Tunisia Health Insurance for Expats

International Health Insurance for Expats in Tunisia

Expats in Tunisia will want comprehensive international health insurance plans that meet their budget range and unique healthcare needs. Beyond basic medical coverage, expats can also add benefits like dental, vision, or maternity coverage to extend these benefits to their families as well.

This guide by Pacific Prime will discuss health insurance in Tunisia, as well as the country’s healthcare system and general safety and well-being tips for expats.

Recommended International Health Insurance Plans for Expatriates Living in Tunisia

The Healthcare System in Tunisia

Tunisia’s healthcare system consists of the public and private systems. The public system is tax-funded and allows access to public healthcare but at the cost of limitations like medical staff shortage or long waiting times while private healthcare has greater benefits despite the higher cost.

In the following sections, we will be discussing public and private hospitals in Tunisia.

Public Hospitals in Tunisia

Tunisia’s public healthcare is funded by taxation overseen by the Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie, allowing the population to access basic healthcare through health centers providing primary care, regional and district hospitals, and university hospitals.

While allowing access to basic healthcare, public hospitals in Tunisia are unfortunately understaffed and lack up-to-date medical equipment. To make matters worse, facilities may also be crowded, which then results in long waiting times.

Additionally, due to Tunisia’s main spoken language being Arabic and the understaffed facilities, the language barrier issue may be incredibly problematic for expats in particular.

Because of the severe limitations of public hospitals in Tunisia, expats tend to opt out in favor of their private counterparts, which brings us to our next point.

Private Hospitals in Tunisia

Despite the much higher cost, private hospitals make up for their public counterpart’s shortcomings by offering a greater quality of care with more medical staff and modern medical equipment along with much shorter waiting times, allowing expats to access treatment in a timely manner.

What’s more, private hospitals in Tunisia also feature more multilingual medical staff, meaning expats can not only access quality treatment but also have a much easier time communicating with and understanding what the doctors and nurses are saying.

Below are some examples of notable private hospitals and clinics in Tunisia:

• Polyclinique Hammamet: This private facility features English-speaking medical staff in addition to speaking French and Arabic as well as multiple medical specialties such as intensive care, radiology, maternity care, and more.
• Clinique les Oliviers: This private facility features multilingual medical staff as well as a multitude of areas of medical care such as rehabilitation, resuscitation & intensive care, medical imaging, and more.

Health Insurance Options for Expats in Tunisia

When it comes to health insurance options for expats in Tunisia, expats can either choose the country’s default public health insurance system or secure their own private health insurance plan.

The public health insurance system covers basic healthcare in public hospitals, though said hospitals may have some, if not all of the limitations mentioned above. On the other hand, private health insurance is a preferred alternative among expats due to various benefits.

Below we will be discussing the public and private health insurance options in Tunisia for expats.

Public Health Insurance in Tunisia

Tunisia’s public health insurance scheme covers the insured along with their dependents such as spouses and children who lack medical coverage.

To qualify for sickness and maternity insurance benefits, the insured must have worked for a minimum of 50 days during the previous two quarters or a minimum of 80 days in the last four quarters.

While allowing access to public hospitals, these particular facilities may have some limitations like crowded facilities resulting in longer waiting times, lack of medical staff, shortage of up-to-date medical equipment, and possibly language barrier issues.

Due to these common drawbacks of public hospitals, expats tend to forego Tunisia’s default public health insurance scheme in favor of securing their own private health insurance plan, which then brings us to our next point.

Private Health Insurance in Tunisia

Despite the much higher cost, expats generally prefer carrying private health insurance in Tunisia over the country’s public health insurance scheme. This can be seen in its various benefits like free hospital and specialist selection, which we will discuss below:

• Free Selection: Private health insurance will allow expats to freely choose any specific hospital or doctor as they would like. This may also include hospitals with superior amenities and shorter waiting times or multilingual medical staff, which brings us to our next few points.
• Access to Hospitals with Better Amenities: Expats can choose specific hospitals, which may include those with better hospitals such as larger, more spacious wards. This would be especially useful for expats expecting a child or hospitalized patients.
• Access to Hospitals with Shorter Waiting Times: Expats can then access private hospitals that are much less crowded than their public counterparts, which also means much shorter waiting times and allows them to get the treatment they need in a timely manner.
• Access to Multilingual Medical Staff: Expats, through the free selection feature under private health insurance, can select hospitals with multilingual medical staff. This will allow non-Arabic-speaking expats to communicate much more easily with doctors.
• Additional Benefits as Needed: Expats also have the option to further maximize and extend their coverage to their family by adding benefits such as dental, maternity, and vision care.

Because of the common drawbacks of public hospitals and clinics in Tunisia, expats are strongly urged to secure their own international health insurance plan.

Let’s say you happen to live in areas where hospitals are subpar in quality, you can then call for a medical evacuation to get you to a better hospital abroad. If your plan covers medical evacuation, you won’t have to pay out-of-pocket for transportation regardless of the destination.

Recommended International Health Insurance Plans for Expats in Tunisia

Some notable international health insurance providers recommended for expats in Tunisia include AXA, Geoblue, and more. In the following sections, we will briefly discuss each of these key insurers and give a quick rundown of their shared benefits.

