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This has been my experience with visitors insurance and the help I received. I had purchased IMG visitors insurance for my parents. Unfortunately, during my parents visit to US, my mom had to be admitted into hospital for 3 days. I followed all the protocols of the insurance company, by informing them as soon as my mom was taken to ER and then admitted into the hospital. I gave all the insurance details to the hospital and various doctors office. The bill for 3 days had come to approximately $15000. After filing all the claim forms, along with all the reports from the hospital, the insurance company rejected my claim. I then contacted the Insubuy manager and informed him of the situation. I also forwarded him the details of the claim. He helped me in this situation and he spoke to the representatives of the IMG insurance company. Finally my claim was approved and paid. I would like to thank you for helping out in this difficult situation. Since, then I have been buying all my visitors insurance (parents, in-laws, sisters, etc..) through Insubuy. His service is very prompt and always willing to answer any question you may have. I would recommend him to anyone. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

1. Annual. 2. Prescription drugs are covered as part of the medical expenses. That means, you have to pay 20% for the first $1,000 just once for any combination of dr. visits, hospital stay and rx drugs. 3. After the effective date, as long as there are no claims filed from day 1, Protection America: Fully unused months minus $25 cancellation fee. (This is mentioned in the brochure.) Liaison International: Pro-rated duration minus $50 cancellation fee. Here, unused means early departure. If you bought for 6 months and stayed in US for 6 months, you completely used the insurance and there is no refund in that case. 4. Both. 5. A. Not for Dr. visits. Just for inpatient/surgery etc. And in an emergency, you don't have to first call. You can call within 48 hours or as early as reasonably possible. B. No. C. Same timings in both companies. Anyway, it does not matter based on answer 5A. D. There is no guarantee of benefits in any company. Even in the domestic group health insurance that I get through my employer from Aetna has no guarantees. Precertification is more accurately described as prenotification. You just have to call the insurance company and let them know that you are going to do such & such so that they are better prepared in case the hospital calls to confirm the benefits. Insurance company's claims dept. determines whether something is pre-existing condition or not based dr. opionion, attending physician statement, medical records and treatment details. That is done only after the treatment and when the claim is submitted. That is exactly how domestic companies also work. Just that you don't realize that because most of things are covered in group health insurance. Even I get some things denied in group health insurance if it does not happen to be covered procedure. E. Certificate wording has the official policy details. It is little bit more detailed than the brochure. It is not available online. Contact us and we will make it available to you. I hope this answers your questions. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us at any time or post them here. Based on ur reply i shall go with protection america. looking at the provider directory the list of provides atleast in bay area seems to less for protection america compared to liaison. But on your web-site IMG/protection america is listed as the largest provider network. could u please clarify this part ? is it because the liaison provider directory is not accurate but just lists all provider OR the people who accept Protection america in California (San Jose) area is less ? would appreciate it if u could clarify asap as i need to make a purchase today. thanks Also didnt understand the *pay once* - part in ur reply for the 80/20 rule, have listed 3 cases below, could u pls clarify which one of it it is. "That means, you have to pay 20% for the first $1,000 just once for any combination of dr. visits, hospital stay and rx drugs. " If patient makes say following expenses for example CASE 1 total expense (insurace pays/ patient pays) --------------------------------------------------------- outpatient - 200$ (160/40$) rx - 50$ (40/10) outpatient - 100$ (80/20) but for this case ------ CASE 2 expense1 - 5000$ (4000$/1000$) ONCE since patient hit 1000$ expense2 - 1000$ (1000$/0$) patient pays nothing. is this what u are trying to say ? ---- CASE 3: guess *NOT* this as this means, patient incurs all expense for first 1000$ and only after that does the insurace starts paying. expense 1 - 200 (0/200) expense 2 - 800 (0/800) UNTIL total hits 1000, insurance pays nothing expense 3 - 500 (500/0) only nowthe insurace coverage starts. ---- thanks Answer for posting 2 from Isha -------------------- That's not true. I just searched within 10 miles of 95120 (San Jose, CA). I found 1382 providers in Protection America, while I found 752 providers in Liaison International. I am sure you were not search properly. Some times, the same provider is listed differently in different plans (such as family practice or internal medicine or primary care physician. e.g., if you search using the term family practice, and one plan lists most of those types of providers as primary care physician, you would see less no. of doctors in family practice, but does not mean there are indeed less doctors.) Answer for posting 3 from Isha. ------------------------------ Case 1: This is correct Case 2: This is correct Case 3: This is NOT correct

