If a country has national health insurance, could a legal resident not be covered?

Factual Questions
1

(Germany specifically, wrt to foreigners on longterm job assignments.)

My stepdaughter recently finished her master’s degree and has a job teaching English in Berlin. As such, she is a legal resident (has her Aufenthaltserlaubnis), and so on. But the job is scheduled to last for a couple of years and as far as I know she has no intention of becoming a permanent resident.

So if she gets sick, she’s covered, right? Just as if she were a native?

And as a related question, how does health insurance work for Americans traveling abroad? Does their coverage stop when they leave the country? Or, if they have to go to a foreign doctor or hospital, can the foreign provider simply bill the American insurance company?

2

If she is legally employed in Germany, earns less than a specified minimum income (currently €42,250 a year) and does not belong to one of the groups that are excepted from this obligation (e.g. lifetime government officials), she ought to be insured in the mandatory national health insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung in German) anyway. The premiums are deducted by the employer and forwarded directly to the respective insurer (there’s free choice between them) very much similar to the taxes on the salary.

The insurers issue smart cards in the standard credit card format which the doctors and hospitals use to manage their accounts with the insurers. Ask her if she has one of those; if yes, she’s very probably covered.

In any case, the mandatory health insurance is based upon legal employment, not on nationality.

3

Not sure about other countries but ‘essential and immediate’ medical attention (e.g. following an accident) is free in the UK. Longer term healthcare needs to be paid for. No idea if your insurance would cover it.

4

[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus
And as a related question, how does health insurance work for Americans traveling abroad? Does their coverage stop when they leave the country? Or, if they have to go to a foreign doctor or hospital, can the foreign provider simply bill the American insurance company?[/QUOTE]

This answer will vary widely according to the insurance provider. Every policy I’ve had will cover urgent care abroad, but on a reimbursement basis. I’ve never had to deal with the logistics, knock wood.