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Visitor Medical Insurance Buyers Dilemma: Which one to buy?
By: Rajeev
Are you shopping for a Visitor Medical insurance for your parents or relatives and spending more time on the net doing research on this topic? Getting inputs from your friends and still confused with questions like "There are so many companies and different plans ; which one to buy?
It's like going to a electronic shop to buy a TV. There are hundreds of models with almost similar features makes it more confusing and difficult to make the right decision. You want to make sure that you make the right decision and why not, after all you are paying for it.
Trust me it was the same situation with me too when I was shopping for the medical insurance for my visiting in-laws. I spent ample of time on this and did learn few basics and important facts. I would like to summarize my experience and thoughts on this topic. I hope this would help you, and may save some of your precious time.
Visitors Medical insurance plan does not work the way your regular health insurance (Provided through your employer) works, where the only expense you owe is your co- payment ($5 or $10). So don't assume that just because you bought visitor medical insurance, you won't be paying any thing in the event of any medical problem.
You may consider these plans as just a way to protect you from "Major" medical expenses". You can consider them similar to your car insurance where you have deductible and coverage defined.
Lets talk about coverage.
There could be many things under coverage example: Medicine/Pharmacy, Emergency visit, surgery, radiology etc.
Is there really a plan which can fit 100% to your need?
I would say NO !
If you understood the basic difference in your regular medical insurance and the visitor medical insurance as explained above then you should get the answer of this question yourself.
Moreover :
- Since health problems are unpredictable, no one knows what kind of problem one might face in future? So you can never be 100% sure on what kind of coverage is best fit you.
- There are pros and cons of each plan. These plans are designed by the insurance provider in such a way that they are balanced in one way or other. e.g. if one plan is cheaper or has less deductible then it will have limited coverage. Or, if one plan has better coverage then either it will have more deductible or more expensive.
And finally it’s all about choosing the one which you think can be a less risky. Now what is less risky? I guess we are back to the same root question, which one is good for me? So it's your call, but don't get too confused. Bottom line is that there are basically 2 kinds of plans:
#1. Less expensive, but has some limitation on coverage. Also known as "Limited coverage Plan".
#2. A bit expensive but has better coverage. "Comprehensive coverage Plan".
Type of Plans
So once you decide on what type of plan is suitable for you, you already won half of the battle of your decision making. The next thing is which plan and which company?
Which company is better?
There are so many companies, which one is good?
There are very few known big US insurance companies (Seven Corners, IMG, Atlas etc.) who issues the actual insurance policy. Each company has many plans/products with some given names.
Example: "Inbound" and "Liaison" are products/plans from Seven Corners (formerly known as SRI).
These companies sell these products/plans through the agents, and can be purchased online.
Buy from a place/agent you can trust, and also ask your friends about their experiences. Don’t get too confused on the company name though.
Do not make your decision under the influence of emotions when selecting a plan or company, just because a company name start with your country name or has America in it doesn't mean that you will get what you are looking for.
Hope this article helps
VisitorsCoverage users
Feel free to send us an email if have any queries: support@visitorscoverage.com
OR post your questions to Discussion forum.
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