Protection America always covers everywhere outside the home country, including USA. We ask the question 'USA' or 'International Including USA' on the home page of our web site simply because we have some plans (other than Protection America) that are USA only. Therefore, those plans would not show up if you choose 'International Including USA'. However, for Protection America, you will not see any difference whether you choose 'USA' or 'International Including USA' on the first screen. First screen is simply the filter to choose among many plans. You should make the effective date one day prior to their departure date from India. e.g., if they are leaving India on Jun 18, have the effective date Jun 17 as the insurance is effective according to the US Eastern Time. I am planning to buy insurance for my parents. They will be travelling on june 22. Questions 1. Is it ok to have insurance on early june22. 2. They will stay till july8. If they like it they will stay longer. Can I buy for 14 days and then extend if they stay longer. Mother age is 55 and father is 63.5. 3. Please let me know the premium for 14 days and for 4 months for mother. 4. How the medical card will be delivered. thanks Applesingh I am assuming you would like to buy Protection America. 1. In order to cover during the travel time as well, you need to start the coverage one day in advance. Coverage starts according to 12.01 AM Eastern time on the day you specify. And when the flight leaves on Jun 22 early morning at 3.00 AM for example, it is just 6.30 in the evening of Jun 21. 2. Yes, you can purchase for as little as 5 days or any longer duration you like. You can also renew for as little as 5 days or any longer duration you like. 3. Premiums depend upon the policy maximum you select (such as $50,000, $100,000 etc.) and the deductible you select (such as $100, $250, $500 etc.) Please visit /patriot-america-lite/medical-insurance/ and enter the duration you like and the age. You will see prices for different options. 4. As soon as you make the purchase, you will get a virtual id card in the email. Actual card will be mailed to you the next business day which takes around 3 to 5 days for the post office to deliver. You can also pay extra $20 to be delievered overnight but that is not necessary. I hope that answers your questions. If you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us at any time or post them here. Narendar, Suppose I buy it for 4 months and my mother leaves in 2 months. Will I refund back. Assume in first 2 months, she files 1-2 claims. Apple There would be no refund if there is any claim at any time. If you are not sure how long the person is going to stay, you can buy for shorter duration and then renew it by paying $5 renewal fee, in addition to the premium. Please explain this : An insured person must only satisfy one deductible and coinsurance within each yearly coverage period Before insurance company pays anything, you have to first pay the deductible once. After you pay the deductible, insurance company pays 80% for the first $5,000 in medical expenses, you pay 20%. That 20% for first $5,000 is called co-insurance. No matter how many times you renew the insurance for how long you keep the insurance, you need to pay the deductible and co-insurance only once in that 1 year. As you recommended, I bought the protection america plan. When I will get the actual card. I have removed the certificate numbers from your post to protect your privacy. If you bought the insurance today, the cards would be mailed to you tomorrow. And it takes around 3 to 5 days for post office to deliver regular first class mail within USA. My parents are planning to travel to Canada and then visit US and i am planning to take an insurance for them.I see that Protection America is $1341 and Patriot America is $1194. The only diff in these two i see is that Protection America offers for 'Hospital indemnity'. 1) Is this the only diff ? 2) In general how is Patriot America compared to Protection america when it comes to claims and re-imbursement ? I would like to go for Patriot instead of protection . Is it a good plan to go for ? Please let me know. Thanks Prashant I would definitely recommend you to buy Protection America. Please read to understand why. My parents are planning to visit Canada and US and i am planning to take protection America with the 'international including USA' plan. Is protection America a good plan to cover when in Canada or is there a better plan for Canada ? Would it be good to take 2 different insurance plans, one specific to Canada and other only for USA ? Please advice Thanks Prashant Protection America covers anywhere outside home country. Therefore, it is good for both USA and Canada. In fact, that is the only visitors insurance that has PPO network both in USA and in Canada. You said that Protection America is the only insurance which has PPO network both in USA/Canada. But when i compare Protection America and Patriot America , both the insurance plans show 'International PPO' as covered. Prashant But there is no PPO network in Patriot America within US. Read carefully at /international-medical-ppo-network/ It clearly says in bold "There is no network for Patriot America from IMG. Link to First Health PPO network is provided only for your convenience of finding a doctor." Many people never read those paragraphs before proceeding to search for the providers. In fact, US PPO network was added into Patriot America and new name was given to it, Protection America.

