Health Insurance for Visitors to the U.S. with Pre-Existing Conditions

Health insurance for visitors to the United States with pre-existing conditions is critical, even if visitors insurance doesn't cover all pre-existing conditions.

The United States is a popular destination for visitors, and millions of people visit every year. As the United States is a vast country, many visitors who travel from halfway around the world will stay for several months to tour the country and spend time with family.

Many elderly relatives have pre-existing conditions. As not all pre-existing conditions are covered by visitors insurance, many people wonder whether it is worthwhile to buy visitors insurance at all. After all, they feel they would most likely need coverage related to problems stemming from pre-existing conditions.

Pre-existing conditions are medical conditions that existed before the effective date of the insurance, irrespective of whether the person was aware of them or not and whether the person was treated or not. When the person receives medical treatment while on the trip, the insurance company's claims department determines whether a particular incident was related to pre-existing conditions or not based on the physician's report and medical records.

There are several plans that cover acute onset of pre-existing conditions.

Even though you may not be worried about your pre-existing conditions, and even if the specific disease or treatment you desire may not be covered, you should still purchase visitors insurance for these reasons:

• Unexpected Events

  Life is unpredictable. There are many medical conditions that you may not have thought of that may occur while traveling abroad. Travelers commonly get a cold, the flu, a fever, pneumonia, diarrhea, an upset stomach or food poisoning. Some people may fall in the bathroom or while walking in the snow, as they are not used to dealing with it. Accidents and injuries can happen at any time. In other words, visitors insurance is for unexpected and unforeseen events that may occur after the effective date of the policy.

  Some customers argue that the probability of something entirely new occurring is very low, and they are right. That is precisely why the insurance company can afford to collect a small amount of premium from many people and make substantial payments to those who have legitimate claims. Many people buy car insurance, but everyone does not get into a car accident. Many people buy homeowner's insurance, but not everyone's house catches fire. That is the basic concept of insurance.

• Travel Benefits

  In addition to emergency-medical coverage, visitors insurance plans often provide travel-related benefits, such as trip interruption, travel delay, loss of checked luggage, loss of passport and AD&D coverage.

• Emergency Medical Evacuation

  While traveling abroad, if you get seriously sick or injured where adequate care cannot be given, visitors insurance can make transportation arrangements to transfer you to the nearest medical facility where proper medical care can be provided. Even though the United States has excellent medical facilities, it is a vast country. If you are traveling on a highway or traveling in the mountains or another remote location, not all facilities are available everywhere.

  Of course, no visitors insurance plan pays to transport you back to the home country just because you need treatment for excluded pre-existing conditions.

• Repatriation of Remains

  In the unfortunate event that a visitor passes away while visiting the United States, visitors insurance can make arrangements to transport the remains back to the visitor's home country for burial or arrange for local cremation.

• AD&D Coverage

  Visitors insurance plans usually provide accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) benefits. These benefits are usually increased if the accidental death occurs while traveling in a common carrier (public transport).

In short, even though visitors insurance does not provide coverage for everything you may need while visiting the United States, it is still vital to purchase visitors insurance as health-care expenses are incredibly high in the United States.

Of course, make sure to read the certificate wording of each plan to understand the specific details. The above description only generally describes the benefits, and all benefits are not included in all visitors insurance plans.