Health

ACS Expat is a low-cost worldwide health plan that pays hospital stays in full and, once you’re accepted, renews for life. The catch: you must join before 65, and on its own it covers almost nothing outside hospital.

ACS is a Paris insurance broker that has sold cover to travellers and expats for over 40 years, and ACS Expat is its plan for people living abroad. You pick one of four hospital plans, from Bronze up to Platinum, and can add doctor visits, dental and maternity on top. You pay in euros or US dollars, and claims in Thailand go through an office in Bangkok.

Its big selling point is price. When we checked in 2026, a 40-year-old could get US$2 million of hospital cover for under US$1,000 a year, and once you’re in, ACS can’t drop you as you get older.

The trade-offs are real, though. The cheaper plans cap what they pay for your room each night, the cheapest plan can’t add any extras, and the list of excluded activities is long. Scuba diving, Muay Thai and riding a motorbike without a helmet are all on it.

Below I go through each plan in plain terms: what it pays, what you pay yourself, what’s excluded and roughly what it costs. Every figure comes from ACS’s own table of benefits and policy booklet. If you’re already 65 or need insurance for a retirement visa, ACS Expat won’t work for you, and I cover better options for both near the end.

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April MyHealth International is a worldwide expat health plan that pays cancer care, transplants and evacuation in full. The catch in Thailand: you must be 60 or under to join.

April International is a French expat insurer, and MyHealth International is its main worldwide plan. You pick one of four plans, from the budget Explore up to the top-end Elite, then add extras like doctor visits, dental or maternity if you want them. You pay in euros or US dollars, and the cover follows you wherever you live or travel.

On paper it’s strong. Even the cheapest plan pays cancer treatment, organ transplants, dialysis and medical evacuation in full, which are the bills that can wipe out your savings. But there are two more catches for people in Thailand. On the two cheaper plans, a planned stay at Bumrungrad, Bangkok Hospital and six other top private hospitals is only 60% paid. And if you go into hospital without asking April first, it pays only half.

In this review I go through each plan in plain terms: what it pays, which Thai hospitals it pays in full, what’s excluded and roughly what it costs. Every figure comes from April’s own benefits table, policy conditions and hospital list, and I’ve added what April customers report on Reddit about claims and price rises.

I also cover April’s other plan for Thailand, MyHEALTH Thailand. It’s priced in baht and takes new members up to 65, so it’s worth a look if you’re over 60 or would rather pay in local currency.

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