When you are exploring the different options for your health insurance, and are zeroing in on a plan, you might have stumbled upon the terms “in-network” and “out-of-network.” Have you ever wondered what they are?  Should you care about these terms? If your agenda is to save money and not pay more, you should pay full attention to these important health care terms.

When are you In-Network?

Your insurance company has a contract with certain providers. These providers can be doctors, specialists, labs, facilities, pharmacies, etc.  Your insurance company sets pre-negotiated rates with these providers for their services. Thus, you, your insurance company, and these providers are “in-network.” When you operate “in-network” your part is to pay the deductibles, or co-pay, or co-share, and the rest is covered by your insurance company based on a pre-negotiated price with the provider. The advantages may be:

• Discounted rate for the service
• A hassle-free experience: You walk to the hospital or doctor’s office, pay a small amount (your deductible/co-pay), obtain the required service, sit in the car, and drive away.

When are you “Out-of-Network?”

When you go outside the list of providers identified by your insurance company, you go “out-of-network.” There are no pre-negotiated rates or contracts between your insurance company and the providers.

The disadvantages may be:

• No discount  available
• Because of lack of understanding and communication between your insurance company and the provider, you might pay a major chunk of the out of network expenses.

Why would you go Out-of-Network?

Life may not turn out exactly as we expect.  Emergencies might arise and going “out-of-network” will be inevitable. Or your personal care physician may refer you to a specialist or facility that is “out-of-network.” Don’t assume anything and perhaps you may prevent going “out-of-network.” You can make inquiries and check with your insurance company or the provider before you schedule an appointment or receive services.  Browse through your insurance company’s website thoroughly, read the plan booklets, or call your insurance company to know the limits of your coverage.

Ultimately, be an informed denizen, and take control of your healthcare benefits, coverage, and costs in your hand.

Shopping around for insurance for visitors to US involves lot of thought and energy; especially if the visitor has a “pre-existing condition”.  While researching you may encounter the term “acute onset pre-existing condition” in the insurance plans. You must be wondering whether “acute onset of pre-existing conditions” is the same as “pre-existing conditions.” Don’t get confused. The coverage of “acute onset of pre-existing conditions” is not the same as the coverage of “pre-existing conditions. “ Let’s understand how these terms are different:

Pre-Existing Medical Condition

Although there are different definitions of “pre-existing conditions” out there, the complex syntax and how they are defined can be confusing. In general the “pre-existing conditions” are medical conditions or other health problems that existed before the date of an individual’s enrollment or effective date of a health insurance plan. To put it in a nutshell – medical conditions that existed before your policy started. Some of the commonly understandable “pre-existing conditions” can be chronic illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma etc. The “pre-existing conditions” can include chronic injuries like back pain too. The “pre-existing condition” varies from person to person depending on their unique medical history or record.

Short-term insurance including travel Insurance companies normally don’t cover these conditions.

Acute Onset Of Pre-Existing Condition

An “acute onset of pre-existing condition” means a sudden occurrence or manifestation of the “pre-existing condition”.  This means the medical incident is unexpected and there is no forewarning by the doctor.  Here is one of the definition that is repeatedly found on the web:  “An Acute Onset of a Pre-existing Condition is a sudden and unexpected outbreak or recurrence of a Pre-existing Condition which occurs spontaneously and without advance warning either in the form of Physician recommendations or symptoms. Treatment must be obtained within 24 hours of the sudden and unexpected outbreak or recurrence.”

Analyze the fine prints of the insurance policy thoroughly and take an informed decision. Knowledge of these terms might help you choose the right policy that fits your specific needs.

To learn more about more about pre-existing conditions for Visitors Insurance, please refer to this article: Determine pre-existing conditions for travel insurance

Most credit companies do offer you “Free travel insurance” or “ Flight insurance,” but have you ever wondered if they offer enough protection. Often most travelers don’t purchase international travel insurance, believing their credit card protects them from any losses during their travel overseas. However, it is often found that the so-called free travel insurance offered by credit cards don’t match up to the protection offered by a travel insurance company.

