Health Insurance for Parents

[ras]

I know this has been discussed zillion times on these forums. Parents health insurance is one big concern for many of our immigrant folks in here. Things have been changing and so does the insurance companies plans.

How are people on this forum opting for the health insurance companies?

A few suggested on this forum to get Insurance in USA for parents than in India. That would be good but how about the travelling insurance in that case. Does the USA company Insurance cover the parent travel too?

My father has pre existing health issues like Renal Failure. Now he is okay. So to say from insurance point of view he has pre existing health problems. So in that case will he be covered for any untowards health issues in USA under the plans? Even if it is little expensive we want to go for a comprehensive insurance plan that covers all the scenarios. Does any one have suggestions on the best way to go about this?


is it that we have to take the insurance before starting from India or we could take even after arriving in USA? Are there any separate health insurance plans for just travelling?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[mmk123]

No insurance here covers pre-existing conditions. sorry... Others can correct me, but only india network plan covers emergency conditions that arise from pre-existing conditions.. at least better than nothing. Hence, plan accordingly. You can still get expensive plans with a better coverage but still they don't cover any pre-existing conditions. Regarding normal situations, one of my friends had good experience with them for one of the claims.. pls note, i have nothing to do with them and not a PR for them.

if you shop more, you should get a comprehensive plan that covers everything but will be interesting to see how affordable it will be..

hope this helps, good luck.

[vin13]

I have had a bad experience working with ICICI Lombard insurance. Issues i had with ICICI

1) They do not have any rates negotiated with US hospitals. I have seen when your insurance does not have a negotiated rate, an emergency room can cost upto $5000 vs a negotiated rate of $1000 (based on real experience). But there is a cap on how much ICICI will pay for each kind of service which means my out of pocket would have been quite a bit.

2) ICICI will not pay directly to the hospital. You will have to pay the bills directly to hospitals in the US. Take the bills to India where it will be further evaluated. You could potetially sit with thousands of dollars paid and in limbo. I do not have that kind of money to shell and wait

3) For pre-existing conditions, they will only consider paying for any emergency situation. Once the patient is stabilized, the insurance does not cover for any cure of the pre-existance condition.

So my experience with indian insurance has been bad. I have not bought any insurance yet from US for my parents. But i am more inclined towards buying insurance in US even if i have to pay a little bit more.

[mundada]

I am in similar situation as my parents are coming this year.

Couple of years ago there was a "no question asked, including pre existing condition" insurance, though expensive but it covered everything. However, this time when I talked to insurance consultant, it appears few people misused the insurance to the extent that the company went bankrupt. This is what she said: let us say the patient needed bypass surgery. The patient would buy one month insurance and return ticket. This would cost him $2000. Upon arrival in the US, he would complain about chest pain. Then pay $1000 in deductible and get bypass done. The total cost $3000!

However, because of this misuse geniune people do not have this option anymore.

Here is what I am thinking:
1. Buy Atlas America insurance. This covers pre existing condition upto $15,000. This also gives us negotiated rate with hospitals in the US.
2. Addon foreign travel on Mediclaim or other insurance that they currently have in India. Opt for Rs. 7 lakh deductible. This should lower the insurance cost. Also, try to talk to the insurance company and see if it will reduce rate further because its is secondary insurance.

Let me know if you guys see any hole in the logic or you have better alternative. I would rather pay more in insurance and enjoy my parents stay then worry throughout their stay.

[roseball]

Folks,

Appreciate any feedback on personal experiences with visitor's medical insurance coverage. My in-laws are planning to visit this summer and I am trying to see what would be the best available option out there based on your recent experiences. There are plenty of options and I am trying to find one which the hospital/doctor can file a claim directly to or which have negotiated rates and are easy to deal with after we file a claim for reimbursement. I have read that buying insurance in US is preferred over buying from India. Any comments on that appreciated as well.

Thanks for your feedback.

[krishmunn]

Originally Posted by vin13

I have had a bad experience working with ICICI Lombard insurance. Issues i had with ICICI

1) They do not have any rates negotiated with US hospitals. I have seen when your insurance does not have a negotiated rate, an emergency room can cost upto $5000 vs a negotiated rate of $1000 (based on real experience). But there is a cap on how much ICICI will pay for each kind of service which means my out of pocket would have been quite a bit.

