Travel Insurance Plans: Why Name Recognition is Important

“My hospital didn’t recognize my travel insurance.”

This is one of the concerns you might hear about travel insurance. Will the medical provider recognize and accept your travel insurance?  The two most important reasons why the providers might not recognize your visitors insurance are:

• The Medical Provider doesn’t often encounter travel Insurance plans
• Travel insurance plan’s name is not widely known

Medical Provider May not be Familiar with Travel Insurance:

Travel medical insurance is not the mainstream insurance plan. Hospital staff are more familiar with the domestic insurance plans which they see every day. So, if the receptionist at the doctor’s office does not recognize your “Visitor/Travel insurance” plan by its name, don’t be surprised. Travel insurance plans are short term, and are mostly claim-based. The good thing about Travel insurance for the U.S. is that the provider can contact your plan benefit department and may be able to directly bill to the insurance company.

When Your Travel Insurance Plan’s Name Isn’t Widely Known:

Many travel insurance plans are not widely known by name. The providers are better at recognizing the PPO networks (United Healthcare, First Health, Multiplan, and Hygeia) associated with your plan. They also recognize the names of plan underwriters (like Nationwide, AIG, and Lloyds etc.). So when you talk to a hospital or doctor, you should give them the names of PPO network providers, or the Underwriter’s names.  Keep your Insurance certificate / ID handy. It has most of the information necessary for the hospital administration to contact the insurance benefit department and confirm the coverage or bill to the claims department.

Remember, no travel insurance guarantees the direct billing, so, even if you have to make any payment from your pocket, you can always claim and get the reimbursement for any eligible covered benefits as per the policy.

The Difference between VisitorsCoverage & Your Insurance Provider

VisitorsCoverage is a global travel insurance marketplace and it’s not considered an insurance provider. Many customers inform their hospital that they have “Insurance from VisitorsCoverage.” While you may have purchased your insurance plan from VisitorsCoverage, we are not the insurance provider. So instead of telling the medical provider that you have VisitorsCoverage insurance, you’ll want to give them the name of the actual insurance company or the PPO on your policy id card. 

File Claim & Get Reimbursed

Most of us who are used to our domestic health insurance, where showing your insurance ID card and making a small co-payment is all it takes. Travel insurance works a bit differently. Travel insurance plans are temporary short-term plans that are generally international in scope. With these plans, you can have coverage anywhere outside your home country. And you can get services from any hospital or provider of your choice.

 But it’s practically impossible for insurance companies to have direct billing tie- ups with all providers throughout the world. So it is at the discretion of the provider to bill the insurance company directly, or to bill you. If they ask you to pay upfront, ask for the itemized bill from the doctor or hospital and file for a claim. You would be reimbursed for your valid claims. To find out how to file a claim, please refer to the article: Insurance Claim Process.

If you have any additional questions about travel insurance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Customer Success Team.