Travel Health Insurance - Traveling to US from UK

Hi! Does a US citizen living in the UK need to purchase travel health insurance if traveling back to the US for vacation? Anyone have advice here?

Assuming you don’t already have any healthcare coverage in the US, then yes, you will need travel insurance. Though even if you do, travel insurance is always a good idea whenever you travel to any country as it can cover things like delays and theft as well as healthcare.

Most travel insurance providers provide cover for the following:
- UK and Europe only
- Rest of the World excluding US and Canada
- Rest of the World including US and Canada

They separate US and Canada because policies including the US are more expensive due to healthcare costs.

So, you’ll need to make sure you purchase a policy that covers the US and Canada, and you’ll want at least £5 million in healthcare coverage, possibly £10 million.

As you are a US citizen living in the UK, you’ll also need to check that the insurance company will cover you, as some require that you hold either UK citizenship or ILR, and others just require you to be resident in the UK... so just double-check the fine print before purchasing.


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Hi! Does a US citizen living in the UK need to purchase travel health insurance if traveling back to the US for vacation? Anyone have advice here?

Definitely need health and/or travel insurance. Plenty of options out there, Google is your friend.

Thanks @ksand24 and @durhamlad! Will be sure to check the fine print.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but... should I be maintaining US health insurance while my residence is in the UK? I’m registered with the NHS now (and we also have private cover), but are there tax implications with the IRS if I’m not maintaining US coverage? I maintained it until I left US soil.

And... any chance my private cover kicks in for travel? I’ll dig out the forms, but while I’m here thought I’d ask if anyone has experience here.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but... should I be maintaining US health insurance while my residence is in the UK? I’m registered with the NHS now (and we also have private cover), but are there tax implications with the IRS if I’m not maintaining US coverage? I maintained it until I left US soil.

I’m not sure it’s even possible to maintain US insurance if you are not living in the US (though I don’t know the ins and outs of how US healthcare insurance works)

I just added that part in to cover all bases, in case you did happen to have some kind of cover in the US.

And... any chance my private cover kicks in for travel? I’ll dig out the forms, but while I’m here thought I’d ask if anyone has experience here.

I doubt it, though you’d have to see what your policy covers. As a Brit, I’ve never heard of anyone being covered by UK private insurance while abroad... but then again, I don’t know many people who even have any private cover in the UK .

At the moment, British residents travelling to Europe are covered for healthcare under the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which means they are entitled to use a European country’s healthcare as if they lived in that country (but they should still have travel insurance as they may need to pay for care), but I don’t know what will happen with that after Brexit.



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Thanks @ksand24 and @durhamlad! Will be sure to check the fine print.

Maybe this is a stupid question, but... should I be maintaining US health insurance while my residence is in the UK? I’m registered with the NHS now (and we also have private cover), but are there tax implications with the IRS if I’m not maintaining US coverage? I maintained it until I left US soil.

And... any chance my private cover kicks in for travel? I’ll dig out the forms, but while I’m here thought I’d ask if anyone has experience here.

No stupid questions.

No need to maintain US health insurance and now no need to even fill in exemption forms with your IRS return to avoid the mandate penalty.

I have UK private health insurance and it does cover us in the USA for emergency room services only so check your policy or call your insurance company.

Thanks again to you both! Unfortunately, I have still been unable to find any coverage, the kicker being that I have only been resident in the UK for 3 months, not the 6 that everyone seems to require. I thought I had a stroke of luck in finding company that claimed to do insurance for recent expats, but when I phoned them up to be sure, they confirmed that they would not in fact be able to cover me as I have not hit the 6 month mark. Bumping this up to see if anyone has been in a similar situation recently, and has a company to recommend (you can DM me as I understand it's not cool to promote businesses...)? I leave Thursday, so it's coming down to the wire...

I used "insurewith" when I had only been resident 4 months. Worth seeing if they still provide coverage.

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We used Worldnomads when we traveled to the USA in January 2017 but that may have been after we had been resident right  about 6 months, but since they specialize in folks who travel the world they may well be worth a shot.

STA Travel will insure you with only 3 months of residency in the UK (you also have to be registered with a UK GP)


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I have Direct Line and they cover us world-wide. It was approx 120 pounds for the full year for two people for comprehensive travel and health insurance of $10million, and I am of pensioner age.  I looked through my policy booklet and didn't see any exclusions for length of time in the UK, but it was a quick read-through only. Fortunately, I've never had to use it.  I would definitely recommend a high insurance cover if you're going to the USA. (Which isn't as outlandish as it seems - my daughter was in the ER and admitted for a one-night observation/testing ten years ago and the bill was $14,000+).

I keep a USA insurance policy as part of my pension package, but it will pay for overseas care as well as care in the USA (where, by law, there can't be a cap on how much can be paid out). You'd want to do a benefit/cost analysis and see if it's cheaper for you to keep a USA policy or get travel insurance?

Thanks everyone!! STA turned me down as 12 weeks does not equal three months and they don’t do mid-trip cover. World Nomads is 6 month threshold. Insurewith said 6 months. (Is this 6 month thing new?)

The winner appears to be Direct Line who say that I show intent to be here for more than 6 months if I can show I’m registered with GP, have a lease, or a job. So, they have a new customer!

It may be the case that other companies cover with this same kind of evidence, but I did spend hours on the phone with many different companies in the last few days and none offered it, seeming perplexed at my situation. I’m not sure I have the energy to call any of them back to see, but if anyone else goes through this soon you may want to keep this in mind! Just FYI for future.

Thanks again @ksand24 @durhamlad @margo @Nan D. !!!

Thanks everyone!! STA turned me down as 12 weeks does not equal three months and they don’t do mid-trip cover. World Nomads is 6 month threshold. Insurewith said 6 months. (Is this 6 month thing new?)

The winner appears to be Direct Line who say that I show intent to be here for more than 6 months if I can show I’m registered with GP, have a lease, or a job. So, they have a new customer!

It may be the case that other companies cover with this same kind of evidence, but I did spend hours on the phone with many different companies in the last few days and none offered it, seeming perplexed at my situation. I’m not sure I have the energy to call any of them back to see, but if anyone else goes through this soon you may want to keep this in mind! Just FYI for future.

Thanks again @ksand24 @durhamlad @margo @Nan D. !!!

Good news, so pleased you managed to find someone.