Credit cards advertise often that they offer travel insurance protection for:

• Travel Delays
• Trip Interruption
• Trip Cancellation
• Lost or Destroyed Baggage
• Rental Cars
• Accidental Death and Dismemberment
• Emergency assistance and concierge services
• Flight accident insurance

However, not all credit cards offer all the aforementioned travel benefits. Some credit card travel insurance policies may not cover lost items, such as loss of wallet, passport, or luggage, and certain type of medical conditions.  However, those that claim to offer these benefits often charge a higher annual fee than what you would otherwise pay for a basic travel insurance plan. Besides, you must charge all your traveling expenses to the credit card to be eligible to derive those travel benefits, and your overseas trip should not be more than 30 days long. Your credit card insurance might not cover you for cheap holidays.

• Beware, read the fine print and complete details of the credit card travel insurance coverage and look out for limitations and exclusions.
• Notice if there is any such wording as “We will not pay for items left behind, forgotten, or misplaced.”
• See whether there is any discrepancy between different parts of the same credit card insurance policy. There might be a generous claim limit in one part, with exclusions a few pages later.
• Make sure your credit card travel insurance policy has the right coverage for the adventures you plan during your trip overseas.

Credit Card Travel Protection: Most Common Limitations

Gold credit card insurance is usually valid until three months and cannot be extended, unlike international health insurance policies. If you change your itinerary to extend the stay beyond a fixed period, your credit card travel insurance coverage would immediately cease.

• Limited and low maximum coverage limit which is usually $10,000 or less
• May only cover accidents and not sickness
• May not cover emergency or medical evacuations
• May not cover trip cancellation just for any reason, as only certain scenarios are covered, including accidental serious injury, natural disaster, airlines labor strike, travel provider goes on strike, sudden termination from job.

No credit card travel insurance will cover you if you tend to change your mind at the last minute and cancel your trip. If you still decide that credit card insurance is the best option for you, make sure you have read the fine print and are aware of the coverage and limitations to avoid being stranded in a foreign country!

To learn more tips about travel insurance that can help you buy the right insurance, visit our knowledge center or call us on 1-866-384-9104 to speak to an adviser who help you select the right plan that suits your needs.

Millions of international tourists travel to the United States every year, with the country being the prime tourist destination in the world for its deep-rooted natural beauty, plethora of opportunities, and widespread leisure activities. However, you cannot ignore the high cost of living, travel expenditure, and emergency care expenses in the United States. Therefore, travel insurance for USA is indispensable to guard yourself against any misfortune or mishap on this land of abundance.

Importance of Travel Insurance for USA

When you have family, friends, relatives visiting you to the United States, travel insurance offers them protection during their stay in the country. There are a number reasons that signifies the importance of buying a travel insurance while your loved ones are visiting the United States. Let’s look at few below

• Protect yourself from high cost of health care in the country, where even a simple visit to the doctor can cost you hundreds of dollars. Save yourself from paying huge medical bills in emergency situations. Travel medical Insurance providers can be contacted immediately on their helpline across the country, offering you emergency assistance on a foreign land at a time when help is badly needed.
• Save yourself during unexpected incidents, such as theft, mugging, loss of passport or wallet, with travel insurance policy, which offers you financial security on a foreign land and takes care of all your emergency needs. Your insurance provider will take the burden of all documentation to help you continue with your trip to the United States with complete peace of mind.

Benefits of Travel Insurance for USA

Getting a travel insurance for USA is an easy way to minimize the risk of unexpected financial expenses associated with traveling to a foreign land. And such unanticipated medical bills can take the form of grave financial disasters for visitors to the United States. Most of these risks include unexpected illness, accidents, missed flights, terror attack, lost baggage, lost documents, and emergency evacuation. Thus, travel insurance for USA is indispensable to have a safe and sound stay in the country and save yourself from steep medical expenses while enjoying complete peace of mind that your insurance provider is standing by you 24/7 to take care of any emergency situation that may involve your loved ones on a foreign land.

