Medical insurance in Mauritius

I have just asked for a quote from MUA for a hospital plan with a large excess for a 66 and 69 year old. I would expect to get the quote over the next day or so. International plans seems to be very expensive about four times the cost of Discovery.

Hello everyone,

Everything is more expensive now. There's a new 5% tax on all insurance (medical, housing, vehicle etc) applicable as at January 2027. Please consider this when buying.

https://newsmoris.com/new-5-insurance-t … uary-2027/

@karibi

Hi, yes, I found that too. Expensive medical insurance will probably present the biggest obstacle to my relocating.

I'm 65 yrs old and dont even need medical insurance in RSA.

I am 67. However you do have access to the public hospitals, and I have heard some good reports. Out of hospital services are reasonable. We are currently deciding on whether to take out some local insurance for in hospital care or just pay as you go.

@karibi

Good day, thanks for this report.

Government hospitals are really not as bad as they are made out to be.

Doctors consultation fees too are reasonable unless you go to one of the big corporate hospitals.

Most of the surgeons/doctors working in the corporate hospitals also work in the govt hospitals.

I will look very carefully at the cost of insurance and what is actually covered as compared to one-off costs for certain conditions.

Best wishes.

@Tookays

Hi, thanks. If I were to apply for a Premium Visa, medical insurance is a prerequisite.

My intention initially was to apply for a retirement visa, so that option is still available to me.

I now have a proposal for medical insurance for a 66 and 69 year old from MUA. The proposal covers a number of options but monthly costs for two people range from Rs7K to Rs18K. The proposal is a PDF so I can't readily post it. However if anybody wishes to PM me with an email address then I will forward it. Currently I am trying to get a more detailed description of the coverage.

@karibi

Any answer on that health insurance quote?    Are you in Mauritius?

Isn't there combined travel n health insurance?

@sharmaritachetty

Isn't the prerequisite said as health/travel insurance?   So shouldn't we have it include travel insurance?    Any expat there in Mauritius have this insurance?

The policy is with MUA and is called excellence-senior and has a number of possible levels of insurance. I thought the higher levels offered better value. It covered both in hospital and out of hospital events with obvious limits. Out of hospital events included family GP visits, dental, heath screening and opticians. These all had small associated co-payments. When I reviewed the payments I thought I would recover about 50% of the payments just in routine out of hospital expenses.

For the hospital benefits they would cover accidents from day 1, many procedures had a waiting of 6 months before cover would start and there were some procedures that had a 2 year waiting period. You need to be country to start the policy as you need a medical examination by a local doctor.

They will not cover pre-existing conditions.

The policy did have an element to cover medical costs when travelling abroad, although they were poorly defined

This policy is designed for residents and is not travel insurance. If you have travel insurance and you make a claim they will likely ask for evidence of an outward and inward airline ticket. Thus it is not suitable for those who live here on a permanent or semi permanent basis.

@jewel niles

Good morning, I'm not in Mauritius but intending to relocate once my property in RSA has been sold. I checked the websites of various insurers mainly for medical insurance but they were far to expensive.

@sharmaritachetty

Public hospitals in Mauritius are generally very good and my in-laws decided to pay medical expenses in Mauritius out of pocket. Sadly this turned out to be very expensive when they needed to then get specialised care in South Africa due to very advanced cancer. If only they'd been insured!  My mother-in-law now got a hospital plan in South Africa which covers her in Mauritius. This is cheaper than getting a Mauritius insurance locally. Worth looking into for you?

@karibi

Thanks for this valuable information. What's the full name of the insurer so that I can request a quote, in due course?

@karibi

PS the only visas available to me are for non-resident status. Does the info you supplied only apply to residents?

@karibi

How much is that insurance plan?

@jewel niles

They had a variety of levels but the top one was Rs18K per month - This was for two people aged 66 and 69. The annual hospital benefit was capped at Rs3M and the day to day was capped at Rs60K, there were some sub-limits within that. The limits are per person.

@sharmaritachetty, I looked at the proposal form and there is nothing to suggest that it is not available to non-residents, they ask for your Mauritian or passport. I have sent you a message with their contact details as I don't want to be caught advertising etc.

@karibi

Can message me that info too...

@Tookays

Are you living in Mauritius right now?

@jewel niles.

Message sent with contact details.

Cost of International medical Insurance

I have just received 8 quotes for medical insurance for an 'average' 67 year old male and a 70 year old female. Not cheap. However if anybody wants a copy of the quote for reference then send me a PM with your email address and I will forward it. Unfortunately it is a PDF so can't readily copy and paste it.

Hi @sharmaritachetty

take a look at MUA, Swan, Allianz and Cigna Healthcare, but I doubt whether there are any that reimburse unused benefits.

(If over 50 then MUA and Cigna may provide a slightly less expensive plan tailored to you).

Scenario 1:

If you have a lot of Capital to be able to cover a costly hospitalisation event, maybe better to put that capital into a growing investment like ETF’s or similar and keep about 10% “liquid” in an Emergency Fund - then withdraw from your own fund when necessary - not a financial advisor so don’t quote me on this.

Scenario 2:

If you do not have enough capital, then you are on the correct path, looking for a basic medical insurance just to cover large hospitalisation events if and when they happen, and cover the other (Doctor, Dentist, Chemist) in cash out of pocket. There is nothing like the Medical Aid funds that we know, although if you register for  Discovery Health “international travel benefit” or Bestmed Assist before departing to Mauritius, then they usually cover you for 3 months at a time while in Mauritius.

Scenario 3:

in case you travel to Europe as well as Mauritius, consider a Schengen Medical insurance policy - search for Insurte / Mutuaide

Does not cover Everything in Mauritius but you are going to need this anyway if you require a Schengen Visa. Insurte / Mutuaide can be taken just for your period of travel to Europe, or for the whole year (which works out cheaper pro rata). Look at about MUR 80 000 per couple for a full  year.

Thanks

It appears that Discovery has teamed up with Eagle

"Eagle Insurance, one of Mauritius’ leading General insurers, has announced a strategic partnership with Discovery Health to introduce a new International Private Medical Insurance solution for people living in Mauritius."

There are two policies:

(a) Africa Roaming Plan: Cover across Africa, Reunion Island and India, with an overall annual plan limit of USD 1 million per insured person per year.

(b) Worldwide Plan: International cover (excluding the United States, Canada, Singapore and Japan) with an overall annual plan limit of USD 3 million per insured person per year.

Currently trying to get a  quote.

The following are for 2 people (66 and 69) with Eagle and Discovery, paid monthly:

Africa Roaming Hospital & Evac - USD 985.49

Worldwide Hospital & Evac - USD1,182.58

Africa Roaming - USD 1,094.98

Worldwide - USD 1,313.98

There is 5% discount if paid annually up front.

Worldwide includes $3M USD limit else $1M USD

Outpatient and Chronic not covered in Evac plans.

@karibi

Almost 1000USD per month or more? That sounds a lot!! Half a million rupees per year?

Best wishes

@Tookays

MUA offers much reduced cover at about 30% of the cost. For most people it is a more cost effective solution unless you value evacuation cover or cover outside of Mauritius.