Now Health International WorldCare health insurance: plans, cost and claims

A plain-English guide to Now Health International's WorldCare plans: the four cover levels, what's included, how the price levers work, where its price landed in a real whole-market run, how to claim, and the pros and cons.

WorldCare is Now Health International's flagship international private medical insurance for globally mobile individuals and families. It comes in four levels, from hospital-only cover to a top plan that adds routine dental and maternity, and every level offers the same set of deductible and co-insurance options to bring the premium down. Now Health also sells SimpleCare, a lower-cost plan built around cover close to home — worth knowing, because the two sit at opposite ends of the price range.

Plans & cover levels

The four plans step up in both benefit limits and what's included. The headline number is the annual maximum plan limit (the most the plan pays per person, per year):

Limits and inclusions from Now Health International's WorldCare plan pages. Exact benefit sub-limits are in the plan's Table of Benefits, and can differ by the territory the plan is issued in.

What's covered

In-patient and day-patient treatment is the core of every level. From there the ladder adds:

• Out-patient care — consultations, diagnostics, physiotherapy and alternative therapies (Advance and above; a limited option on Essential).
• Dental — routine and complex dental treatment on Excel and Apex, after a nine-month waiting period.
• Maternity — routine maternity on Apex, after a twelve-month waiting period.
• Wellness, optical and vaccinations — optional module on Advance and above.
• Extended evacuation and repatriation — listed as an option on every level.
• Menopause hormone replacement therapy — listed on all four levels.

Cost controls — how to lower the premium

Every WorldCare level offers the same three levers:

• Annual deductible on in-patient and day-patient treatment — a wide range of options up to US$15,000 for people who want the lowest possible premium.
• Out-patient per-visit excess — US$15 or US$25 per visit (Advance and above).
• Out-patient co-insurance — you pay 10% or 20% of each out-patient bill.

A high deductible is the biggest single saving, but it only makes sense if you can comfortably absorb that amount in a bad year. The excess and co-insurance options trim the premium more gently.

How much does Now Health WorldCare cost? Where the price landed in a real market run

IPMIcompare's pricing engines return live quotes from insurers in parallel, so we can say where a plan sits rather than guess. In the run behind our August 2026 market spread — one applicant profile, identical inputs, 17 international insurers on the same day — the annual premiums ranged from US$2,246 to US$7,321. In that run:

• Now Health WorldCare returned US$5,756 — 14th of 17, in the upper third of the market.
• Now Health SimpleCare returned US$2,515 — 2nd cheapest of 17.

That gap is the point: the same insurer sits near both ends of the market depending on the product, and a WorldCare quote is a premium-tier price for premium-tier limits. Whether that's the right trade for you depends on the cover you'd actually use — which is exactly what a whole-market ranking shows you. (Source: IPMIcompare pricing engines, live insurer quotes, 15 August 2026. One profile; your price will differ.)

Underwriting & pre-existing conditions

"Underwriting" is how the insurer decides what to cover given your medical history. The terms you'll see across the market:

FMU — Full Medical Underwriting

You declare your history when you apply. The insurer reviews it and tells you upfront exactly what's covered, excluded or charged extra — so you have certainty from day one.

Moratorium (Mori)

You don't declare your history upfront. Conditions you had or were treated for in a recent look-back period are excluded — and can become covered once you've gone a continuous stretch (commonly two years) symptom- and treatment-free.

CPME — Continued Personal Medical Exclusions

When switching insurer, your existing personal exclusions are carried across as-is — no fresh underwriting of new conditions, but the exclusions you already had continue.

CTT — Continued / Transfer Terms

Moving from a previous plan onto broadly equivalent terms, often without re-underwriting, so you don't lose cover for conditions that were already accepted.

For Now Health specifically:

• Every individual plan is fully medically underwritten. Now Health asks detailed medical-history questions once, at application, and states that you then know exactly what you're covered for. There is no moratorium option for individuals.
• If you're switching from another insurer, Now Health may offer continuous transfer terms or continued personal medical exclusions — carrying across the terms or exclusions your current insurer gave you.
• Company plans with fewer than 10 employees are underwritten the same way; 10 or more may be offered on a medical-history-disregarded basis.
• Now Health's service promise is to respond to an application that needs underwriting within two working days.

Service, claims & extras

• Who insures the plan: Now Health International administers WorldCare; the risk carrier depends on where the plan is issued — for example Best Doctors Insurance Limited (Bermuda) for most rest-of-world plans, Starr in the UK and Europe, AXA General Insurance in Hong Kong, Sompo in Singapore and Indonesia, and Arabia Insurance in the UAE. It's worth checking which carrier applies to you.
• Claims: Now Health commits to processing eligible pay-and-claim reimbursements within five working days, and to placing guarantees of payment with hospitals for in-patient treatment within five working days, so you don't pay upfront.
• Digital tools: plan documents, claims submission and claim tracking through the online portfolio and smartphone app; provider search built in.
• Support: 24/7, 365-day customer service by phone, online chat and WhatsApp, with a one-working-day response promise on enquiries.
• Extras: a second medical opinion service, a global concierge service for treatment abroad (appointments, guarantees of payment, medical-visa support), and a member assistance programme for confidential counselling.

How to claim with Now Health

From Now Health's How to claim page (checked 17 Oct 2026):

1. Hospital treatment: before an in-patient or day-patient admission, contact Now Health to request pre-authorisation. It then places a guarantee of payment with the provider, so you do not pay and claim back.
2. Direct billing: if you used the out-patient direct billing network, or a guarantee of payment was placed, there is nothing more to do.
3. If you paid yourself: submit the claim in the "My Claims" area of your secure online portfolio or in the Now Health app, attaching receipts and any diagnostic reports, and track its status there.
4. By claim form (membership numbers starting AP, ME, EU, GL, EX, UK, SG, ID or BN): for out-patient claims, and in- or day-patient claims under USD 500 / EUR 400 / GBP 300 / SGD 650, complete the front of the form and email it with your scanned receipt; above that, your doctor completes the back as well. Members with numbers starting CH follow a separate process with an RMB 3,000 threshold.
5. Timing: Now Health says it aims to process eligible claims within five working days of receiving everything it needs.

Now Health WorldCare pros and cons

Drawn from the facts on this page. A summary of published terms and one dated price run, not a rating.

Who Now Health WorldCare suits

A strong fit if you want high annual limits with a clear four-step ladder, you value fast published service standards (claims, pre-authorisation, underwriting turnaround), and you're comfortable with full medical underwriting — or you're transferring from another insurer with terms you'd like carried across.

Worth comparing alternatives if price is the main driver (in our August run WorldCare sat in the upper third; Now Health's own SimpleCare was near the bottom), you'd prefer a moratorium underwriting option, or you need dental or maternity cover sooner than the nine- and twelve-month waits allow. Comparing the market shows you Now Health alongside the rest, on price and terms. For the lower-cost plan, read the Now Health SimpleCare guide; for a premium alternative with an 18-month maternity wait, the Bupa Global health insurance guide; and for six other insurers on 14 terms, the international health insurance feature matrix.

Frequently asked questions

This page is general information, not personal or medical advice, and is based on Now Health International's published WorldCare plan information and underwriting statement — exact terms, limits and underwriting are confirmed by the insurer at quote. Prices are indicative. Now Health International and WorldCare are trademarks of their respective owners.