Yes. You can purchase the insurance coverage on behalf of others in their absence.
Some insurance plans do refund money if given enough advance notice, however since travelers insurance is typically for a short duration, they are often not refundable. If this situation is a concern for you, you should look out for insurance plans which are renewable. Such plans are available among the plans listed in our comparison engine.
When you purchase insurance online, you will immediately receive a confirmatory email with details of the insurance. This is the virtual insurance card, and it is prudent to print this and to keep a backup of this email. You will also receive an insurance card from the insurance company by mail. This card will have your name, policy number, group number, insurance company’s contact information such as the toll-free telephone number and the address where claims should be submitted.
Purchasing insurance online is very simple. From our comparison engine, you can click on the ‘Buy’ button in the first column. This leads you to the appropriate online application form. On completing and submitting the appropriate online application form, you will immediately receive an email acknowledgement which is the virtual ID card. The coverage will start from the start date as indicated on the form. Within a week you will receive a package from the insurance company, which will include the insurance card and a hard copy with details regarding the insurance plan.
Yes you can purchase for only partial duration of the entire stay. However the purpose of purchasing insurance is in the event of unanticipated medical emergencies. One can never be sure when such an emergency can happen. Having purchased insurance for part of their stay will not help in the event of an emergency during the uninsured period.
A month is calculated as 30 continuous days from the start date requested and it can include two partial calendar months.
The minimum duration varies for different plans. This information is presented in the ‘Plans benefits’ column in our comparison engine.
No you can complete the form using the visitors passport number.
This will vary for different insurance plans. Some plans allow you to visit any medical practitioners, while others have their provider network.
In the latter case, if you visit a doctor/hospital within the provider network, the fee will be a standard rate that has been agreed between the insurance company and the provider.
However, if you visit a provider outside of the insurance companies provider network, there may be a difference between the amount charged to you and the amount the insurance company considers reasonable. In this event, you will have to pay the difference between the two.
You can get this information at the PPO network link, for your selected insurance plan. This information is presented in the ‘Plan Details’ column in our comparison engine You can also get this information by calling the toll free number of the insurance company or by visiting the insurance company web site. The toll free number should be on the insurance card that you receive on purchasing the insurance plan .
This really depends on the policy. For example if your medical bill is $25,000.
After deductible, policy covers up to a maximum of $50,000.
Here your expense is the first $100 deductible.
Thus your final expense is only $100 while the insurance company will cover the remaining $24,900.
Deductible is $100 with Maximum coverage of $50,000.
Policy covers 90% of first $5000 then 100% to the policy limit.
So your expense is the first $100 deductible followed by 10% of first $5000, which is $500. Thus your final expense is $600 while the insurance company will cover the remaining $24,400.
Our insurance comparison engine allows you to evaluate different plans based on deductible cost.
On purchasing insurance from an American insurance firm, you will receive an insurance card with details about your insurance. When you visit the doctor/hospital, the billing office at the hospital will usually make a photo-copy of your insurance card, call the insurance company to verify your policy, and will then bill the insurance company directly. You will have to pay the deductible amount.
In some instances if the medical office has not dealt with this particular insurance company, they might insist that you pay the bill on receiving medical treatment. In this scenario, you would get an detailed bill, which should be sent to the insurance company for reimbursement. International services, Inc advises policy holders to visit hospitals with in the provider network wherever possible.
Deductible is the initial amount that you are responsible for before the insurance company pays for the medical expenses. If your plan has a $100 deductible, you pay the first $100 of expenses and then the insurance company pays according to your selected plans coverage. The higher the deductible, the lower the premium cost and vice versa.
Per incident deductible: You pay the deductible every time you get a new medical ailment (either for sickness or accident) before the insurance company pays anything. Inbound USA and Inbound Immigrant from SRI have deductible per incident.
Per visit deductible: You pay the deductible every time you you visit a health care provider (doctor, hospital, laboratory etc..) before the insurance company pays anything. /
Per policy period deductible: You pay the deductible only once during the entire policy period, irrespective of how many times you get sick or injured during the policy period.