Geoblue

Geoblue’s health insurance plan is known as the Xplorer plan and comes in two types: essential and premier. These plans are designed for expats traveling from the United States for business, studying, or leisure purposes.

Expats also have the option to choose between worldwide coverage options with or without the US. Some of the shared features seen throughout Geoblue’s various health insurance plans are as follows:

Cigna Global

Cigna Global’s health insurance plans are both customizable and comprehensive, giving expats maximum flexibility as well as access to a 24/7 customer service ready to address their issues if needed. Listed below are the types of plans available from Cigna Global:

• Silver
• Gold
• Platinum

Each plan has its own unique coverage limits and benefits. Below are common benefits shared throughout Cigna Global’s health insurance plans:

April International

April International’s various health insurance plans are uniquely crafted expats, featuring options for hospitalization, outpatient services, dental, and maternity coverage. They also offer a 24/7 telemedicine service, user-friendly mobile claims and support, and a large direct billing network.

Key examples of the shared areas of coverage seen throughout their plans are as follows:

Factors to Consider When Securing Insurance in Tunisia

Expats looking to secure health insurance in Tunisia should consider some important factors, including Tunisia’s subpar quality of public hospitals as well as general health insurance-related factors such as foregoing price-based biased decisions in favor of comprehensiveness.

Below are factors to consider for expats securing health insurance in Tunisia:

• Tunisia’s Subpar Public Hospitals: Unfortunately, public hospitals in Tunisia are subpar in quality. This can be seen in its understaffed facilities, lacking modern medical equipment, crowded facilities resulting in long waiting times, and possibly language barrier issues for expats.
• Never Decide Based on Price: When deciding on any health insurance plan, never make any decision solely based on the price. This is because the cheapest plan won’t actually guarantee comprehensive coverage and leave you with odd gaps of uninsured areas.
• Put Comprehensiveness First: Instead, shift your focus to deciding based on plan and benefit comprehensiveness. Take your time to define your unique healthcare priorities as this will allow you to make informed decisions on which benefits you want to add to your plans.

Health and Safety Tips for Expats in Tunisia

Expats in Tunisia will want to be mindful of crimes such as theft and kidnapping. Additionally, routine vaccine updates like COVID-19 or influenza as well as backup vaccines for diseases such as Hepatitis, Typhoid, and Rabies are strongly recommended.

Below are safety tips for expats in Tunisia:

• Theft: Don’t leave your items unattended to not leave them vulnerable from people who may steal them. Also, don’t carry too many valuables, large sums of cash, or documents. Instead, keep them locked away at home or at your hotel.
• Kidnapping: There is also a risk of kidnapping in border regions of Tunisia. Parents should accompany their young children everywhere as often as possible and never leave them unattended as doing so will then leave them vulnerable to kidnappers.

Vaccine Recommendations for Expats in Tunisia

According to the CDC, beyond routine vaccine updates like COVID-19 or influenza jabs, expats are strongly urged to take additional vaccines like rabies, Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, and more. Starting off, listed below are recommended routine vaccine updates for expats in Tunisia:

• COVID-19
• Influenza
• Chickenpox
• TDAP (Tetanus, Diphtheria, and Pertussis)
• MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella)
• Shingles
• Polio

Now that you know which routine vaccinations you should be up to date on, let’s now move on to additional vaccines strongly recommended for expats in Tunisia, which we’ve listed below:

• Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B
• Measles
• Rabies
• Typhoid

For more information on recommended vaccine doses and other diseases to be mindful of, please click the link below for further reading.

Tunisia - Traveler view | Travelers' Health | CDC

Emergency Numbers for Expats in Tunisia

In the face of an emergency, there are various emergency numbers available for use in Tunisia. Below are emergency numbers in Tunisia for expats so they can reach out to relevant services immediately in case of an emergency:

• Ambulance: 190
• Police: 197
• Fire Department: 198
• Tunisian Department of Tourism: 341 077

Frequently Asked Questions

Is healthcare in Tunisia good?

Tunisia’s healthcare system, despite being one of Africa’s most developed and its quality comparable to that of many European countries, has large disparities between urban and rural areas as well as between public and private healthcare.

What does Tunisia’s public medical system look like?

Tunisia’s public healthcare system is tax-funded and overseen by the Caisse Nationale d’Assurance Maladie, providing healthcare for the population. The public healthcare system encompasses health centers providing primary care, regional and district hospitals, as well as university hospitals.

Is healthcare in Tunisia free?

Tunisia does not have free healthcare for expats. Any and all doctors’ fees, including medication and treatment in private facilities (which can be high), must be paid on the spot (or before treatment in some cases). However, you can spare yourself out-of-pocket payments with health insurance.

Conclusion

Because the default public healthcare system in Tunisia is known for its subpar quality with excessively long waiting times and shortage of medical staff, international health insurance is not only recommended but strongly urged for expats.

This is because, beyond basic medical coverage you don’t have to pay out of pocket for specific procedures or areas of treatment if you need to get sent to a better hospital overseas, you can take advantage of the medical evacuation coverage to keep your finances safe from these expenses.

And this is where Pacific Prime and our brokers with over 20 years of experience come in. We can help you select health insurance plans that align with your budget and healthcare needs to ensure maximum coverage for yourself that you can also extend to your family with the right benefits.