If you are staying abroad within the European Union or in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, you are covered by health insurance via the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC). However, you only have basic insurance cover, i.e. access to medically necessary public healthcare services. If necessary, contact your insurance company to find out whether the insurance cover provided by the EHIC is sufficient for you personally. Depending on the country of destination and pre-existing conditions, additional insurance may be advisable, especially if repatriation or special medical procedures are required. Repatriation costs in the event of death are generally not included either. It is possible that the insurance cover in the destination country does not meet the minimum standards you are used to in Germany. The statutory German health insurance only covers the treatment costs incurred in Germany for any treatment. In addition, you will generally have to pay in advance if you require treatment, unless the hospital is a contract hospital of your health insurance company in Germany.

However, the European Health Insurance Card is not valid for healthcare providers in the private sector.

If you are staying abroad outside the area of validity of the European Health Insurance Card, you will need international health insurance. International health insurance is offered by various private providers. Some statutory health insurers also offer corresponding supplementary insurance policies. The range of benefits varies greatly. You should therefore inform yourself well about the various providers and the respective conditions. The cheap travel health insurance policies offered on the market with a limited period of validity are not sufficient for a stay abroad lasting several months!

Please note: Sometimes (e.g. in the USA) your host university offers its own insurance packages for students and these are compulsory for exchange students. In this way, the universities want to ensure that you have sufficient insurance cover and that students do not end up in an emergency situation. You will usually receive information on this during the registration process at the partner university.

When doing your research, be sure to also take into account pandemic clauses, travel warnings in place before departure and any repatriation regulations.

Important for interns:
If you are doing an internship abroad and are paid for it, you may have to take out health insurance directly in the destination country. Be sure to discuss your specific case with your health insurance provider and your employer. If you have to take out temporary insurance in the host country, it may make sense to temporarily switch your insurance in Germany to a qualifying period in order to obtain the same conditions on your return.

Your liability insurance must cover any damage you cause during your stay abroad - regardless of whether you are at work/at the host university or acting privately in the host country.

Different liability regulations apply in the individual countries that participate in transnational learning mobility for internships. Interns therefore run the risk of not being covered. Make sure that your liability insurance at least covers damage that you cause in the workplace. This insurance cover may be provided by your host organisation. Find out more about this here. If the national regulations of your host country do not provide for such cover, it cannot be demanded by the host organisation. You would therefore have to organise this privately. Even if the employer covers damage that you cause at work, this does not necessarily guarantee that you are covered for private damage. In this case, find out about possible supplementary insurance.

The difference between (statutory) health insurance and accident insurance is that although health insurance covers initial medical treatment in the event of an accident, it does not cover consequential damage that may result from the accident (e.g. disability). In order to be covered for consequential damage, accident insurance is essential. When taking out accident insurance, you should always make sure that it is NOT travel insurance and that the insurance covers private accidents AND those at your place of work/study during the entire period of mobility.

As an intern, you need insurance that covers damage caused by accidents at work. In many countries, employees are insured by their employer for accidents at work. However, the extent to which transnational interns are covered by the same insurance may vary between countries participating in transnational learning mobility programmes. Please check whether work accident insurance exists.
If your host organisation does not offer such cover (which cannot be required if it is not mandated by the host country's national regulations), you must ensure that you take out such insurance privately.