Short-term Insurance for U.S. Visitors
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Short-term Insurance for U.S. Visitors
May 2004
Hi there,
My parents are coming to visit the United States. They will be
staying with me for almost 6 months and they wanted to be
covered Health wise in case of a major medical emergency. They
don’t have any pre-established condition, but they are over 60
years old (60 and 64 to be exact). I’ve contacted all the major
health insurance companies like Blue Cross, Keiser, etc… but
they all require a social security numbers (which, as turists my
parents don't have) to provide insurance or a period of 3 month
(sometimes 6 month) wait for coverage. And… boy… they are
expensive! I ran out of options and I am hoping someone out
there has a great idea or a reliable company that they could
refer me to.
Thanks in advance!
Adriana
I work in the industry and there aren't that many short-term
policies out there beyond what you described. I recently saw an
analysis of short-term plans and you are basically looking at
Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and Health Net. Although there are
notable plan variations between them in terms of deductibles,
coinsurance, and prescription drugs, there are minimal premium
differentials. You can also try going to
www.ehealthinsurance.om, www.temporaryinsuranceplan.com, or
www.insurancesaver.com. Those are three you can trust. Blue
Shield is the overall leader in the short-term market, but
Health Net relaunched its QuickNet plan and is trying to make
headway. I am surprised you can't find anything that will cover
the full six months - I would think most would cover that time
period. The ss# issue - hmmm, that will be extremely difficult
to get past. The last alternative I can think of is to treat
your situation by looking for ''travel insurance'' coverage and do
your research based on travel or tourist coverage.
Good luck!
Lily
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