According to the US president’s panel estimate, the H1N1 (Swine ) Flu could infect half of the U.S. population this fall and winter. The report by the Center for Desease control is quite alarming and goes on to predict deaths of up to 90,000 people due to the Swine flu pandemic. As you expect visitors to the US or Canada this fall, do make sure that they have proper visitor medical insurance coverage.

Swine flu will be covered by Visitors insurance as long as the insurance effective date is prior to the detection of swine flu. Make sure that visits by your parents or other family members to the US does not become a financial headache for you by purchasing visitor medical insurance

There is very limited insurance coverage for visitors with pre-existing conditions. Visitors are advised to get all details about the plan, fully understand the plan limitations and exclusions before purchasing the insurance plan. Visitor medical Insurance Plans are for temporary coverage while traveling outside your home country and has limitations when compared to domestic insurance. The main limitation is that it usually excludes preexisting conditions coverage.

What is a Pre-Existing Condition?
Any Injury, Illness or medical condition which meets any of the following criteria will be considered as a Pre-Existing Condition:
1) A condition that would have caused a person to seek medical advice, diagnosis, care or treatment prior to the Effective Date of coverage under the Policy;
2) A condition for which manifestation, medical advice, diagnosis, care or treatment was recommended, received, or noticed prior to the Effective Date of coverage under the Policy.

Who determines if an ailment is a Pre-Existing Condition?
The Insurance Carrier will make this decision after reviewing the attending Doctor’s Statement, the patients medical Records, medical history and the nature of the treatment and condition to determine if the ailment is Pre-Existing.

What are my choices for pre-existing condition treatment?
There is limited coverage for pre-existing conditions. We have detailed the pre-existing condition insurance options , as well as developed a pre-existing condition coverage compare tool .

This is a very tricky question, but one that we get all the time from our customers. Of course, each individual’s case is different and therefore needs a separate answer, but here are some guidelines that we try to give my clients.

Buy as much visitors insurance as you can afford. Unfortunately, health care costs in the US can be extremely high. A hospital stay for a basic fracture requiring surgery could cost you easily $60,000. If you are traveling to Europe and need insurance, you can probably get away with a much lower coverage. Schengen visas require 30,000 Euros coverage which is about $50,000, so this is a reasonable amount to get when traveling outside the US. Within the US, it is recommended to have about $500,000 maximum coverage and more as the client feels able.

You must balance the cost of the premium with the potential cost of medical care. Of course, health insurance is something we hope we won’t need to use. Hopefully, most trips are safe and the traveler can stay healthy for the duration. However, you have to figure out what your “worst case” scenario for costs could be and choose a level that you are comfortable with. For example, you may want to choose a high deductible $500 to $2,500 on a comprehensive policy and cover a bad accident or illness. This means that while you pay up to the deductible amount, any high expenses for catastrophic situations are better covered in these plans. An alternative option is when you may feel more comfortable purchasing a fixed policy which saves you in monthly premium payments, but may NOT fully cover a bad accident or illness. In that case, a fixed plan will likely cover some, but not all costs leaving you to pay the rest out of your pocket.

Finally, if what you are most worried about is losing the investment you have made in your travel (cruise, hotel reservations, etc), then you might consider purchasing travel insurance which allows you to insure a set value for your trip and also carries with it health insurance coverage. These policies are designed to make sure you are able to get money back from your investment in case you are injured and can’t continue your trip, a travel companion is ill, or even if you miss a connection and need to meet your cruise ship at the next port. If you think this insurance may be right for you, then we urge you to consider purchasing in right away since you can only get some benefits if the insurance is purchased within a week or so of your initial deposit on the trip.

Please feel free to call us with any questions you may have. We look forward to helping you find the insurance at the level that is right for you!

Buying your visitor Insurance online has several advantages. Listed below are some of them -

(a) The visitor insurance plan can be purchased within a few minutes
(b) Tools that we offer at American visitor insurance helps you compare plans and make an informed decision. This would take a long time if you were to talk to different insurance providers
(c) The Glossary and Frequent questions section on our website gives you resourceful answers to common questions that customer face
(d) Your online purchase happens on a secure page, and is safe
(e) Our customer support staff work hard to make your online experience a positive one
(f) You will get a prompt reminder about renewing your policy before the expiry date.
(g) There is no paperwork, and is environmentally friendly

Compare and buy visitor medical insurance plans online. The insurance plans that we offer on our website are underwritten by reputed insurers such as AIG, Nationwide and Lloyds. Visitor insurance provides medical insurance for tourists when you are traveling overseas visiting a foreign country.

If you plan to have family members such as your parents or friends visit you in the US either for a short-term or for an extended stay, ensure that you get good visitor insurance coverage for them. Get all the relevant details about tourist insurance plans and tourist medical insurance options for foreign visitor insurance coverage using our visitor insurance comparison tool.