I am sorry to read your painful story. I not Indian and therefore, I don't know what kind of protection you have or where you can complain in India, how efficient or practical that complaint procedure may be. However, if you had purchased insurance from US based company, you could complain to the Department of Insurance and they would be able to help you. You could also file a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. They may have been able to help you. But in your case, it looks like everything is handled from New Delhi, India. Looks like you are on your own in figuring this out. When you get your claims settled, if at all, I would appreciate if you could kindly write more about experience for the benefit of everyone on these forums. I think that as long as there are customers who are looking for lot of coverage at very low price, there will be companies who promise to offer that and take their money. In my opinion, insurance is a promise for future that needs to be delievered in case of unexpected. It is easy to make promises, but difficult to fulfill. Everyone must realize that after all, insurance companies are paying you from what they collect from many like you. After deducting their operating expenses, agent commissions and profits, they would be paying the claims. Insurance companies don't have unlimited amount of money to pay the claims. Money doesn't grow on trees. You definitely need to watch if the premiums are low and there is lots of promised coverage. Otherwise, there will be many more 'Krishnans'. I hope everyone understands this logic and makes appropriate decision accordingly. Very sorry to hear your story Krishnan. I was too in a dilemma to buy an insurance from india or from the US. Infact the insurance plans available from india are very cheap compared to the US plans. But i guess it will defintely make you pay the price later. Thanks for sharing your experience. Hope you get all your claims as soon as possible. My claims are still pending. No success. What a mistake we made by purchasing ICICI Lombard insurance. Dear All, ICICI bank is no way safe to keep saving in to our account .ICICI Bank Credit Card Division with their DSA and collection agent having a great association with bank it self to impose any offer policy without customer confirmation and will charge in your statement .till you contact customer care and clarify they will impose heavy interest charges.and soon you will get life threat from their agents, you will not be able to do any thing.If you refuge to pay they will find your saving account In icici bank and with the help of icici bank network and create forged request AUTO DEBIT FACILITY for payment and on-line they will transfer your saving money amount to credit card account. i mate around 100-125 persons every month . So it is my request to all of the Existing ICICI Bank INDIA customer to Pl maintain bare minimum balance in your account and transfer your saving to other bank account which is safe .Like PNB,CITI Bank,UTI BANK Etc. Because you can not get any help from Police also as this type of fraud and cheating is not having any restriction and Law against them in India. VARUN SHARMA A Experienced Customer I have called many times on phone,no response for email.I am sending this again and again.I am submitting this complaint to india's leading web sites. ----- Original Message ----- From: vinay@ukrate.com To: info@icicilombard.com Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 2:44 PM Subject: HARRASMENT Re: RE:'ICICILom=001-188-902' RE:'ICICICARE=018-851-468' i got cheated-Complaint I am sending on other email id.I allready called two times from patiala to bombay for about 20 minutes.I feel so much cheated.Despite Emails and phone calls no response fromyou till date. first time they said System has problem.Second time they said they are not able to solve the problem on phone and asked me to write email. i emailed so many times,and till date only one response that policy will be cancelled in 7 days. I want to ask why i have beed issued policy? the answer i get that you have given approval on phone but i never gave any such approval. Now i give you 7 days to look into the matter.If you prove that i have given approval on phone i will donate Rs 100000 (one lac) to the ICICI Lombard. Give me a phone number to talk to senior Person . I will make 10000 calls to your company at my own expenses. But i will not let you simply say "sorry". Vinay ----- Original Message ----- From: vinay@ukrate.com To: CustomerSupport Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 2:03 PM Subject: HARRASMENT Re: RE:'ICICILom=001-188-902' RE:'ICICICARE=018-851-468' i got cheated-Complaint Sir, I want to know how you have given live insurance without getting approval from me.I never gave approval on phone.I feel i get cheated. i get two letters by post saying that "a purchase against your credit cardno ... converted to equated monthly installment" for a total sum of RS.11040. I called two times on customer care. Yes recently i get call from ICICI insurance persons,I never agreed to them for insurance.How can u do this without my approval.This is very serious. How can u insure a person without taking his consent. I feel really bad . I feel cheated. When i asked them to cancel it they gave me two numbers of my complaint 1. 1186939 2. 