Ask Our Specialists

1. Yes, it is considered pre-existing condition as the condition already exists. 2. There is no clear Yes or No answer to hypothetical questions. If any medical condition arises because of a pre-existing conditions, it is also a pre-existing condition. Heart attack may occur because of pre-existing conditions or because of new conditions. All that will be determined by the insurance company's claims department based on medical records and attending physician's statement. 3. Any chronic problem that may have menifested before the effective date of the policy is also considered pre-existing condition and not covered. Visitors insurance plans (or any short term plans, even for US citizens) are meant to cover any new medical conditions that may occur after the effective date of the policy. They are not meant to cover all the medical conditions that may occur during the visit. All medical conditions don't take time to develop. These plans are for tourists. When people are traveling, many things may go wrong, such as cold, flu, fever, diarrhea , pneumonia, stomach upset, food poisoning, insect bite, snake bite, acute infection, falling down the stairs or on the street, accident or injuries or any such new conditions may occur. Visitors insurance plans are meant to cover primarily those conditions. They are not major medical long term plans (like the ones that you get through employer) meant to cover everything. No short term plan can financially afford to pay for chornic and pre-existing conditions. It is not practial or financially feasible. That is why no such plans exist. Please read /visitor-medical-insurance-pre-existing-conditions/ for more information on pre-existing conditions. Therefore, if your relatives have major chronic medical conditions that may require continuous treatment or have very high chance of needing medical treatment, you have to decide whether you are willing to take the risk and pay for it yourself before you invite them. If you are not willing to take the risk, you should consider visiting them, rather than they visiting you to the U.S.

We really dont need coverage for all conditions that you mentioned - mainly because we dont plan to go to the forest and eat cooked vegetarian diet and have never taken a medicine for fu or cold - maybe at most the likes of tylenol. So what I think most visitors need is for sudden conditions like an accident or an attck or seizure. I am not looking for coverage to treat any CAD but only a sudden attack - to be able to send back to the home country with minimal treatment as necessary -all of which shouldnt cost more than $15-20,000 considering 2-3 days of intensive care. Is there any such coverage ?

What you plan to do or don't plan to do does not change what is covered and not covered in visitors insurance. You really think 2-3 days of ICU following a heart attack would only cost $15,000 - $20,000? It would very well be around $100,000. There is no plan like that sends you back to home country. All the plans we have available are listed at / Did you know that even the U.S. citizens who are between jobs or would like to purchase short term insurance plans for any reason, they also would not cover any pre-existing conditions? No short term plans are meant to cover pre-existing conditions. It just does not work out that way.

Thanks for your information. You have been quite frank and answered my doubts. If you are an agent, maybe you can ask the underwriters to have fixed cost deals with local hospitals. FYI, I know somebody who had a sudden heart condition - the total cost including ICU etc was 57K for 8 days in the hospital (think 3 days in icu). The problem was resolved but the doctors were concentrating on full recovery and wanted to keep for some more days in the hospital - including therapies of several kinds. But then as soon as the patient was out of danger they just went back. He also told me that if they insisted they could have discharged in 3-4 days also. It typically is about $200 per day for regular hospital and icu cost from 1500-10000 per day. The problem maybe due to unnecessary charges like $129 for tissue paper as below link ?

1. We are brokers and we work for you, not for any insurance company. Therefore, we always give the right advice to our customers, not necessarily the sweet sales talk. We are in close interaction with multiple insurance companies on a daily basis. However, no company will cover pre-existing conditions for a short term plan. It does not make any business sense to do so. However, most of the visitors insurance plans we sell do participate in PPO network. When you see the providers in the network, they will charge you only the network negotiated fees for COVERED expenses. 2. I am unfortunately unable to comment on this particular matter - whether hospital charges are fair or not. That is generally a national level healthcare issue. You placed a link to a good article. It was informative for me too. I suggest that you follow the advice given in that article and you inquire with your local hospital what your costs will be for a particular type of treatment. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us at any time.