Medical Insurance for VISITORS (to the USA, etc.)

There have been quite a few questions over the years about what to do for those who don't have coverage, if they want to visit the USA.

This company just came to our attention on another forum:

https://www.visitorscoverage.com/

NOTE: We know *nothing* about them, so do your own due diligence, etc.

But at least it's a place to start, and there seem to be a surprising number of vendors (surprising to us, anyway!).

GC

So I have a question. If you "know nothing about them" and have never used them, why on earth would you post it here on CC? As a general rule its just not cool to recommend companies with which one has no experience..or even knows anyone that has used the company. We never heard of this outfit so decided to do a little research. The company you posted is a California insurance broker (we have no clue if they are even licensed) who claims to sell multiple insurance products. Like you we have no way to know if they are legit, have good customer service, sell decent products, or even have a clue about the needs of visitors. From my perspective they might be the best travel insurance broker in the USA....or then again, they could be the worst.

We always suggest that visitors to the USA..first try to check in their own country with some decent insurance brokers who are familiar with available products that are licensed for sale in their own country. I spent over thirty years in the government medical insurance industry and honestly have no clue as to who offers a decent product for visitors to the USA. And while I would help on domestic policies there is no way I would consider offering advice on who a visitor to the USA should use.

Hank

So I have a question. If you "know nothing about them" and have never used them, why on earth would you post it here on CC? As a general rule its just not cool to recommend companies with which one has no experience..or even knows anyone that has used the company. We never heard of this outfit so decided to do a little research. The company you posted is a California insurance broker (we have no clue if they are even licensed) who claims to sell multiple insurance products. Like you we have no way to know if they are legit, have good customer service, sell decent products, or even have a clue about the needs of visitors. From my perspective they might be the best travel insurance broker in the USA....or then again, they could be the worst.

 

Hank

Whoa, Hank.

I learned about this from an exchange on a very good forum, one that I've been very active in for about a decade... just as we've learned about many useful resources here on CC (and some leads that did not turn out to be useful for *us*).

I logged into this, and looked at some of the choices.

*IF* I had friends/family who needed coverage while visiting the USA, I would definitely (that is DEFINITELY) want to know that there was a possible resource like this.

When I first went to www.TripinsuranceStore.com based upon a recommendation here, I didn't have any better information other than it was a POSSIBLE RESOURCE.

Ditto insuremytrip.com

Both of these are also insurance brokers. Whatever is wrong with that?

(We happen to use an insurance broker for our own home/auto policies, so they can sort through a variety of insurers for us. When I was first given their name/phone number, I was also, then, needing to "check them out".)

In fact, I don't really know *you* (or if you really have the background you claim, although I also have no specific reason to doubt it).

Yet I (and I assume many others who also don't really "know" you) have also checked out some resources you have posted, to see if (that is an IF) they might be useful.

Yup, ANY recommendations on this or any online forum could be the "best" or the "worst", and that will likely vary from person to person.

And we are all well advised to do our own due diligence, just about all the time.

(I suppose if DH told me I could "trust some source/vendor", I'd accept that. But from any online source or even "just an acquaintance"...? no, I'd double check, etc.)

Meanwhile, we personally are pleased to know about this POSSIBLE resource, as we do have dear overseas friends who may be visiting at some point. In the recent past, we've always been visiting them overseas, so this hadn't come up for a long time.

?????

GC

I might even trust your DH :). But when it comes to Europeans (or others from outside the USA) using brokers in our own country, I am very cautious on making a recommendation. As I said, for most the best starting place is to speak with experts within their own country (especially if in the EU where they have some consumer protections that we do not enjoy here in the USA). Purchasing a product from a foreign country has lots of potential problems in case something goes wrong with a claim. For starters you would be dealing with a company that may not be licensed to do business in your own country...which could leave you in legal limbo in the event there is a "disagreement." If you live in France and have an issue with an insurance broker in CA....where do you go for government support or legal support? Perhaps I worked in the industry too long...but color me a skeptic until its proven otherwise :).

We recently have been dealing with our own insurance issues (our first major travel medical claim in our life) and our claims involved more then 2 months of back and forth, phone calls, e-mails, etc. I cannot even imagine doing that with a European company. There are many advantages to dealing with folks in your own back yard.

When Europeans have asked us for insurance advice (it has happened a few times while we were on cruises or traveling in Europe) we always advised to check with brokers and companies licensed to do business in their own country. While not necessarily the best final solution we think it is the best initial advice. We also told some of these folks that if they could not find a policy to cover them in the USA...to e-mail use and we would make some inquiries. But it has never happened as, to the best of our knowledge, they found what they needed among EU products.

