New Zealand🇳🇿

The law does not require it. Travelers from visa waiver countries, including the United States, need an approved NZeTA before they board. Immigration New Zealand says to allow 72 hours for processing, and that the NZeTA lets you visit for up to 3 months at a time. No proof of insurance is asked for.

The same Immigration New Zealand guidance is direct about cost: you will need to pay for any health care or medical assistance you need, and it recommends full medical insurance for your stay. The US State Department adds that medical care is not free in New Zealand and that you will incur expenses even in a public facility.

You can compare travel medical plans on Ombrela before you travel. These plans pay for treatment and evacuation. They are not trip cancellation insurance.

The Accident Compensation Corporation runs New Zealand's no fault injury scheme. ACC says that if you are injured in an accident while visiting, you get the same cover as everyone else. That is unusual, and it leads many visitors to assume they are fully protected. They are not.

• Covered: help with the cost of treatment and rehabilitation in New Zealand for an injury caused by an accident. You may still be asked to pay part of the cost of some visits.
• Not covered: illness of any kind. Appendicitis, a heart attack, pneumonia or a stomach infection are your bill.
• Not covered: disrupted travel plans and emergency travel to get you home, in ACC's own words.
• Not covered: injuries that happen in transit to or from New Zealand, or treatment costs once you have left.

Because the scheme is no fault, New Zealand law generally bars suing for compensation for a personal injury that ACC covers. ACC itself tells visitors to buy travel insurance before they arrive.

Care in the main centres is modern and reliable. Outside them, services thin out fast. Much of the South Island and the central North Island is a long drive from a large hospital, and serious cases are flown to a city.

Visitors on temporary visas are not eligible for publicly funded care, apart from accident injuries under ACC and people covered by the reciprocal agreements with Australia and the United Kingdom, as Health New Zealand explains. The State Department notes that private hospitals often need payment upfront or proof of good insurance before they treat or admit you.

For minor illness, visitors pay the full private rate to see a general practitioner or attend an urgent care clinic. To see how costs build for a hospital stay, try the medical cost estimator.

The risks here come from the landscape and from what people do in it.

• Adventure activities. Bungy jumping, jet boating, rafting, skiing, heli skiing and mountain biking are a large part of many itineraries. ACC helps with the injury, but not with a changed flight or a medical escort home.
• Mountain and bush weather. Conditions on tracks and alpine passes change quickly in every season. The Mountain Safety Council urges walkers to check forecasts and tell someone their plans.
• Roads. You drive on the left, and many highways are narrow and winding. Journeys take longer than the map suggests.
• Earthquakes and volcanoes. New Zealand sits on an active plate boundary. GeoNet publishes current earthquake and volcanic alert information.
• Sun. Ultraviolet levels are high in summer, even on cool days.

The CDC advises being up to date on routine vaccines, including measles, and suggests most travelers consider hepatitis A. No vaccine is required to enter from the United States.

• Illness cover with a solid policy maximum. This is the gap ACC leaves. Our guide on choosing a deductible and policy maximum walks through the trade off.
• Emergency evacuation and repatriation. New Zealand is a long flight from North America and Europe. A medically escorted trip home is costly, and ACC does not pay for it.
• The activities you plan. Many travel medical plans exclude or limit skiing off marked runs, mountaineering, bungy and similar sports, or cover them only with a rider. Read how adventure sports are treated and check the policy wording.
• Existing conditions. Check how the plan handles an acute onset of a condition you already have.

None of the international plans in Ombrela's catalog, including Atlas International, Patriot International Lite, Patriot Platinum International and Safe Travels International, list New Zealand as a restricted destination. Compare plans on Ombrela side by side, and see our combined article on travel insurance for Australia and New Zealand or the Australia guide if your trip covers both.

For an emergency call 111 for ambulance, fire or police. For advice, Healthline on 0800 611 116 is free and answered by registered nurses 24 hours a day.

• Accident injury: tell the doctor or clinic it was an accident. They lodge the ACC claim for you. Then tell your insurer too, since ACC will not cover travel changes or care after you leave.
• Illness: call your plan's assistance line before a hospital admission when you can. Ask whether they can arrange payment with the hospital directly.
• Small bills: expect to pay a general practitioner or pharmacy yourself and claim later. Keep itemised receipts and clinical notes.
• Going home early: let the assistance team organise any medical transport. Arrangements made without approval are often not reimbursed.

Look up unfamiliar policy terms in the glossary before you need them.