Medical insurance for tourist visa holders?

More often than not, I am asked if it’s advisable for a tourist visa holder to get health insurance for the US visit. This is a very thoughtful question that could best be answered by the individual himself depending on his overall health, existing medical condition, the kinds of activities he will be doing here in the US, and other factors.

As a general rule, it’s always a good idea to insure future risk and mitigate liabilities in cases when untoward and unforeseen events happen. By having someone else absorb the negative impact of a dire circumstance such as death, disaster or medical emergency, the insured has at least some degree of cushion that minimizes cost and damage. If a tourist visa holder goes to the US but suddenly finds himself in an emergency room because of a major health crisis such as a heart attack or even a minor one such as diarrhea, there is always financial cost expected to be paid by the B2 holder. With no health insurance and a very expensive healthcare system, it’s safe to assume that medical bills could easily amount to thousands of dollars.

As a caveat, I’m not saying that every tourist in the US should obtain medical insurance. I leave it to the individual to ascertain for himself whether he should get one. In case where he decides to have one, here are a few tips I’d like to share:

1.) Investigate the company offering the medical insurance. Make sure it’s reputable and is known in the industry. You don’t want to pay a company that will leave you in the dark when you need it the most.

2.) Check your deductibles and co-pays. Ask the insurer how much if you still have to pay out of pocket for visits and hospital stays. You may have to shell out some costs as your co-pay.

3.) Find out how much is the total coverage of the medical insurance. Is it per incident or is the coverage for whole duration of your stay?

4.) What is the scope of coverage. Does that include urgent care visits only or does it also include ER, surgery, labs, treatments therapy, medications, and even dental and vision insurance?

5.) Does coverage also include other states and stopover countries? When does it start? Does it start only when you physically arrive in the US or does it take effect when you depart from the Philippines?

Being in a foreign country is already a stress in itself. The last thing you want to do is to find yourself in a hospital worrying about how to pay your medical bills. On the other hand, there are innumerable tourist visa holders who went to the US, had so much fun, and came back to the Philippines with no incident at all.