Hank

I might even trust your DH :). But when it comes to European (or others from outside the USA) using brokers in our own country, I am very cautious on making a recommendation. As I said, for most the best starting place is to speak with experts within their own country (especially if in the EU where they have some consumer protections that we do not enjoy here in the USA). Purchasing a product from a foreign country has lots of potential problems in case something goes wrong with a claim. For starters you would be dealing with a company that may not be licensed to do business in your own country...which could leave you in legal limbo in the event there is a "disagreement." If you live in France and have an issue with an insurance broker in CA....where do you go for government support or legal support? Perhaps I worked in the industry too long...but color me a skeptic until its proven otherwise :).

 

We recently have been dealing with our own insurance issues (our first major travel medical claim in our life) and our claims involved more then 2 months of back and forth, phone calls, e-mails, etc. I cannot even imagine doing that with a European company. There are many advantages to dealing with folks in your own back yard.

 

Hank

That's precisely what "due diligence" is for, including checking licensing, just as with any travel insurance "lead".

But it helps to have *some* place to try to start, vs. being high and dry with absolutely nothing as a start.

We remembered several queries about just this issue, and nothing offered as even a starting point.

[Also, most of the requests we remember seeing (here and elsewhere) have been from someone in the USA who had relatives visiting, and the entire family was worried about the high health care costs here... This was also the context in our other forum discussion.]

Your initial response harshness was unbecoming. And unwarranted.

GC

That's precisely what "due diligence" is for, including checking licensing, just as with any travel insurance "lead".

 

But it helps to have *some* place to try to start, vs. being high and dry with absolutely nothing as a start.

We remembered several queries about just this issue, and nothing offered as even a starting point.

 

[Also, most of the requests we remember seeing (here and elsewhere) have been from someone in the USA who had relatives visiting, and the entire family was worried about the high health care costs here... This was also the context in our other forum discussion.]

 

Your initial response harshness was unbecoming. And unwarranted.

 

GC

Ok, I will be nice and apologize for any perceived "harshness." But I stand by my post in that folks should first look within their home country for insurance options...before dealing with foreign entities.

Hank

Ok, I will be nice and apologize for any perceived "harshness." But I stand by my post in that folks should first look within their home country for insurance options...before dealing with foreign entities.

 

Hank

I certainly agree with you about this (check within home country) AND also *lots* of due diligence whenever insurance is involved. There is certainly much more at stake - or there could be - than if one has a souvenir widget that breaks soon!

But that does go for USA based travel insurance as well.

As you are no doubt aware, there are so many complaints from folks who didn't understand the terms, or what it all meant, or didn't know what to ask, etc. And that's separate from companies that seem to have, er, "difficulties" paying claims... (although some of those are also because the person making the claim didn't seem to understand all of the documentation needed).

Point is... insurance is *complicated*, and it can be so very critical!

(Actually, that is why we recommend contacting a broker, who can both answer lots of questions and also make comparisons/recommendations about policies from several insurers. Again, that's how we started, based upon a suggestion here from some anonymous poster on an internet forum. And we had a major claim the first time we used travel insurance... and several other times, unfortunately. We are forever grateful to those on CC who made those recommendations back in 2013.)

GC

The issue with US/Canadian travel/trip/travel medical insurance is really complex for most folks. We often post here about those issues. What complicates things even more (especially for those in the USA) is many folks have no clue as to the coverage (or lack thereof) they have when they travel. And then we have cruise lines and travel/cruise agencies which all push specific insurance products which may or may not be adequate for the needs of the cruiser/traveler. We are amazed at how many folks we meet that simply buy whatever is "pushed" at them...without any knowledge of what they have purchased. It is only when they need to file a claim that they discover they may not have the necessary coverage.

Our pet peeve is related to so-called Trip/Travel policies which use a "cancel" or "cancel for any reason" as a marketing item...while providing wholly inadequate medical protection. We often post that any travelers potential liability for trip cancellation is limited to the cost of a trip (and possibly a few other related expenses). Everyone can actually afford to pay for their own cancellation...since they were obviously going to pay for that trip anyway. But the potential liability for medically related issues is UNLIMITED....and can quickly bankrupt any but the wealthiest folks. We recently had our own travel medical issue ( a first time event for us) which resulted in total bills that exceeded $30,000. And this was a relatively minor medical claim (which involved outpatient surgery and evacuation). A major claim can easily exceed $100,000...which should be enough to frighten any traveler into paying more attention to their medical insurance/evacuation protection.

Hank