Health Insurance questions for US citizens returning to the USA for visit

[livinthailandos]

I'm wondering if any US citizen has experiences with any health insurance companies that have actually covered you during emergencies in the USA when you were visiting. I am needing to buy short term health insurance when visiting the USA, however I don't know which companies I can use. Lots of health insurance companies will not cover health insurance for US citizens visiting the USA, by the way I am not wanting travel insurance. Here are a few things to help provide additional details

Here a few things to note: 
1. I am a US citizen
2. I'm not old enough to be considered for medicare, i'm under the age of 45
3. I will be staying in texas for 60 days
4. I need a Health Insurance Carrier that will cover me incase of emergencies
5. I do not reside full time in the USA, I live overseas 10 months of the year

Look forward to any responses, ideas

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I dealt with all those issues last year on my annual trip back to the States.

 

Basically it boils down to two choices, AFAIK.

 

1. A lot of the Thai insurance companies offer short-term, relatively low cost health travel insurance that will cover you in the U.S., assuming you're living in Thailand. The downside is the benefits are relatively meager with low coverage amounts especially by U.S. medical standards, and often only cover emergencies, but not non-emergency needs. Pacific Cross Insurance is one of those, among others.

 

2. Then, there are at least a few insurers that will provide travel health insurance to Americans living outside the U.S. who return to the U.S. for travel. The company I ended up two years ago was World Nomads and their Explorer plan that ran about $165 for two weeks that I was staying.

 

https://www.worldnomads.com/

 

But this past year, when I shopped around again, I found what I considered to be a better package of coverage thru a company called IMG Insurance and their Patriot Platinum International Plan  with a maximum $1 million USD coverage, with a so-called citizenship return rider that allows you up to 2 months coverage in your country of citizenship, in this case, the U.S. My two weeks of coverage came to $158. Their rules require you to have lived outside the U.S. continuously for 6 months prior to your travel AND have a existing Thai policy.

 

The policy includes a wide range of deductible amounts that you can use to adjust your premium costs. Their policy covers regular medical, not just emergencies, includes inpatient and outpatient coverage, and also covers sudden and unexpected recurrence of a pre-existing condition. The policy also includes other elements of insurance for trip interruption, accidental death and dismemberment, and smaller stuff minor coverage for identity theft, lost or stolen luggage, even sudden dental emergency.

 

https://www.imglobal.com/travel-medical-insurance/patriot-platinum

 

 

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

I also use IMG. For the US you want coverage even for outpatient given how expensive it is.

Knock on wood, I have not had occasion to use it yet.

Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I'd never heard of them before, before my research this past year. But it turns out, IMG is a well known, well regarded travel insurance provider. You can find a lot of info on them on the internet, in addition to World Nomads and their coverage.

 

In the case of IMG, they were also able to write a similar policy for my Thai wife traveling with me to the U.S. that also provided her a lot better coverage than her own modest Thai med insurance policy would have provided.

 

[Sheryl]

IMG does direct payment within its provider network so no need for reimbursement.