Annual deductible: You pay the deductible only once in a year irrespective of how many times you get sick or injured during the entire year.
You can email us the corrections and we will have the changes made to your policy and have a corrected policy sent to you. You can also call us at 877 593 5403 but all changes must be requested in writing.
After your deductible is met, co-insurance is the percentage of the covered medical expenses that you, the insured person, must pay.
For instance, if your health plan has an 80/20 co-insurance rate, your insurance plan pays for 80% of your eligible medical expenses and you are responsible for the remaining 20%.
Yes. The application forms are in a highly secure ordering environment so you can enroll in the insurance plans with confidence. The insurance providers use Secure Socket Layers (SSL), for transferring information to process your orders. The SSL encrypts, or translates, your order information into a highly indecipherable code, which is processed immediately. You will remain in this secure zone for the entire purchase process.
The Beneficiary is the person who receives the Accidental Death benefit if the Insured dies in an accident while insured under the policy. Typical examples of beneficiaries are your spouse, your children, siblings or your parents.
No, there is no medical test required for purchasing any of these policies. You can buy the policies online any time and get coverage from the following day.
A policy period represents the amount of time you have purchased insurance. In visitor medical insurance, policy periods can be as short as 5 days and as long as 36 months. For example, if you complete an application and pay for 3 months of insurance, the policy period for that program will be 3 months. If you renew the policy for another 3 months before the policy expired, the policy period for that policy is 6 months.
You can buy 2 separate policies or 1 policy for both. The cost for both alternatives will remain the same, in other words there will be no price differential. The main disadvantages of buying 2 policies are:
(a)You have to pay two renewal fees should you renew the policies.
(b)It can get cumbersome to deal with different companies should you choose to buy from different insurance providers.
There are however many advantages of having separate policies. They are:
(a)You have the flexibility to buy different policies for each of them depending on the specific needs of each of your parents. You might want to have different maximum coverages, different deductible or different coverage periods, all of these can only be achieved through separate insurance policies.
(b)If one of your parents returns earlier, you can claim a refund for the individual policy. You cannot do if it is a combined policy.
(c)Likewise one of your parents might extend their stay. It will not be possible to extend the policy for only one person if it is a combined policy.
When I buy the policy for more than one person, I am asked for only one passport number. Dont you need the passport number of all applicants?
For many of the insurance plans, if there is more than 1 person on the application only one passport number per family is required per application.
Most policies are renewable, however some of them are not. You can find detailed information about each policy from the links on the left of the page. Details are provided under the Renewal section for each policy. We have also provided this information under the ‘Other benefits’ column for each policy after you run a Quote.
No, there is no medical test required for purchasing any of these policies. You can buy the policies online any time and get coverage from the following day.
No, a medical examination is not required to purchase the policy. The plan can start from the next day.
UC&R (or Usual, Customary & Reasonable) Charges represent the average or most common amount charged by providers for a particular service, treatment, or supplies in the same geographic area. Typically information on rates for procedures is compiled into a data bank and updated periodically. So when a claim is submitted for a plan with UC&R benefits, the insurance company reviews the UC&R rate to verify that hospitals and doctors are not billing excessively for the particular service or procedure. Most well respected plans from Blue Cross, Aetna, Lloyds, Unicare etc. follow the UC&R schedule.
Pre existing conditions are defined slightly differently by each insurance company. Please check the brochure of the plan you wish to apply to get the most correct definition. In general pre-existing conditions are defined as injuries or sickness first manifesting itself before the start of the policy.
Health Maintenance Organization: HMOs are healthcare systems that manage both the financing and delivery of a broad range of healthcare services to a specific group of people. HMOs contain costs by focusing on prevention and primary care. In general, your medical care is coordinated and supervised by your Primary Care Physician, who must also authorize access to specialists. Coverage is usually limited outside the HMO service area, unless it is an emergency situation.