1186942 Now i want to cancel my credit card. I asked them to cancel it but they said i cannot till issue resolved.I am patient of blood pressure. I am harrasad by you people for nothing wrong i have done. You cannot compell a person to take a medical family policy.How can u issue a policy automatically.I feel that who so ever has done this is bad.I Have two policies allready of Rs 3 lac with ICICI.I was thinking if this kind of harrasment you will give to people,you should remove your logo"we value your relationship with icici bank". Still i am confused.At first i thought some one misused my credit card.The letter i get donot show its for insurance policy.You donot know how much i feel harrasad. I am not a big man,but a ordinary customer.If you cheat people like this ,this is very bad. I have allready called 2 times on customer care from patiala to chandigargh for 30 minutes.Once they said system is not working.Do you think i am free here and have no work to do. Secondly your company is so big and if after writing this letter you people donot look into matter only God will hear me.If you want i can donate this money to you,but donot atleast cheat.Show me approval i gave. Without any approval i have been issued insurance policy.Its allready 3 days and no call from your side.I am very worried I donot know how you handle so much customers complaint.Without any information how can you issue a policy to customer. You are harrassing me,No doubt you will cancel policies in 7 days but what about mental harrasment to me. I am a teacher ,i thought ICICI bank is a good bank now i see how good you people are. It was my mistake that i have taken credit card of ICICI bank and taken policies of ICICI prudential,and also i will advise all my students and teacher not to opt any policy or credit card of ICICI bank. I am writing all this out of harrasement i feel.I know for such a big bank loosing one customer is no harm to you. And i thank you so much for giving me this oppurtunity well in time,otherwise it may be late.Now for life i swear i will not take any policy of ICICI. Tommorow i am giving complaint in news paper and will go to consumer court also as you are not able to solve my problem. Vinay Garg ph 9815611999 ----- Original Message ----- From: CustomerSupport To: Vinay Garg Sent: Wednesday, July 26, 2006 12:56 AM Subject: RE:'ICICILom=001-188-902' RE:'ICICICARE=018-851-468' i got cheated-Complaint Dear Sir, Greetings from ICICI Lombard This is with reference to your mail dated July 25, 2006, we wish to appraise your request for Personal accident policy cancellation would be processed in the next 7 working days. If you need any further assistance, please feel free to write to us and we will be glad to assist you. Assuring you of best services always Customer Support Team ICICI Lombard General Insurance Limited. -----Original Message----- From: ICICI Bank Customer Care (customer.care@icicibank.com) Date: Tuesday, July 25, 2006 03:39 PM To: customersupport@icicilombard.com (customersupport@icicilombard.com) Cc: vinay@ukrate.com (vinay@ukrate.com) Subject: RE:'ICICICARE=018-851-468' i got cheated-Complaint Dear team, Please assist. Dear Mr. Garg, As per our telephonic conversation, we have forwarded your request to the department concerned. Regards, Pavan Kumar -----Original Message----- From: vinay@ukrate.com (vinay@ukrate.com) Date: Monday, July 24, 2006 11:09 PM To: customer.care@icicibank.com (customer.care@icicibank.com) Subject: i got cheated-Complaint Sir, i get two letters by post saying that "a purchase against your credit cardno ... converted to equated monthly installment" for a total sum of RS.11040. I called two times on customer care. Yes recently i get call from ICICI insurance persons,I never agreed to them for insurance.How can u do this without my approval.This is very serious. How can u insure a person without taking his consent. I feel really bad . I feel cheated. When i asked them to cancel it they gave me two numbers of my complaint 1. 1186939 2. 1186942 Now i want to cancel my credit card. I asked them to cancel it but they said i cannot till issue resolved.I am patient of blood pressure. I am harrasad by you people for nothing wrong i have done. You cannot compell a person to take a medical family policy.How can u issue a policy automatically.I feel that who so ever has done this is bad.I Have two policies allready of Rs 3 lac with ICICI.I was thinking if this kind of harrasment you will give to people,you should remove your logo"we value your relationship with icici bank". Still i am confused.At first i thought some one misused my credit card.The letter i get donot show its for insurance policy.You donot know how much i feel harrasad. I am not a big man,but a ordinary customer.If you cheat people like this ,this is very bad. I have allready called 2 times on customer care from patiala to chandigargh for 30 minutes.Once they said system is not working.Do you think i am free here and have no work to do. Secondly your company is so big and if after writing this letter you people donot look into matter only God will hear me.If you want i can donate this money to you,but donot atleast cheat.Show me approval i gave. Vinay Garg ph 9815611999 We always buy insurance for my parents when they travel to US to visit us. Last trip my mother was hospitalized in ER as her sodium level fell dangerously low. Since she was admitted to the ER - they did not charge anything to get her admitted and treatment upfront. She had never had this problem before and was not a preexisting condition. After 7 days - she was discharged. The doctors wrote that this was not a preexisting condition. We had been in touch with ICICI Lombard throughout the ordeal and they had assured us that all costs would be covered as per the Insurance agreement. We submitted all the paperwork - before my parents back to India via email and fax. We also submitted all