Not all but many, American Visitor Insurance plans may cover

• Dental expenses
• Hospital, doctor’s fees
• Prescription medication costs
• Emergency evacuation
• Accidental death and dismemberment
• Repatriation of mortal remains
• Trip Cancellation & Trip Interruption Coverage
• Loss or delays while travel
• Hazardous coverage

Emergencies can happen any time anywhere. They do not come with a warning. It is best to equip yourself with travel insurance to prevent an emergency from marring your trip. Let your loved ones have the best trip of their lives by securing and protecting them with travel insurance for USA!

Make sure to get an adequate coverage for your trip to USA. To learn more about travel medical insurance plans, benefits and features, contact us now or call us on 1-866-384-9104 to speak to an expert to help you select the right plan that suits your needs.

Many agents’ websites claim that their Travel Medical Insurance plans are cashless or direct payment plants. However, in travel Medical insurance plans, there is no guarantee for cashless transaction or direct pay.

Billing process depends on the service provider; the insurance company does not control it: Whether it is going to be a direct billing or not, depends entirely on the billing practice of the doctor or the facility you visit.  Most big hospitals & doctors directly bill to the insurance company. However, in exceptional cases patient may receive the bill from the provider.

Higher amounts are usually directly billed: For expensive medical services like surgery or hospitalization, the providers bill the insurance company directly. For routine services (mostly outpatient services) like general doctors consultations, you may be required to pay directly either in full or as per the applicable policy’s deducible or co-insurance.

Why direct pay can’t be guaranteed in Travel Medical Insurance:

• Travel medical insurances are short time emergency medical insurance plans and require claim submission and reimbursement/reimbursing.
• Different providers have different billing practices. They may or may not work with all insurance companies.
• Travel medical Insurances are not commonly perceived by doctors or hospitals as the mainstream domestic plans are. So unless the bill amount is big, the big hospitals or doctors do not want to utilize their time to find out who & where to bill.

Insurance Company will pay for eligible covered expenses: Even though the billing process is at the provider’s discretion, a valid claim for a covered service would be paid by the insurance company, whether the bill comes from the doctor’s office or sent by you.

Always remember that insurance industry is regulated, insurance companies subject to comply the regulations. As long as the coverage is as per the policy it should be paid.

To learn more about travel medical insurance and its functioning, visit our knowledge center. Get in touch with our experts and licensed travel medical insurance consultants on 1-866-384-9104 or fill out our Contact Us Form.

Liability for medical bills of visiting parents-  Those who are considering sponsoring a US visa for their folks, who are either seeking a visitor visa, legal permanent resident status or students visa, here is some useful information. The sponsorship document, form I-134, also referred as “Affidavit of Support” can be legally enforceable. So please ensure to provide such document more responsibly.

The I-134 is a contract between the sponsor and the US government stating that the sponsor will be responsible for the visitor/beneficiary while the person is in US. Make sure that the sponsored person has financial support for the time period of the stay. i.e. basic amenities to support their living and welfare in US which, includes food, boarding, clothing, & health care.

If the person you are sponsoring becomes a public charge or government’s liability, then the agency offering assistance can sue you to the recover the cost. You will be able to notice this information when you review point 4 to 6 in form I-134 which states such responsibilities.

Lets take an example – if the visitor seeks medical services from the health care service provider, and fails to pay bills, can be subjected to such liabilities, if the service provider/hospital runs it services from the public funds.

So, if you are sponsoring a dear one to the U.S., be ever more cautious while filling out the affidavit of support.

Here are some quick tips to help ensure your security against US Visa Sponsors Liabilities:

1. Avoid Risky Propositions: Only be willing to sponsor a visa for someone you can trust and be certain that he/she leaves the country before their visa expires, and will not become a ‘public charge’.
2. Tell the Truth: Carefully enter all the information on the form accurately. This will help prevent any discrepancies in future. Also, make sure you have all the necessary documentation to verify that the information entered on the form is correct.
3. Protect yourself, get a good insurance coverage: Make sure that you and the person you are sponsoring have adequate insurance coverage for liability, travel and heath during the entire period of stay. This will not only help protect against emergency, but will also buy you peace of mind.

