Ask Our Specialists

I already have the brochures. You don't need to send them. 1. Bajaj Allianz brochure just mentions at one place: "subject to policy terms and conditions and sublimits". These sublimits is what make the policy a fixed coverage plan. And those sublimits are nowhere described in the brochure. Therefore, ask them about those sublimits. Patriot America is a comprehensive coverage. Therefore, there is no apples to apples comparison. If you want to compare the prices, compare them with Visitors Care. One thing you have to understand is that Patriot America or any such US based company offering such products are NOT robbing you. And Bajaj Allianz or any such India based company offering such products are NOT doing any social service or charity. Insurance companies in both countries are businesses established for profit. Both have to face the same claims whose expenses are the same in US no matter which policy you buy. Therefore, if someone seems to offer substantially more benefits at substantially less prices, things can't be same. You have to look deeper. 2. Having a PPO is not a restriction but a bonus. Even in Patriot America, you can go to any Dr. you like. However, Patriot America participates in First Health PPO network which has around 500,000 physicians and 4700 hospitals in the network which recognize the insurance, bill the insurance company directly and charge you the network negotiated fees. Read /visitors-insurance-usa-india-comparison/ And then do the research on their web site and ask appropriate questions to them and then make appropriate comparison to see how it works in both the plans. 3. That is not how it always works. Any one can pay $25 and get a US phone number that rings in India. Still if all the claims are handled in India, talk to any Dr or hospital in your area and ask whether they would send all the claims papers to New Delhi and deal with them in India. And see what happens. I will write verbatim from their Claims Procedure document: >>>>>6. If any hospital does not submit a bill to you for the treatment/service rendered, please inform us before you leave the hospital. If the hospital insists that they will claim directly from the Insurance Company, please inform them that BAJAJ ALLIANZ shall not entertain any such requests from the hospital. Only claims whereby the Insured filed directly with all relevant documents on return to India will be considered. >>>>> Among the medical claims document to be submitted, it says you need to submit "Copy of passport, visa with entry and exit stamp". You will not have both entry and exit stamp until you return to India. And remember, we are insurance brokers. We work for you, not for any insurance company. Therefore, whatever we tell is in your best advantage, and truth of course. After that, it is your decision. And of ourse, no one is forcing you to buy insurance from US based company. If you still feel that India based insurance company such as Bajaj Allianz is best for you, go for it and if you end up making any claim, please post your experience here. I sincerely hope and pray that it is a good one. 1. Thats funny because they specifically told me its comprehensive and NOT fixed. 2. I understand 3. Where did you get this clause from? The brochure I have doesnt have this clause. Would you be able to email me that brochure? They stated that they have tied up with a local agency in US and all one needs to do is call them with doctor name, number before going in and the agency will setup cashless settlement. That means that the policy holder will not have to pay anything except the 100$ deductible. Thoughts? 1. First and foremost thing to understand is that there is no universally accepted and government enforced naming conventions for different types of visitors insurance plans. When we got into business 6/7 years ago, we found that there were two distinct types of insurance products with a big difference in price and coverage. And no one had named the categories or differentiated properly. And we felt that it was in the best interest of customers to know that and therefore we decided to distinguish between those two types on our web site and clearly demarked everything. I gave those names to the categories, in absence of any better naming convention available. Many other US based brokers and agents followed our leadership and started calling the plans "Fixed Coverage Plans" and "Comprehensive Coverage Plans" for the products offered in the US. And over the time, it became very popular naming convention. But that does not mean everyone in the world is required to use exactly the same names to mean the same thing. Therefore, what really matters is whether the particular insurance product has sub-limits or not. Any product with sub-limits is highly inadequate insurance plan (that includes that type of products we sell as well. Of course, we sell comprehensive plans too, I mean, the ones without sub-limits). And that is what you need to confirm, rather than getting stuck on the naming convention. 3. A. It is not in the brochure, but in a separate document called 'Claims Procedure'. Last time I visited India, I went to several different companies and collected as much as material as possible from each of them. You can ask them about that document. As I am not authorized representative of that company, I should not be distributing their material. B. To the best of my knowledge, this is what happens: International SOS India Pvt Ltd is a company in New Delhi that handles all the claims and you (or the provider if they are willing to) will have to deal with them in New Delhi. However, International SOS Inc., is a company located in Philadelphia, PA, USA. But that company just does the evacuations (emergency transportation) and is not involved in the medical claims processing of Bajaj Allianz customers. Just because the same company has operations in two countries does not mean everything is handled from the US. If that is not correct, ask them the name and contact information of that agency in the US. Ask the doctor or the hospital in your area whether they will be willing to deal with those folks directly. If the provider says no, it does not matter what the insurance company or their agent claims. Ask them the list of providers who will bill directly to them. I think it is most appropriate if you ask proper questions to them and convince yourself and rather than me telling so much about the products that we don't even sell. If you still think it is in your best interest to buy from Bajaj Allianz, why don't you just do that?

