Travel health insurance for US citizens visiting USA
Answer these questions to find the best insurance plan for your needs (International travelers, students, all US visa’s and Schengen visa).Insurance for US citizens visiting USA
Are you a US citizen and living outside the United States? You might be in a conundrum as well as medical insurance coverage when you are visiting the US? This is because travel insurance plans or health medical insurance plans that are usually meant to cover people traveling outside their home country. In this context, one assumes that US citizens live in the United States. Therefore we see the brochure has the eligibility wording stating "US citizens traveling outside US" or "Non US citizens coming to the US or any other country"... This sadly excludes US citizens who live overseas and want to visit the US.However as we know well, there are many US citizens who live, work or study overseas. They visit the US for a short period of time during holidays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, vacation, visiting family and friends…and at the end of the short period of time they go back to the country that they live in. Some travel insurance companies assume that US is the home country for US citizens regardless of where they live. The insurance plans offered by these companies do not satisfy the need of US citizens visiting the US. In this situation even US domestic health insurance companies do not help as they offer short term insurance only for US residents and for longer time periods like 3 months, 6 months, 1 year or 2 years.
However there are some other private travel insurance plans who offer coverage for US citizens living abroad and visiting US for a short term. These plans are available to them as long as they are temporarily visiting US and are returning to their home country.
Some of these plans include:
Normally, insurers do not want to cover US citizens in the US because laws regarding domestic coverage are completely different than those which only cover short term travelers. If you are a US citizen, most policies will have you enter the US as your "home" country. If the US is your home country, then you will not be eligible for coverage in the US. However, two companies namely International Medical Group (IMG) and Global Underwriters allow you to distinguish your "residence" country from your "destination" country while still entering your country of citizenship as US.
- These plans offered by IMG are: Patriot America and Patriot America Plus.
- These plans offered by Global Underwriters are: Diplomat America and Diplomat America LongTerm
- The Patriot America Plus plan is particularly good for persons under 70 years of age with pre-existing medical conditions that could become an unexpected emergency during their travels. This plan offers coverage up to the maximum of the plan for what is called "acute onset" of a pre-existing medical condition up to the maximum purchased for the plan. However, for persons over 70 or without such pre-existing medical conditions, the Patriot America plan has a greater option of maximums with better pricing.
- Patriot America and Patriot America Plus are available for applicants currently residing outside US, must have resided outside US continuously for the past 6 months and must have a current health plan in force.
- The Diplomat America plan can be purchased for as little as 15 days and cannot be renewed, but has a better price than Diplomat America LongTerm and can be purchased with a lower maximum ($50,000 or $100,000).
- The Diplomat America LongTerm plan must be purchased initially for at least three months. It can be renewed or extended as needed and is available with a $500,000 or $1 million maximum.
Travel medical insurance for Puerto Ricans visiting mainland United States
Most residents of Puerto Rico are US citizens, and as US citizens traveling to the US, the available travel insurance options are extremely limited. One of the best available option is the Round Trip Series offered by Seven Corners. The Round Trip Series offers three levels of coverage:Economy, Choice, and Elite.
Puerto Ricans can insure trips abroad as well as away from home in the US. The Round Trip insurance covers travelers while on the trip as well as protection for a set amount of non-reimbursed expenses for your trip. Puerto Ricans can choose a low amount to insure if the primarily need is for health coverage during the trip. The Round Trip plan also have pre-existing condition coverage; please see the details for each level of the plan. You can compare the SevenCorners Round Trip plans here.