To learn about how medical travel insurance with good coverage can help you protect in time of emergency, visit our travel insurance plans or contact us on our toll free number 1-866-384-9104 to get a good understanding of the right coverage.

Disclaimer: Information presented here is authors own view on this subject. Author is neither a legal adviser nor qualified to provide immigration or any other legal advice. Please contact a respective subject matter legal adviser to get a legal advice related to sponsorship or immigration and liabilities matters.

Author or company is not responsible for any outcome from the content presented on this blog or website.

Travel insurances is a broad term used for insurance that provides travel coverage.
Typically travel insurance can be broadly categorized in to two categories:

1. Trip Insurance (Protection financial losses due to Unexpected Trip related issues)
2. Medical Insurance (Protection for Health related Issues)

Let’s now understand the difference between Trip Insurance vs. Travel Medical Insurance

Trip Insurance

Trip insurance is usually refers to trip cancellation insurance coverage. Trip insurances protect you against financial losses suffered due to unexpected trip related situations like trip cancellation, trip interruption, trip delay, missed flight connection, baggage loss, rental car coverage etc.
Specific features, benefits may vary from plan to plan. Some plans might cover only for trip cancellation, and not trip delay or interruption. Some other plans might cover for other similar but not all of the features. These are usually for a short duration of trip for up to 30 days.
Recommended and useful if there is any potential risk involve that may case change in your travel plan, like travelling with kids, or seniors, travelling in unpredictable natural disaster risky areas, war zone etc.

Learn more about Travel Trip Insurance coverage.

Travel Medical Insurance

Travel Medical Insurance plans are to protection for unforeseen health issues met while you are traveling which includes sickness, injuries and accidents. These plans cover expenses for medical treatment, medical evacuation, accidental death repatriation etc while traveling. This is also referred as visitor insurance, visitor medical insurance, travel health insurance, overseas travel insurance.

Recommended – for traveling abroad or unknown foreign places where risk to exposed health issues is higher.  Example: traveling to Africa for Safari trip. Or cost for medical care is expensive: example Foreigners visiting USA

Learn more about various Travel Health Insurance Plans, its benefits and coverage from best insurance companies. Feel free to contact us on 1-866-384-9104 if you need help in choosing the best travel insurance plan to your needs.

Internet, the most convenient and popular tool to research and online purchase. While it provides the convenience to do things online with simple clicks, it can be tricky for certain line of products/service like insurance.

Following guidelines can be helpful for buyers who wish to buy travel insurance online -

• Do not blindly believe what you read on the internet or forums. Many post are by the agent/brokers themselves. Often these posting are done with different names, fake postings and fake comments is not a new thing now. Needless to say, these postings can be deceiving. Stories, feedback, testimonials are fabricated and are selectively displayed on agents’ websites. You will not see any negative feedback about any product they sell or represent; instead you’ll see many negative feedback about others.
• No insurance product is bad, Whether it is IndiaHealth network( Dr Rao), or ICICI or Sevencorners , HCC , they all have great products and are good companies. What is important for you as a buyer is the service you receive from the agent (source from where you buy insurance), their qualification and level of knowledge and commitment for doing business ethically.
• As a buyer, it’s your responsibility to understand and get educated yourself on what is covered and what is not covered. Do not get fooled by fake sales postings on the net.Focus on your need, what kind of policy you want, how much coverage is good for you, what kind of risk you want to be covered, and how much it cost you. There are several policies with similar coverage and different price tag, it is wise to compare them for benefits and pick the one you find most suitable for your need.
• Where to buy it from: If you search for the term visitors insurance, you will find ocean of websites, offering same products, and same price. Always remember that there are limited insurance plan administrators and all these websites represent themselves as agents.
• So now comes the question of “Whom to trust?” – Make the conscious decision based on what is your own feeling about the source you select to buy travel insurance online. Follow if you have any feedback from close friends, or reliable recommendations.
• Do your home work: It can be difficult to understand the complex terminologies of insurance policy, do not hesitate to call the agent and clarify them. Read yourself and get clarifications. Do not make assumptions.
• Think practically: No matter which insurance company it is, the claims department always works on one principle to: Take every precaution, not to pay extra or ineligible claims, and hence it requires supporting documents, evidence etc and can be a frustrating process sometimes. And it’s perfectly ok.  As a buyer, do your part; know your rights and rest assured, if the claim is legitimate it should be paid.

