Hello,

I am planning to have my parents in India visit me here in the US. Planned duration of stay will be mostlikely 3-4 months.
Some questions regarding the same on how to shop for the same:
(1) What companies offer such health coverage in the US?
(2) How to avoid pre-existing conditions clause?
(3) Does the insurance kick in from the time the plane takes off from India and lasts till the plans lands back in India on return?
(4) What's the ideal amount of US dollar coverage that usually covers any unexpected unfortunate events?
(5) What "gotchas" should one be aware of when making the travel insuance purchase?


I AM VERY GREATFUL TO THE FATWALLET COMMUNITY WHO HAS HELPED ME LEARN SO MANY THINGS. I AM COUNTING ON THIS GREAT GROUP ONCE AGAIN... so BIG BIG THANKS TO ALL, I really appreciate your help.

I am also hoping that by starting this thread, many people like me who have quests / family visitng them in the future will have a consolidated place to look for information and best practices.

If this is a repost please advise and I will mark the thread for deletion.

THANKYOU.

khatru said:Hello,

I am planning to have my parents in India visit me here in the US. Planned duration of stay will be mostlikely 3-4 months.
Some questions regarding the same on how to shop for the same:
(1) What companies offer such health coverage in the US?
(2) How to avoid pre-existing conditions clause?
(3) Does the insurance kick in from the time the plane takes off from India and lasts till the plans lands back in India on return?
(4) What's the ideal amount of US dollar coverage that usually covers any unexpected unfortunate events?
(5) What "gotchas" should one be aware of when making the travel insuance purchase?


THANKYOU.
We bought insurance here for our inlaws twice they visited us.

Couple of good websites to get instant quotes:
1) http://buyamericaninsurance.com/
http://www.nriol.net/nriol/insurance/visitors-insurance-compare.asp
You can compare the quotes here.

We bought Fixed Coverage Plans Visitor's care IMG - In this you pay deduditble only once for the entire period of coverage (6 months)
http://murthyforum.atinfopop.com
Go to search here and type visitor insurance and you get lots of threads that explains good and bad of insurance companies.

2) There is no way you can avoid pre-existing conditions. They don't cover it and that is end of it. Twice when my Father-in-law had some problem we found some desi doctor who can write it as something not pre-existing so the insurance would cover it.

3)You select the date for the insurance to start when you buy. For my in-laws we bought it after they landed here second time and first time we bought it when they were still in india. You specify the date.

4) We chose $50000, i think this is totally up to you and your parent's age and health condition.

5) In our opinion the insurance companies are not as great as what we usually get for us. But it definetely give us satifiscation that we have health insurance covered for them. Search in murthy forums for "gotchas" in visitor's health insurance.

Thanks,

khatru said:Thanks financeNewbie, will start my search with the resources you mention. Appreciate it.
AIG offers a cashless insurance plan for overseas travellers from India. Your parents can purchase this before they leave.

sat11 said:http://health.indianetwork.org/

Check out this site. .i have bought insurance coverage a number of times. never used it.
but its easy to order and they have flexi plans. plus there is some legitimacy around this i.e
doctors and hospitals seem to accept this insurance also they have been around for 6 years
atleast as far as i know. There is a way to avoid pre-existing clauses with them.

thanks

Thanks... sat11... pre-existing was a big worry for me since my mom doesn't keep good health...

Do they really need this? If they do need to go to the hospital, I don't think they will be denied. Illegals in the U.S. do it all the time. If they rack up a debt at the hospital, won't they be leaving the country anyway?