Visitors Insurance for Parents from India
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You will want to have visitors insurance for parents from India when your parents visit. As a parent, you always want to visit the United States from India to see your children. With the tickets booked and the visa approved, the next thing on your list should be a visitors insurance plan. Visitor health insurance while visiting the USA is a must have. Travel takes a heavy toll on the body. INF claims data shows that the stress of international travel will cause a sickness in the first 6 weeks after arriving from your home country.
Avoid the financial burden of large medical billsVisitors to USA do not want to financially burden their children in case anything happens to them. This is why having a visitor insurance plan when you visit from India is so important. Visitor Medical Insurance helps cover your hospital bills should a sickness come about.
Indian Parents visiting USA should also be mindful of their pre-existing medical conditions- which are often excluded by most plans. If you enroll in a plan without full pre-existing condition insurance for parents visiting the USA- your medical expenses may be quite large! Most insurance companies will promise emergency medical coverage with plan maximums of $500,000 or even $2,000,000, and charge a very little premium for that. |
INF Plans provide visitors insurance for parents from India traveling to USA
We all want the best coverage at the lowest price- but as you may know there is no free lunch in America! Providers who offer high policy maximums for low costs will almost always exclude pre-existing conditions.
It's important to make sure you find the right plan which gives you the coverage you want, and the peace of mind you need. |
Should I buy Pre-Existing Coverage for my Parents visiting from India?
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Yes. An article by the Tribune India states, "...Indians more prone to diabetes, premature cardiac complications...", with almost 62.4 million people in Indian currently affected by diabetes, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research. Parents who have diabetes often have high blood pressure too, which can put an additional strain on the body.
The strain is made greater after international travel, as they body adjusts to new climates, diets, waters, and air. Historical data on Indian travelers lets us know that most international visitors are susceptible to a few common sicknesses- such as contracting a Urinary Tract Infection, developing a toe infection, suffering an episode of low blood sugar, or feeling light headed. Many of these symptoms or sicknesses can lead to thousands of dollars in medical costs for you if you do not have a proper visitors insurance policy for your parents traveling from India. If your visiting parents from India have blood pressure or diabetes- you should get a plan that covers pre-existing conditions. But which type should you enroll your visitors options. There are two main options: Acute Onset of Pre-Existing Conditions, and Full Pre-Existing Plans. |
Watch below Bala & Raghu's experience with INF Plans
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What is an Acute Onset of Pre-Existing Conditions?Acute Onset of Pre-Existing Conditions are emergency sicknesses caused by an existing medical issue. Pre-Existing conditions include diabetes, blood pressure, kidney problems. thyroid, rheumatoid arthritis, knee or back pain, etc. Any sickness that was existing before the policy began is going to be considered a pre-existing condition for visitors insurance.
Acute Onset of Pre-Existing Conditions are very rare- and you will be hard pressed to get any benefits paid from an acute onset plan. The main reason is that insurance companies do not define what "Acute Onset" is- so they have the legal ability to deny claims saying a sickness was not acute onset or was a pre-existing condition. Plans which cover acute onset of pre-existing conditions are cheaper than full pre-existing plans, because medical expenses very rarely qualify for claims payment underneath the policy. If your parents are visiting from India- we advise you to be wary of enrolling in an acute onset of pre-existing conditions plan. Most providers who offer acute onset of pre-existing conditions plans have terrible customer experiences when it comes to claims. Moreover- some of their former clients have even sued the providers for false advertising the pre-existing condition coverage and make claims too burdensome! Not to mention- all other visitors insurance uses Non-Admitted Unregulated underwriters who are based on offshore tax havens in the middle of the Mediterranean. |
What is a "Full Pre-Existing Plan"?Full Pre-Existing plans cover your parents visiting from Indian with the full scope of medical benefits- and are not limited to the acute onset of pre-existing conditions. Full Pre-Existing plans will cover any in-patient, out-patient, or specialist care related to any pre-existing condition. Full Pre-Existing Plans will cover any worsening of a pre-existing condition
Full Pre-Existing Plan options are the best visitors insurance options for parents from India because they cover pre-existing conditions. These plans will provide the best insurance coverage for your visiting parents during their stay in the USA. Full Pre-Existing plans show their worth not only if you have a medical emergency, but also if you require follow up care. For example, in June 2019, and 86 year old man from Chennai was visiting his family in the Detroit area. The man collapsed suddenly and was taken to the hospital. He was diagnosed with syncope- a condition caused by a drop in blood pressure. He was in the hospital for 1 day, and the total bill came out to $30,593.43. Luckily, they had enrolled in the INF Elite Full Pre-Existing Coverage plan- which covered more than $26,000 of the total cost. Only full pre-existing plans pay large claims with no questions asked, no hassle, and are completely cashless. |
What type of Visitors Insurance should I buy for my Parents Visiting from India?
