Short answer: For most expats living in Portugal, the realistic shortlist is two local insurers, Médis (Ageas group) and Multicare (Fidelidade), plus two international plans, Cigna Global and Allianz Care. Pick a local plan if you live here full time and want a Portuguese provider network. Pick an international plan if you split your year across countries or want cover that follows you. Only Médis publishes starting prices; the others quote by age and cover level, so get quotes at your own age. For a visa application, ask your consulate what it accepts before you buy.

Do You Need Private Health Insurance in Portugal?

Portugal’s National Health Service (SNS) is open to legal residents, including foreigners, once you register with Portugal’s SNS. Private insurance is not legally required after that, but many expats add it for faster appointments, more choice of clinics and English-speaking staff. Waits for GP appointments and specialist referrals in the public system vary a lot by region, so check local conditions where you plan to live.

The practical setup is to do both: register for the SNS and hold a private plan for day-to-day care. Private cover is a top-up for speed and comfort, not a replacement for your public entitlements.

D7 Passive Income Visa guide for readers still planning their move

Quick Comparison

ProviderWho owns itPublished priceNetwork / coverBest for
MédisAgeas group (Médis - Companhia Portuguesa de Seguros de Saúde)From €13.12/month (example: 25-year-old); family from €40.23; Vintage from €49.20 (example: 57-year-old)Portuguese provider network (Guia Médis); size not publishedFull-time residents who want a local plan
MulticareFidelidadeQuote-basedMulticare Network at agreed prices, with co-paymentsFull-time residents comparing local plans
Cigna GlobalCignaQuote-basedSilver, Gold, Platinum (annual limits $1m, $2m, no limit); “over 2 million” providersFrequent movers, worldwide cover
Allianz CareAllianzQuote-basedCare Base, Enhanced, Signature; Worldwide, Worldwide excl. USA, Europe or Africa areasEurope-wide or worldwide cover
April InternationalAprilQuote-basedMyHealth International; long-term and digital nomad plansExpats who want a flexible à la carte plan

Prices are the starting figures shown on each insurer’s own site when we checked on 3 November 2026. Network sizes for Médis and Multicare are not published on the pages we checked, so we do not quote them.

Médis and Multicare: The Local Insurers

Médis is a brand of Médis - Companhia Portuguesa de Seguros de Saúde, part of the Ageas group in Portugal. Its site lists a standard health insurance from €13.12 a month (example for a 25-year-old), a family plan from €40.23 (family with one child), a Vintage plan from €49.20 (example for a 57-year-old) and standalone dental from €10.90. These are starting prices; your quote depends on age and cover. The provider search is the Guia Médis. Médis has been expanding into its own clinics, with Ageas buying Grupo One Clinics in 2024 and agreeing to buy Esfera Saúde.

Multicare is Fidelidade’s health insurance brand: its policy documents name Fidelidade - Companhia de Seguros, S.A. as the insurer. Care is accessed through the Multicare Network at agreed prices, usually with a co-payment, and some cover works by reimbursement even in network. It sells several product lines, including Multicare 1|2|3, and prices come from an online simulator rather than a published table.

Both are built around a Portuguese network and Portuguese-language paperwork. English-language support is not documented on either site, so ask before you buy if that matters to you.

how to get a NIF number in Portugal

Cigna Global vs Allianz Care vs Local Insurers

Cigna Global sells Silver ($1,000,000 annual limit), Gold ($2,000,000) and Platinum (paid in full) plans, worldwide or worldwide excluding the USA, with private room cover. Outpatient, dental and vision are optional modules, and a Close Care plan covers your country of residence and nationality only ($500,000 limit). Cigna states a network of over 2 million providers and reimbursement within 5 working days once it has the documents. It publishes no premiums: you need a quote.

Allianz Care relaunched its individual plans in November 2025 as Care Base, Care Enhanced and Care Signature (announced for new business). Maximum plan limits are listed as about €1,000,000, €2,000,000 and €3,703,705 respectively. Maternity is covered from Enhanced up, with a 12-month waiting period; bariatric surgery has a 24-month waiting period. Outpatient and dental are optional add-ons, and areas of cover include Europe. Pricing is quote-based.