.

Was this a recent experience ? ICICI claims to have a network through United Health Care; not sure if it is true .

As for US v/s India, none of the US insurance companies selling these travel health insurance are licensed and regulated by US authorities. Most , if not all, of these are underwritten by carriers at Lloyds of London.

I would say there is not a single travel insurance company (US or India) which provides good service.

[shivarajan]

beware: all fancy insurance coverage (which supports some of other forums) are for the most part scam and/or accident insurance and not health insurance at all. They promptly might have paid petty claims here and there and that's it.

Pre-existing condition is more than what u think of, aka pretty much everything is a preexisting condition per them. (Just that you or the patient was not aware of it but the condition existed already, think about it). All these thingy covers is accidents like a slip/broken limb et el.

Once a big ticket claim(s) comes-in they won't get paid, and couple of them followed by few suits, they rename themselves with yet another fancy name and the process repeats.

stay away from these fancy crooks, who are same as desi body shops looking for avenues to make $$. Check ur local state's health insurance commissioners website, where are are ways to get nice/reputed insurance (american) for your parents (albeit u may need to struggle to get few letter from ssa office stating no medicare a/b avbl. for this person blah blah due to absence of ssn)

good luck!


ps: It will be interesting to see if at all obamacare lives to see the light, how they manage to mandate visitor's health coverage at the port of entry (in 2014).

[Brocksby]

Health insurance is major problem here in USA as the fees related to health are very high and a person with out health insurance would die as no hospital will be willing to provide medical treatment to such patient.

[nvijay78]

Originally Posted by Brocksby

Health insurance is major problem here in USA as the fees related to health are very high and a person with out health insurance would die as no hospital will be willing to provide medical treatment to such patient.

First of all let me say that this is not true. You will NOT die . While the health system in the US is obscenely expensive if you are in an emergency situation the ER WILL treat you irrespective of insurance coverage. Which is one of the big complaints against illegal immigrants about draining social service budgets.

To answer your original question I used to remember something like seven corners covering pre existing conditions but it is SUPER expensive.

[chikna]

I am on H1B. I am looking for Individual insurance for myself and my wife and daughter since May'111. I had insurance through my employer.

I have Blood Pressure, Cholesterol and Diabetes (110, started about 5 months ago). Two insurance companies denied already because of pre-existing condition.

Now I do not have insurance. Last week I went to see doctor and he advised me to do diet and excercise for 3 months and try again.

[Suva]

Can't you enroll into your employer's health insurance again? As far as I know employer's insurance can not deny an insurance due to pre-existing condition.

Originally Posted by chikna

I am on H1B. I am looking for Individual insurance for myself and my wife and daughter since May'111. I had insurance through my employer.

I have Blood Pressure, Cholesterol and Diabetes (110, started about 5 months ago). Two insurance companies denied already because of pre-existing condition.

Now I do not have insurance. Last week I went to see doctor and he advised me to do diet and excercise for 3 months and try again.

[chikna]

Originally Posted by Suva

Can't you enroll into your employer's health insurance again? As far as I know employer's insurance can not deny an insurance due to pre-existing condition.

I used to pay $530 and employer bumped up to $760. I declined because of high premium. Now I don't have a choice.

[davidoff]

Originally Posted by chikna

I used to pay $530 and employer bumped up to $760. I declined because of high premium. Now I don't have a choice.

$760 is notbad at all for whole family. Outside you won't get cheaper than that with all those benifits.

[Suva]

I suggest without delay get into your employer's insurance. To stay in USA on H1B visa without health insurance is the most foolish thing to do.

Originally Posted by chikna

I used to pay $530 and employer bumped up to $760. I declined because of high premium. Now I don't have a choice.

[waitingnwaiting]

Originally Posted by chikna

I have Blood Pressure, Cholesterol and Diabetes (110, started about 5 months ago). Two insurance companies denied already because of pre-existing condition.

Now I do not have insurance. Last week I went to see doctor and he advised me to do diet and excercise for 3 months and try again.

Ramdev Baba can teach you Yoga and you can get healthy