Your guide to visitor health insurance
| Q. | Why should you buy visitor insurance? |
| A. | Medical care in USA is extremely costly. Traveling abroad without a medical insurance could be very expensive in case of any illness, accident, or any other health-related problem. Taking insurance can protect you from high expenses. Those who are familiar with USA medicare system, can understand the importance of medical insurance in this country. |
| Q. | Which visitor insurance plan should you buy? |
| A. |
The biggest problem facing somebody shopping for visitor insurance is that he/she doesn’t know where to start, which insurance is good, what is covered, what is the fine print, how does the claims process work, etc. There are so many insurance companies with insurance plans having different features. Which one should you choose?
Visitor’s medical insurance plans are not the same as your regular health insurance plans provided by your employer, where the only expense you owe is your co- payment ($10 or $20). So you should not assume that just because you bought visitor medical insurance, you won't be paying any amount in case of health-related problems. Visitor medical and travel insurance plans are only a way to prevent you from major medical expenses. You can treat them as similar to your auto insurance where you have deductible and coverage defined. |
| Q. | What is covered by visitor insurance plans? |
| A. | Following are examples of what is typically covered by visitor medical insurance plans: Doctors Visit, Emergency visit, Medicine/Pharmacy, Nursing charges, Surgery, Radiology, Investigatory tests, etc. Read the individual insurance plan brochures for what's covered. |
| Q. | Is there any insurance plan that covers everything? |
| A. | No. As medical related problems are unpredictable, one cannot know beforehand what sort of problem one might face in near future. So you can never be 100% sure on what kind of coverage is suited well as per your requirements.
Each plan has its advantages and disadvantages. Insurance plans are configured by the insurer in manner that they are in equilibrium with each other. For example, if one insurance policy has good amount of coverage then either it will have more deductible or more expensive. Or if one plan is has less premium or has less deductible or co-insurance then it will have limited coverage. |