When each makes sense

  • Local plan (Médis or Multicare): you live in Portugal most of the year, want a Portuguese network and a published or simulated price, and are comfortable dealing with Portuguese-language paperwork.
  • Cigna Global or Allianz Care: you move between countries, want one policy that follows you, or want higher limits. Expect a higher premium than a domestic plan; compare quotes at your age.
  • Both: some expats keep an international policy for travel and big-ticket risk and use the SNS for everyday care.

Cigna and Allianz can underwrite individually, while April states that pre-existing conditions are not systematically covered and asks for a health questionnaire; Allianz also mentions a moratorium underwriting option. We could not verify waiting periods or pre-existing condition rules for Médis or Multicare from their public pages, so read the general conditions. Always declare your history honestly.

Alternatives: April International

April International offers MyHealth International for long-term expats (12 months or more), plus short-term and digital nomad plans. It states private hospital reimbursement, no upfront fees for hospitalisation, a 24/7 telehealth service, and medical transport and repatriation assistance. Optional optical and dental reimbursement is available. We found no current published premium for Portugal, so treat it as quote-based. For a very short stay or a nomad on the move, travel-style cover is a different product from residence-grade health insurance, so check what your visa office wants.

Which Cover Meets D7 and D8 Visa Requirements?

The official Portuguese visa portal lists, for national residence visas, “valid travel insurance, covering necessary medical expenses, including urgent medical assistance and possible repatriation”. A footnote says the requirement may be waived under a bilateral agreement, with Brazil (PB4) and the UK (S1) given as examples. That page does not mention the D7 or D8 by name, and it is not recently updated, so treat it as the baseline and confirm with your consulate or VFS centre.

Beyond that, we did not find official AIMA text on what insurance counts at the residence-permit stage. Several commercial guides say a full private health policy is expected there, and that travel insurance may not be enough. Treat that as unconfirmed. A sensible approach: buy a policy that states Portugal as the territory, covers hospital and emergency treatment, includes repatriation, and runs for the full period your consulate asks for, and keep the certificate. Allianz’s own digital nomad visa guide (June 2023) lists proof of health insurance among the documents but does not name a specific product, and we found no official statement that any particular insurer is “approved” for D7 or D8.

See the D8 digital nomad visa guide and the D7 visa guide for the full document lists.

What Does Private Health Insurance Cover?

In June 2025 the insurance regulator ASF published Circular 6/2025, a voluntary “standard conditions” health policy with four coverages: hospitalisation, outpatient care, preventive medicine and extended-cover illnesses. Insurers are not obliged to offer it, and it excludes dental care, prostheses, orthoses and medication. Press reports give reference limits of €30,000 for hospitalisation, €1,000 for outpatient care and €300,000 for extended-cover illnesses. Check whether your insurer offers it, and always read the exact limits and co-payments of the policy you are buying.

Typically included in mid-tier plans: consultations at network clinics, diagnostics, hospitalisation and surgery. Typically excluded or limited: dental (separate cover), cosmetic procedures, experimental treatments and, on some plans, maternity or chronic medication. Limits and waiting periods differ by product, so compare the policy documents rather than the marketing pages.

cost of living in Portugal for context on overall healthcare budgeting

How Much Does Health Insurance Cost in Portugal?

Cost depends mainly on age, cover level and whether you choose a local or international plan. The only starting prices we could verify from an insurer’s own site are Médis’s (above): from €13.12 a month for a 25-year-old and from €49.20 for a 57-year-old on its Vintage plan, from €40.23 for a family with one child, and from €10.90 for dental alone. Multicare, Cigna Global, Allianz Care and April quote individually, so we do not give figures for them. International plans generally cost more than domestic ones, but the gap depends on your age, area of cover and deductible, so request quotes for the same cover level from each insurer.

If you work in Portugal, your Portuguese social security (Segurança Social) contributions are separate from private insurance, so register early. For the dental side, see our breakdown of dental costs in Portugal.

Choosing a Plan Before You Move

Start with the visa: ask your consulate what insurance it accepts. Then compare quotes from one local insurer (Médis or Multicare) and one international insurer (Cigna Global, Allianz Care or April) at your age and with the same deductible. After arrival, get your número de utente: see how to register with Portugal’s SNS. full cost of living breakdown for Northern Portugal

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