Visitors health insurance?

[MKKShah]

My parents (not US Citizens) live overseas. They are going to be visiting us for a few months (upto 6 months or so). They are 60 yrs old. Fairly healthy.

Now, I was shopping online for visitors health insurance online, and they run (for a deductible of $250, max coverage of $200,000K, with no per incident maximum) about $1000 per person for a 6 month period.

The insurance does not cover pre-existing conditions (in fact, none of the visitors health insurance plans cover pre existing conditions). So heart attacks or stroke type emergency health scenarios are not covered. The insurance will cover just simple things like them falling down and getting hurt, any type of infectious disease, or auto accident related hospitalization charges.

Is such an insurance worth it? That too at $1000 per person for 6 months? Would you do it if you were in my shoes?

[edg126]

It's probably that high because the deductable is so low. I'd try and find a crazy high deductable insurance, like $2500. I'm not sure exactly how it's different between US vs non-US citizen but I bought catastrophic insurance last year to cover 3 months when I didn't have insurance and paid $62 a month through aetna. I probably picked 2500 or 5000 as the deductable. I think for $70 or $80 it allowed for 5 free doctors visits over the course of a certain time period, but I've been with my physician forever and we were able to work out our own deal.


I always buy heath + emergency evacuation insurance for when I'm traveling.

[BuckyBadger]

I would try it from the other end. It might be easier for them to look for "travelers" insurance than for you to look for "visitors" insurance.

I don't know for sure, but it seems like that would be more common and therefore cheaper, since more people are responsible for their own travel than other people are responsible for visitors.

[MKKShah]

Thanks BuckyBadger. I looked at travel insurance and they are all useless. Most have a pathetically low fixed per incident maximum. I am reconciling to the fact that visitors to the USA cannot expect health insurance coverage at any reasonable cost.

My only answer is prayer. Pray to god that nothing happens.

[snafu]

Most visitors can buy travel insurance as a rider to their existing medical insurance but it is woefully inadequate in the USA which is likely the most expensive for medical care/treatment. Most Americans seem unaware that the repetition of expensive lab/x-ray/tests have more to do with protecting the provider from litigation than for patient care.