Travelers to America who suffer from pre-existing medical ailments have very limited insurance options for their existing medical ailments. The following are some of the plans that provide some coverage for these travelers:

Inbound USA is an affordbable fixed benefits plan for visitors with pre-existing ailments. The Inbound USA plan covers pre-existing ailments up to $5,000 in coverage for Myocardial Infarction (heart attack) or Stroke. The Inbound USA insurance plan can be purchased
online at - Buy Inbound USA insurance online

Liaison Majestic Plan:
Liaison Majestic insurance is a comprehensive plan which covers pre-existing conditions for US Citizens who are covered outside US and Canada up to $20,000 and for
Non-US citizens, the coverage is Up to $200 per day for each night spent in the hospital after being admitted for either a heart attack or stroke. The overal Maximum Benefit is $3,000.
The Liaison Majestic plan can be purchased at Buy Liaison Majestic insurance online

Atlas America Plan:
The Atlas America insurance is a comprehensive plan which covers pre-existing conditions up to the age of 70, for Acute Onset of Pre-existing Condition. Coverage is available up to $15,000 for Eligible Medical Expenses and up to $25,000 for Emergency Medical Evacuation. The Atlas America plan can be purchased at - If under age 70, you are covered for Acute Onset of Pre-existing Condition. Coverage available up to $15,000 Max for Eligible Medical Expenses and up to $25,000 The Atlas America Plan can be purchased at Buy Atlas America insurance online

You can get quotes and compare pre-existing condition plans at our pre-existing condition compare tool

Visitor insurance is necessary when traveling to the US or Canada given the high costs of medical care in these countries. However while purchasing visitors insurance, it is important to be aware of all details of the insurance plan, in particular any exclusions or limitations.

Visitors insurance usually will not cover preventive care or cost of treatment for pre-existing conditions. Visitors are usually not sure of the definition of pre-existing conditions. Even though, different insurers can vary on their interpretation of pre-existing ailments, given below is a definition that will be accepted by most insurance companies definition of a pre-existing ailment.

Definition of Pre-existing condition
A Pre-existing Condition is any illness, injury or mental or nervous disorder that, with reasonable medical certainty, existed on or at any time prior to the initial effective date of the insurance, whether or not previously manifested or symptomatic, diagnosed, treated or disclosed on the application or on any claim form or otherwise, including any chronic, subsequent or recurring complications or consequences associated therewith or arising or resulting therefrom.

It is always recommended that you look at the policy brochure for the specific definition of clauses such as pre-existing ailments for given products.

There are a few plans that provide some limited coverage for pre-existing conditions. We have developed a utility which will allow you to get quotes and gives specific details of pre-existing condition coverage. Please use our Pre-existing condition coverage insurance comparison tool.

Visitors insurance for parents and family members visiting USA from overseas is very important. Health care costs are very high in the United States and Canada, and it is not worth the risk of being uninsured while visiting the country.

We work with several insurance providers to give the widest range of insurance options to visitors. To facilitate finding the correct insurance plan for your needs, we have developed a visitor insurance comparison tool. This allows you to compare different plans based on the premium rates, as well as other benefit details. You can compare as well as purchase the insurance plan online, and get the coverage to start according to your needs. Insurance your visitors while in the US and ensure that they have a stress free holiday.

The H1N1 pandemic has been spreading across the globe and there are fears of its impact in the coming months being more severe. It is prudent to take all precautions while traveling. Travelers to the higly impacted countries are strongly recommended to purchase visitor medical insurance.

There have been several queries regarding insurance coverage for the Swine (H1N1) flu for travelers. American Visitor Insurance which offers insurance for visitors to USA and Canada offers plans that will cover the Swine Flu, however the visitor health insurance plan should be effective before the visitor is infected by the flu.

If you are visiting the USA or having visitors come to visit you in the US, you need to think of health coverage here. You need to consider the following - Would the health insurance plan cover your health care costs, should the visitor be severly injured in an accident would it provide medical evacuation to an appropriate hospital, can you depend on this insurance in the event of an prolonged illness of the visitor ?

Understandably medical catastrophes are not the uppermost on ones mind while traveling, however it is important to consider visitor medical insurance as ignoring it is very risky. When you travel, you usually leave your regular health insurance plan behind. At American visitor insurance, we offer international medical travel insurance to visitors coming inbound to the USA as well as expatriate policies — health insurance that covers US citizens and non US citizens when they are traveling outside their home country.

The visitor insurance plan do not require medical tests before purchase, and are guaranteed for all travelers. The visitors insurance plans will however not cover the folowing -
(a) Preventive care - Expenses incurred for treatment to prevent an ailment, such as getting a health checkup
(b) Pre-existing ailment - Health care costs for ailments that the visitor suffers from prior to purchase of the insurance. Whether an ailment is pre-existing or not is determined by the doctor who treats the patient.
(c) Illegal acts - Medical costs incurred while involved in any illegal activity is not covered
(d) Dangerous sports - Most visitor insurance plans do not cover dangerous sport, however you can purchase an additional rider if you want coverage for a particular sport

Typical visitor insurance plans offer the following coverage

Hospital services.
Physician fees
Prescription medicines.
Diagnostics, MRI’s and X-rays.
Outpatient services.
Local ambulance transportation in the event of a medical emergency.
Medical evacuation.
Repatriation of mortal remains.

To find out about the different visitor insurance plans available, you can call us at 877-340-7910 or use the compare tool on our website at American Visitor Insurance. We work will most of the insurers who offer visitor insurance and therefore offer the widest range of products. The price or premium for the plan will depend on the age of the traveler as well the type of coverage being offered.