You can buy of visitor insurance in two varieties: fixed benefit & comprehensive. Both present a good value, but it depends on your visiting parents health, their pre-existing conditions, your risk tolerance, and your budget. INF offers visitors insurance plans for parents which meet any health requirement or budget, so there's no need to be worried about choosing the right plan for you parents.
Fixed Benefit Visitors Insurance PlansThe first type of plan you can get for your parents visiting the USA are Fixed (or Limited) Benefit plans. These plans pay out a pre-determined dollar amount when it comes to claims (hence the name "fixed"). For example, imagine you are at a restaurant. On the menu, you see Idli as $5 and Dosa as $10. Similarly, fixed benefit plans work on a menu called the schedule of benefits. So instead of Idli for $5, you will see "Hospital Room" for $1750, and instead of Dosa for $10, you will see "Surgery Expenses" for $5000. These are the dollar amounts a fixed benefit plan will pay.
In general, fixed benefit plans are cheaper and provide a good value. You can purchase the INF SelectCare plan for $35 a month, and may have a claim of $2,000 paid. That means for each dollar of premium you paid- you got $57 in claims paid. However, if the total bill is $50,000- you will be in some trouble since you'll have to pay the balance. |
Comprehensive Visitors Insurance PlansThe second type of plan you can get for your parents visiting from India are Comprehensive Plans. These plans pay a percentage of the total medical bill. Comprehensive coverage is preferred because although you pay a little more in premium, you are protecting against major losses.
Finding the best comprehensive visitors insurance may be difficult. Some plans offer $1,000,000 comprehensive coverage with 100% co-insurance after a $0 deductible, for a premium too good to be true. But that's just it- most of the plans out there will promise you the moon but deliver you a block of cheese! Take a look at the chart below, which shows the coverage, co-insurance, deductible, and premium for a domestic health insurance plan and your run-of-the-mill visitors insurance plan at age 65: |
Most Acute Onset Plans Don't Pay Any Claims:
Policy Feature |
Visitors Insurance |
Domestic Health Plan |
Policy Maximum (Or Out-of-Pocket Maximum) |
$1,000,000 |
$5,000 Out-of-Pocket Maximum |
Deductible |
$0 |
$1,000 |
Co-Insurance (how much insurance companies pays for each bill) |
100% co-insurance |
90% co-insurance |
Premium |
$324.00 |
As you can see, any plan that's promising 100% co-insurance is not telling the truth. No plan covering US medical expenses is able to cover such a high co-insurance at $0 deductible. It is ludicrous to think these plans will pay anything. There's no such thing as a free lunch in the USA- and that goes for insurance as well!
Which is the best health insurance for my parents visiting from India?
As we talked about earlier, pre-existing conditions afflict many older Indians who are traveling to the United States. When it comes to pre-existing visitors insurance for parents coming to the USA- we suggest to go with a "Full Pre-Existing Plan" vs. a lower quality "Acute Onset of Pre-Existing Conditions" plan. For parents visiting the US who are above 70 years old- it is especially recommended to go with some type of pre-existing coverage.
Once someone gets sick and is admitted to the hospital- the doctors will run many tests to see what's going on with your visitor- and they will find something pre-existing. We've seen claims for $18,000 in just laboratory testing (i.e. blood tests, x-rays) for a 3 day hospital stay. To be on the safe side- the best visitors insurance plan to get is going to have pre-existing conditions.
Once someone gets sick and is admitted to the hospital- the doctors will run many tests to see what's going on with your visitor- and they will find something pre-existing. We've seen claims for $18,000 in just laboratory testing (i.e. blood tests, x-rays) for a 3 day hospital stay. To be on the safe side- the best visitors insurance plan to get is going to have pre-existing conditions.
How to find insurance for my parents traveling to the USA from India?
The best way to find insurance for your visiting parents is to first understand what pre-existing conditions your visiting parents have, what your risk tolerance is, and what your budget is. Once you know the answers to these questions- it is very easy to find insurance for your parents. You can use the INF Plan Finder tool or call our office at 408-634-0065 to get personalized guidance from one of our insurance consultants.