The hospital room and board is different from the surgery and anesthesia. You would need anesthesia when you have surgery. The bills for all those things would not be together but separate. Therefore, we need to modify your example a little bit to understand how much is covered. If you bought $50,000 fixed coverage plan, * Even if your hospitalization bill is $10,000/day, insurance company will pay $1,400/day for the same. * No matter what the surgery cost is, insurance company will pay maximum $3,300 for it. * No matter what the anesthesia cost is, insurance company will pay maximum 25% of surgery cost, maximum up to $825 for the same. There is no way to know exactly what percentage of coverage you will get as what the insurance company pays is fixed. I hope that answers your questions. If you have any other questions, please feel free to post them here or contact us at any time.

No, that is not required.

1. Pre-certification: That in practice really means pre-notification. e.g., If you have any big treatment coming up, or CT Scan, MRI, Surgery etc., you have to call the phone number on the insurance card and inform them about it. Read more at /international-medical-pre-certification/ 2. No guarantee: That just means that just because you hold a card in your hand, it does not always mean you have the coverage. e.g. It is possible that a day after you received your insurance card, you cancelled the insurance. In other words, you must have the active coverage in force to receive benefits. This is a standard disclaimer found on many insurance cards and there is really nothing to be concerned about. 3. Yes. It participates in First Health PPO network and it is very widely accepted insurance plan. Read more at /international-medical-ppo-network/ I hope that answers your questions. If you have any other questions, please feel free to post them here or contact us at any time.

Please look at the products at /new-immigrant-insurance/ You should always consider comprehensive plans and never fixed. You may also want to read /new-immigrants-medical-insurance-plans/ for a lot of useful information. Thanks for your reply. I do have a few more questions. If I keep a policy for 12 months, does it get renewed for the second year or is it a brand new policy? If it is a new policy, anything that happens during the first year will be considered as preexisting condition, right? Also, what is emergency evacuation? If there is an emergency, we will call 911 and usually it will be through an ambulance (worst case air lift!). However, I find that there is a separate coverage for ambulance. So, I am kind of confused. Emergency Reunion - Does this cover bringing in someone from India if the insured person gets into emergency? Or is it just the local person who accompany the insured during the emergency? Does it cover extended stays in Canada? Also, for 72 year old person, the max seems to be $50K, right? Thanks Answers to your questions may vary based on the product you choose. Therefore, I will answer specific to Patriot/Protection America plans. However, most plans will work just like as described below. 1. Renewal: It gets renewed and not a new policy. 2. Evacuation: What you described is how generally it works in the US and emergency medical evacuation is not required in most cases. These plans are meant for any one traveling outside their country. Imagine that you have gone to a remote place in Africa and you get hurt or terribly sick. There won't be any 911 there to help you and you may need to be medically evacuated to a place where adequate care can be given. That is where emergency medical evacuation is useful. 3. Reunion: Read answer #2. Again, this policy is for anyone traveling outside their home country. And if the person were to be hospitalized in some place while traveling alone, they would need someone to be with them. In your case, your parents are staying at your place and if they are hospitalized, most likely, you would be near them already. And therefore, the insurance company will not pay to get someone additional from India. 4. Yes. 5. Yes. You can alternatively go for the Bridge plan which provides $250,000 policy max. However, you should consider the Bridge plan only if he is planning to stay here most of the times, rather than going back and forth few months in India and few months in the US. Based on what you have said on emergency evacuation, reunion, etc, and the fact that my dad will never travel alone, would it make sense to go with Patriot Gotravel instead of Patriot? usually I see that the benefits are for the covered period. Le's assume that we have used up $25K of $50K policy maximum in a year of coverage. When we renew the policy after a year, will the benefit maximum get reset to $50K or will it be just $25K? If we need a new policy to get $50K coverage after one year, then whatever the illness that got covered during the prior year would not be covered on the grounds of pre-existing conditions, right? Again, thanks for all your prompt reply. Appreciated it very much. 1. Yes, you can do that. That is exactly why Patriot GoTravel was made. 2. A. It will be just $25k left. B. You are right. If you buy new policy, conditions in previous policy would be considered as pre-existing conditions in the new policy.

COBRA is not an insurance but a law that allows the ex-employees to continue the insurance from their previous employers if they have at least 20 full time employees. Therefore, you have to check with the HR department of your company whether you can continue with their insurance. Companies are required by law to provide you information about continuing insurance coverage during termination or within couple of days. You need to check with the CORBA policy of your company HR before taking any action/resignation as pre-existing coverage will be a nightmare once you quit without COBRA. More here. https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/health-plans/cobra Companies are required ONLY if they have at least 20 full-time employees. Companies are required ONLY if they have at least 20 full-time employees. Yes, You have already mentioned that in your first post post and I felt it was an understood thing and did not want to repeat it. I agree. Just wanted to make sure that everyone is clear it that not all employers are required to offer insurance under COBRA. (Many times, people interpret the words the way which is suitable and favorable to them.) My company definitely has more than 20 employees. But since I am on L1 visa, I am not sure if I am eligible for Cobra.... For instance my HR said it was only for American citizens. But I know at least a couple of my friends who were on H1 and were offered Cobra from their companies. Eligibility for COBRA has nothing to do with citizenship (or legal status). Just the way when you are eligible for group insurance for your employer while working full time irrespective of your legal status (US citizens, greencard holders, H1, L1 or any other people), you get to continue the same insurance on COBRA as well. Your HR manager is definitely wrong.