Preferred Provider Organization Plans (PPOs): In this type of managed care plan, providers (hospitals, physicians and other healthcare practitioners) agree to provide services at negotiated fees. You are allowed to go to out-of-network providers, but you receive greater benefits if you stay within the network. For example, the plan may pay benefits at 80 percent within the network, but would reduce payment to 60 percent if you see a non-PPO provider. Generally, you have direct access to specialists, but there are some PPO plans that require you to obtain a referral from a primary care physician (PCP).
Point of Service Plans (POS): POS plans combine features of both HMO and PPO plans. You can choose how you access the plan each time you need treatment. If you choose to use the HMO network, your PCP coordinates care, and your out-of-pocket costs are minimal. If you choose to go outside the HMO network for care, you may select your physician, but you will have to pay higher deductible and coinsurance charges.
A physician, such as a general practioner or Internist chosen by an individual to serve as his or her health-care professional and capable of handling a variety of health-related problems, of keeping a medical history and medical records on the individual, and of referring the person to specialists as needed.
Yes, you can change your PCP subject to the rules of your Insurance company. You can select a new PCP and inform your insurance company about the change.
This is a number given to each patient, it refers to a file which has all the records of your prior tests, ailments, treatments. This number makes it easy to track your appointments and is also a reference for your doctor.
Hospitals provide urgent care and emergency care services to provide emergency treatment when the doctor offices are closed and in life threatening situations.
Emergency services are those services required as a result of unforeseen injuries or acute illness, for which a delay in treatment would result in a permanent physical impairment, or loss of life. Some such situations include heart attacks, strokes, poisonings, sudden inability to breathe etc.
Urgent care includes less serious medical conditions which require immediate attention but your doctor office is closed or you are unable to make an appointment. Some such situations include fever, fractured bone, any cuts which require immediate attention, etc. Insurance companies will pay for Emergency service charges only for incidents that are of emergency nature.
PPO is a network of physicians that have agreed, by contract, to discount their rates for the respective PPO members. These physicians, specialists are known as preferred providers, and PPO members are free to see any of them, without any reference from their primary physicians.
PPO members may also see non-contracted providers, these are known as non preferred providers. The co-payment fee for seeing a non preferred provider is generally higher than the preferred providers.
Travel insurance from credit cards is usually limited to coverage for car rental damage, flight accidents or for accidental death while you are traveling. Also, this protection is in effect only when you pay for travel with that particular credit card.
Most credit cards do not offer any coverage for travel medical expenses, evacuation costs, or trip cancellation expenses.
International Travel Medical Insurance provides health insurance coverage for travelers outside their home country. This coverage includes emergency medical expenses, emergency medical evacuation, repatriation, return of dependent children, bedside lodging, accidental death, cost of return flight, and more.
While the regular domestic private insurance or government sponsored health insurance programs may offer comprehensive coverage in your home country, few are designed for international travelers or expatriates. Even programs that cover international travel often provide limited benefits that do not normally cover medically supervised emergency evacuation, emergency reunion, or repatriation.
Yes most of our policies include Baggage loss, Trip Cancellation , and Emergency Repatriation. cover medically supervised emergency evacuation, emergency reunion, or repatriation.
The insurance companies are rated by an independent rating company A.M. Best rating. For all the plans, each insurance company’s A.M. Best rating is displayed.
Pre-existing condition refers to any injury, disease or illness occurring prior to the effective date of your insurance.
A deductible is a way for the insurance company to reduce claims and your premium. If your plan has a $100 deductible, you pay the first $100 of expenses and then the insurance company picks up the rest/ The higher the deductible, the lower the cost and vice versa.
Yes, you can do this as long as you complete the application online.
For Travel Medical, Multi-Trip Medical and Medical Evacuation Policies, coverage begins at 12:01AM the day of your departure. If purchased on, or after your departure date, coverage begins at 12:01AM the following day. For Flight Accident Policies, coverage becomes effective the day of your departure upon boarding your flight.