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FAQ - Coverage and benefits in visitor insurance
Q:
Can I purchase a plan that would cover pregnancy also?
A:
There are some plans that would cover pregnancy after certain
months after buying it.
e.g., Global Medical Insurance from IMG covers
pregnancy up to $5,000 after 1 year of continuous coverage ($2,500 after 10 months of coverage).
Citizen Secure from Multinational Underwriters
provides 50% coverage up to $100,000 per pregnancy ($250,000 life time coverage) after 1 year of continuous coverage.
Inbound Immigrant covers pregnancy up to $2,500 if conception
occurs at least 90 days after the effective date of the policy.
Q:
Medical facilities in USA are excellent and now that
my parents have come to USA, I would like them go through
routine physicals to get their entire bodies checked and also
get mammogram, pap smear, etc. done for my mother now that
I have bought the health insurance for them. Would that be covered?
A:
No. Routine physicals and preventive care are NOT covered.
Q:
What is per incident deductible, per visit deductible, per policy period deductible and
annual deductible?
A:
Per incident deductible: Every time you get a new sickness or injury for covered
medical expenses, you have to first pay the deductible before insurance company
starts paying anything.
e.g., Inbound USA and Inbound Immigrant from Seven Corners have deductible per incident.
Per visit deductible: Every time you visit a provider(doctor, hospital, lab or any other
medical facility), you will have to pay the deductible before insurance company starts paying
anything for the covered medical expenses.
Per policy period deductible: You have to pay the deductible only once during the entire policy
period, no matter how many times you get sick or injured during the policy period.
e.g., Visitors Care from IMG has per policy period deductible.
If you initially bought insurance for 3 months with $50
deductible
and then you renew for another 2 months, in case you get sick or injured for covered medical
expense, you will have to pay the deductible once in the first 3 months, and if you again got sick
in 4th or 5th month, you will have to pay deductible once again during those 2 months.
Annual deductible: No matter how many times you get sick or injured during an entire year for
covered medical expenses, you have to pay the deductible only once in a year.
e.g.; Protection America from IMG has annual deductible. It is renewable
plan for durations as little
as 5 days.
If you take $100 deductible, and renew the plan on monthly basis, you have to pay deductible
of $100 once during the year. This is the best type of deductible.
No matter which type of deductible it is, you have to pay that first before insurance company
starts covering anything. This is somewhat similar to car insurance. In regular domestic insurance
that you may have through your employer, whenever you visit a doctor, you pay co-pay and deductible
is only for major things like hospitalization, surgery etc. Short term plans such as visitors insurance
work differently.
Q:
I see that after I pay the deductible,
I still have to pay 20% of the medical expenses up to
$5,000 in many plans, that is up to $1,000 out of my pocket if the
expenses are more than $5000. Is there any insurance
that would cover me 100%, if I get sick?
A:
No. Plans in which you pay $5 or $10 co-pay
and then the rest is covered by insurance every time you
visit the doctor, are usually offered by regular
domestic insurance companies and that through employers to
their employees who are working in US on
permanent(long-term) basis, such as US citizens,
green card holders and H-1B/L1 visa holders etc.
These kind of plans are not offered in case of
visitor medical insurance. (That kind of insurance
can easily cost the employer big amount like
$600-$700 per month per employee.) Such insurance plans
are not available to visitors.
Q:
Visitors Care from IMG
and
Inbound USA from Seven Corners
mentions that for emergency room visit, it will
pay up to $330 max for $50,000 coverage. It also says it will pay
up to $100/sickness in Inbound USA
up to $250 per policy period in Visitors Care for
prescription drugs and up to $55 for physician visit. If I visit
emergency room, the hospital provides the service through attending
physician and I also get some medicines and/or injections in the
hospital, and the hospital bill is $550 for emergency room, $130 for
physician and $120 for medicines. How much will the insurance company
pay and how much will I have to pay?
A:
When you visit the emergency room, insurance company will pay up to $330 max for all the services performed in emergency room including attending
physician services, medicines, injections, x-rays, labs or any other charges
in the emergency room, even if you get an itemized bill describing
separate charges for emergency room, attending physician and medicines. Hence,
in this case, insurance company will pay maximum $330 and you will have to pay
the difference of $500. ($550 + $130 + $120 - $330.)
Please note that insurance company will pay up to $55 for physician's visit
if you visited the physician in his/her office. It will pay
up to $100/sickness in Inbound USA
up to $250 per policy period in Visitors Care for
prescription drugs,
if you came out with the prescription in your hand either in
the emergency room or during physician's office visit and got the prescription
filled at the pharmacy such as CVS, Rite Aid etc.
Important disclaimer: Please
note that we have tried to answer the questions to
the best of our knowledge. We make no guarantee of
the accuracy of these answers, as actual answers may
change from time to time as insurance companies
change their policies or because of any other reason.
We will not be liable in any case, for any problem
arising out of reading these questions and answers.
Please use this information at your own risk.
This web page is provided by BuyAmericanInsurance.comSM Please deal issues regarding insurance directly
with them.
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