions. Then check each plan against these questions:
- Is it sold to people who live abroad? Not to travelers, not with a trip limit, not ending when you go home.
- Does it guarantee renewal, and to what age? Some resident plans renew to 99 or 100. Ask for it in writing.
- What's the oldest age for new applicants? Many stop between 70 and 80. After that age you have fewer choices.
- How does it treat your existing conditions? Excluded, covered after a waiting period, or covered for a higher premium. Read the named exclusions.
- What's the annual limit? Aim for at least about $300,000.
- What's the deductible? A higher deductible lowers the premium. On one Philippine plan, a $1,000 deductible cuts it by 15% and a $5,000 deductible by 40%. But you pay every bill up to that amount yourself, so pick a level you could pay from savings tomorrow. Some Thai visa-compliance plans carry deductibles of 200,000 baht (about $6,100) or more. Our article on why savings don't replace health insurance covers deductibles and hospital-only cover in more detail.
- Where does it pay? One country, the region, or worldwide, and what happens on trips home.
- Does it include medical evacuation? Essential in Cambodia, where serious cases usually go to Bangkok.
- Does it meet your visa rule? Only matters in Thailand, but there it decides which insurers qualify.
- What will it cost at 75 and 80? Ask for the premium table, not just this year's price. Premiums roughly double every decade, and climb faster in your 70s.
Get quotes from several insurers, or use an independent broker, and make sure you're comparing like for like.
Before you buy
If a budget's insurance line is a travel plan, ask what it costs at your age, what it won't pay for, and what happens at 70.
With proper insurance, retiring in Asia is still affordable for most people. Our cost figures include health insurance priced for your age, so they are higher than most video budgets.
Each country guide compares insurers for residents, explains the visa rules in full, and shows budgets at 65 and 75. Country Match prices insurance for your age when it scores each country.