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Difference between Domestic Health Insurance and Visitor’s Health Insurance
While shopping for insurance for visiting parents or relatives, people often wonder if they can include these visitors in their own existing health insurance plans like BlueCross, BlueShield, Kaiser, Aetna, Unicare etc. However, this is not possible. Domestic health plans are meant only for the US citizens, residents or legal workers, and their immediate family members residing in the USA. Visitors to the USA are not eligible for benefits on these plans. People often wonder why the domestic health insurance companies do not sell visitors health insurance, too. Let us explore some basic differences between domestic health insurance and Visitor’s Health insurance.
US Social Security Number/ITIN Number Required for Domestic Health Plans: Having a valid Social Security number or ITIN number, issued by the US government is required to qualify for domestic health plans. Visitors to the USA, who do not have these, are not eligible for domestic insurance policies. Hence visitors have to purchase visitors medical health insurance, in order to be covered for medical expenses in the USA. Some well known visitor's health insurance companies or administrators are Seven corners, Multinational underwriters etc.
Domestic Health Insurance Companies Do Not Sell Visitor Plans: Domestic health insurance companies do not cover visitor’s health insurance because it is not cost-effective for them to cater to a small segment of visitors, as their customers.
Visitors Health Insurances are Temporary: Visitor’s insurance is temporary and can cover from a minimum of 5 days to a period of about 3 years. On the other hand, domestic health insurance policies can provide coverage from 1 month to 65 years.
Cost and Benefits are Less for Visitors Insurance Plans: For visitor's insurance, the costs, benefits and variety of plans are much less, compared to the domestic insurance plans. The visitor's insurance has international coverage, while most domestic plans do not cover international travel. Moreover, there is no age restriction on visitor’s insurance, while domestic policies can be purchased for only up to 65 years.
Coverage Starts Immediately after the purchase for Visitor’s Insurance Plans: In case of visitor’s insurance, coverage starts immediately after purchase, with no wait for approval. With domestic insurance, there is a longer waiting period, and it is also subject to approval.
Pre-Existing Condition Coverage Rarely Available for Visitors Insurance Plans: With very few exceptions, visitor’s insurance usually does not cover any pre-existing conditions, while most domestic group plans, provided by the employers do cover pre-existing conditions. It is not cost effective for insurance companies, to cover for pre-existing conditions, for short term customers.
Visitor's Health Insurance Plans are not restricted to any Provider Network: For visitors insurance people can visit any doctor or hospital and is not restricted to a specific network. Domestic plans, on the other hand, offer less coverage if you visit hospitals or doctors outside the network.
Billing Process Depends on Individual Doctor or Hospital for Visitors Health Insurance Plans: Domestic Insurance plan holders have to go to doctors or hospitals within the provider network. For Visitors Coverage, the billing process usually depends on the individual hospital or doctor that the patient visits. They could either send the bill directly to the insurance company, or can ask the patient to pay first. If the medical facility asks you to pay them, then you have to first pay the amount for the services, and then file for a claim with the insurance company. The insurance company will reimburse you with your expenditure. For more on claim process, please review our claim process article. Visitor's health insurance works differently from domestic health insurances. So, it is important for visitors to purchase visitor's health insurance, when visiting the USA, or when visiting some other country from the USA.
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