Happy Researching… !

VisitorsCoverage is an unique one-stop shop that provides unbiased advice to acquire comprehensive medical coverage with a convenience to buy travel insurance online and compare various travel insurance for USA. Feel free to contact us or call us on 1-866-384-9104 to find out more about the right kind of travel health insurance that suits your needs.

Most travel insurance plans reimburse based on Usual, Reasonable and Customary charges (UCR) for all covered expenses.

Let’s understand what Usual Customary and Reasonable (UCR) based reimbursement

Usual Customary & Reasonable reimbursement refers to an established maximum amount that an insurance company will reimburse for a particular medical service or procedure, covered under a travel health insurance policy. UCR charges are generally based on prices that are typically billed by majority of providers, for each medical procedure or service, in a particular geographical area. The UCR can vary from one geographical area to another. The insurance companies use independent third party data, to determine the UCR for different services in different geographical areas.

For instance, if in a certain geographical area 95% of physicians charge $100 for doctor’s consultation, than a particular insurance company, may establish the UCR  for that area as $100 for doctor’s visits and $100 is the maximum that the insurance company may reimburse for doctor’s visit service in that particular area. UCR may vary from company to company.

Where can I see the established UCR for different areas?

There is no one certified source that provides this information publicly.There are private independent companies that determine these charges based on extensive research. Insurance companies either collect this data or procure this data from these companies to establish their UCR.
You may call your insurance company to inquire or request for this information. You may also communicate with your service provider (doctor or hospital) and request for their charges for a particular medical service.

To know more about how much UCR reimbursement, an insurance company will pay, visit our travel insurance plan details and compare them online. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us on 1-866-384-9104.

How much Policy Maximum to choose for your travel medical insurance?

Policy Maximum is the maximum limit that the insurance company will be liable to pay for covered services. Depending on the type of policy you choose, Policy Maximum can work differently.

• Per Policy Period Type: The Policy Maximum applies to the whole policy period
• Per Incident Type: The Policy maximum applies to each incident, i.e.- each sickness or injury

How Much Policy Maximum is Good for Travel Medical Insurance?

This depends on the visitor’s travel plans, overall health, age and budget. Some of the important factors to consider, while choosing policy maximum includes:

1. Where are you visiting? – If you are visiting more expensive places like USA or Europe, where health care cost is high, you should consider buying a higher policy maximum coverage.
2. Duration of the trip: The longer your trip, the higher policy maximum you should consider. If you traveling for only a few days, then having a Million dollar policy maximum does not make that much of sense.
3. Types of Activities: If you are planning to undertake plenty of road trips, cruise, take part in adventure activities like skiing or camping, hiking you should consider buying a higher coverage, as the chances of falling sick or meeting with an accident are higher.

Age Restrictions & Availability of Coverage

Insurance Companies presume and consider Age as one of the major factor for health insurance. Therefore, for senior people usually not many options for policy maximum are available. Following table summarizes policy maximum Travel and visitor insurance coverage typically available for different age groups:

Understanding Your Travel Health Insurance Benefits:

It is important to understand the Benefits associated with your plan. For fixed schedule based insurance, the Policy Maximum is just the overall limit but, there are internal limits to every covered service and treatment too.

To learn more about how much Policy Maximum you should choose while buying a travel health insurance or visitor insurance, feel free to contact us or call us on 866-384-9104 for an unbiased advice.