Question
One of the leading Indian health insurance companies (for US travels) has mentioned in its FAQ that pre-existing conditions are covered in life threatening situation. Is that true for US health insurance companies?
Answer
That's not true. No insurance company from any country covers pre-existing conditions for visitors to United States.
Insurance is for future protection. And no insurance company can practically and realistically afford to pay for pre-existing conditions for visitors to US. You have to understand that insurance company is finally paying claims from the premiums they collect from many people like you. If many people were to claim, they would not be able to afford to pay the claims. Where would they get all the extra money?
Please read http://www.buyamericaninsurance.com/...-insurance.jsp to understand more about pre-existing conditions.
Rest of the statements below are made accordingly to the information given on the web sites of respective companies, my personal exprience in dealing with these companies on a trial basis (during my previous visit to India) and a lot on the job experience dealing with lot of customers on a daily basis, by reading this discussion forum and the experiences section.
You have to consider this fact. No other company anywhere is covering pre-existing conditions, and only one company claims to cover it. If no one else can afford to offer, how can only one company realistically afford to cover it?
It can be very subjective to determine what exactly is life threatening condition and claim can be denied on that basis. You should read the experiences of prior buyers on this discussion forums and also at the experiences section at
Also, note that most private companies in India offer only fixed coverage plans for ages above 55 years. Many times it is not even mentioned in the brochure, you may not even be explained this fact. It may be written only in the policy wording which most people don't bother to read.
And fixed coverage are so limited that you are realistically not getting much coverage at all. Read http://www.buyamericaninsurance.com/...ance-types.jsp
When you buy insurance from many companies in India,
* Only fixed coverage above age 55
* You have to first call them to places like New Delhi to get permission to visit a doctor.
* There is no health insurance card.
* There is no PPO network. No network negotiated rates.
* No direct billing.
* You have to first pay and claim back in India in rupees once you return. You have to in fact show the stamp in the passport that you have returned.
* In case of extension of stay, no renewal.
* In case of early departure, no refund.
* If they don't pay, there is no regulatory authority in US that can help you. Better Business Bureau or any other arbiterary ogranization can not help you.
* Keeping the time zone differences in mind, if you have to make follow ups, you may have to get up in the middle of the night and call people in India. Even if some company happens to have 24 hours call service, key decision makers may be working only during the day time in India.
It is easy to say that just buy such and such policy, just call this number and everything will be taken care of. Nothing to worry.
You have to look at what happens in reality when you really need it. You need to first ask your local hospital whether they would accept the insurance purchased from the insurance company in India and be willing to deal with them in India. If they deny to deal with them, it does not matter what any insurance company really claims.
Even if some companies claim they have toll-free number in US, that is simply a telecom related technical matter. Anyone can pay few dollars and get toll-free number that rings in India. If finally the claims are handled in India and all the paperwork needs to be sent to India, that is what hospitals would look at.
Even if some companies claim that they have some collaboration with some organization in US, that may simply be a clerical facility designed to collect paperwork and forward it to India for claims processing. That is what hospitals would look at.
Therefore, it would be better to purchase the insurance from US based companies. Read http://www.buyamericaninsurance.com/...e-overview.jsp
Answer
Welcome to the club!
I had purchased that insurance last year.
Read the following posts started by me before buying it:
Answer
Thanks Narendra and Krishnan for your responses. It helps a lot in taking a decision.
Answer
Then you might as well try to do a bill review. Just to make sure the bill is correct. It can save you 1000s.