papers in India as soon as my parents landed in Delhi. Once they knew that my parents were back in India they rejected the claim saying that this was a preexisting condition. The US hospital could not sue us for the money as the patient was my mom and they could not reach my parents for the money ($5000 ) since they were now in India. We were enraged since the hospital had taken great care of my mom and so we wanted to fight for the hospital to get the money back - also since we had paid for the insurance this was just a slimy trick by ICICI not to give the money. My husband emailed saying that he wanted the Doctor's name who had denied the claim. As soon as he said that - they said that they will compensate the amount. For the out of pocket claim of $2000, they only paid my mom $300 for the first clinic visit where they had recommended that she be admitted to the ER. Now back in the US - they never paid the hospital the $5000 that they had said in email that they would. So my husband forwarded all the emails to the hospital billing department as well as copied ICICI Lombard on it. At last when they realized that we could expose them in a court or media they paid everything but $20 for TV in the room to the hospital. So now - I am never going to trust travelers insurance from India - I would rather have a high deductible of a $1000 and buy one from the US. Those who have had the misfortune of dealing with ICICI Lombard in the US. here is what you must do - maintain an email trail in US and in India and make sure that you copy everyone (hospitals, doctors, ICICI Lombard, Claims agent). Keep sending them emails once a week and anything they say verbally to you, write in an email and send it to them saying that this was what was siad on the phone. Also when they reject the claim - to ask which doctor has made the recommendation to reject the claim - most of the times they just say that so some %age of people would just take their word for it and not challenge them - and thus ICICI make an illegal and immoral profit. Of course you must also make sure that your claim is valid and the doctors here will back you up. Next - Make sure that you clue in the hospital to how these guys operate once the treatment is over, it is always better to have the full weight of the Hospital Billing Department behind you in the fight to get your claims taken care of. Please fight for the hospital if they do not pay them. I have taken an overseas travel policy in Chennai for a travel to US for 6 months. Based on the policy’s refund procedure, I am eligible for a refund of the unused portion (3+ months) because of my returning back to India. I am a senior citizen, and I had to talk more than 6 times with the customer service of ICICI Lombard, in vain, and till date I have not received the refund, even after escalating the details to the grievance people as advertised in their website (Three names are mentioned), however, they do not even have professional ethics to respond to customer query. I am old enough to raise this battle legally, and with such a pathetic customer service, I would strongly not recommened anyone to take any of ICICI Lombard’s policies. In case of any requirements as to details of this case, I would be happy to provide. I have paid around Rs.19000 in terms of premium amount, on which, almost half of the amount is eligible for refund for non-usage, as per the policy terms. There are no claims or whatsoever against the policy, however, I got a response from a customer service professional - Pankaj Chettri, that I have claimed an amount of 300USD! If this is the case, ICICI should be paying me this money back! However, this cannot happen, as there was no such claim. I am getting a sense that ICICI enters in fradulent transactions similar to what I have quoted above, and probably, some bigger fish is yet unrevealed. If you want to waste your money, energy and time, get disrepected and cheated, you have to knock at ICICI Lombard for a policy. Subbiah, Overseas Travel Policy Holder of ICICI Lombard (Oct 16 - Jan 20) I would strongly with the views of Mr.Subbaiah. I had taken insurance from ICICI-LOMBARD but closed the policy earlier as my in-laws returned earlier than planned. 1. Customer support does not respond promptly. 2. So far(after 4 months), I have only received the refund for my father-in-law but not for my mother-in-law. Customer support says amount is credited back to my credit card - but it is not. When I asked customer to verify again and provide me more details on the refund, they want me to share my credit card statement to prove that I have not received the credit. What absurdit is this ? My credit card statement is personal and confidential and I dont have to share it to prove that I have not receive the credit. Cant ICICI-LOMBARD check its own accounting records to see if a payment is credited or not ? 3. ICICI-Lombard site has a complaint/greivance section where you can escalate these issues. However, that never works. When you submit, it prompts to enter Bank Name but there is no such field on that screen. I submitted this also to customer support to fix the error but no response/action. In essence, you cannot even escalate any issue other than emailing the dumb 'customersupport@icicilombard.com'. Never trust ICICI Lombard. Regards,

Look at my answers at https://www.immihelp.com/forum/visitor-medical-insurance-for-usa/17193-medical-insurance-for-old-parents?t=16709

You can buy the insurance here but it will NOT cover your gastric bypass. It will be considered as pre-existing condition and no plan from any company covers that for visitors to USA.