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Visitors Insurance, buy from India or USA?

If your relatives or parents are traveling from India to USA, a good question asked by many is whether to buy visitor insurance from India or from USA. The answer is not simple and many factors are needed to be considered before making an informed choice. At first review, many Indian-based insurance companies may present a considerable cheaper visitor insurance India quotes for a plan with same specifications; however, several other issues are necessary consideration when purchasing visitor medical insurance from an Indian or other foreign based company.

To help you navigate and make an informed choice of where to buy – India or USA, a review of the the important considerations when selecting visitors insurance are discussed below:
1. Coverage Acceptability: The prime reason to purchase a good visitor insurance for elder relatives or parents visiting USA is to have the necessary benefits and features accepted and available for use at USA based hospitals, emergency rooms, urgent care centers, physician doctor clinics or other care giver settings. If this fundamental acceptability is questioned or disputed by these healthcare providers in the case of out-of-country plans such as Indian visitor insurance, you might have to run pillar to post to prove the credibility. American visitor insurance plans are widely accepted by providers in the US and worldwide.
2. Regulatory Jurisdiction: This is a very important consideration in the event of a disputed claim. The insurance regulatory environment is not developed in India compared to the United States, whereby you as an aggrieved consumer might not get the necessary support from Indian insurance regulators, whereas US-based insurance providers are fully regulated and any claim related disputes are handled as set by rules. Further, Indian insurance regulations might not be able to protect your rights as an insured when you are traveling in a US jurisdiction. A USA based insurance company can be a better choice, since it is regulated by robust and time-tested U.S. insurance regulations.
3. Limited benefit plans: Most of the Indian visitor insurance providers offer limited or fixed benefit coverage visitor insurance plans, whereas USA based plan providers feature comprehensive coverage with a choice of plans to select from.
4. Cashless Direct Billing: With India based plans, a USA based hospital or doctor mostly do not recognize foreign insurance plans for treatment or care received in the United States. As such, cashless direct billing feature typically included in USA based plans is not available in India based plans, and you might be required to pay upfront and file the claim later with your insurance provider in India for reimbursement. However, claim processing in India is very slow and inefficient due to administrative and other difficulties, leaving you waiting a long time to get your money back.
5. Customer case and support: If you need immediate assistance with regards to confirming your enrollment or even if a certain procedure or condition is covered or not, connecting with customer support of an Indian insurance provider might be difficult as many do not offer 24/7 support which is further limited by different time zones. Being in the US time zone helps as doctors or hospitals can quickly get the question answered and confirming your policy. This could further delay care at the time of need.
6. Plan Renewability: USA visitor insurance plans can be renewed online prior to expiration, and most Indian insurance providers do not offer renewable policies. It is very important to renew the insurance plan if your parent or relative extends his or her stay in America.
7. Policy Cancellation: USA based plan are generally cancelable prior to expiration due to valid reason such as a family members return to India earlier than anticipated. Many Indian plans are not cancellable or refundable, leading to losing the premium costs incurred to purchase the policy.
8. Company Experience: Many of the US based visitor insurance providers have been offering the same plans for decades, they have built tremendous knowledge with regards to the plan features, claims handling, customer support. On the other hand, Indian insurance providers are relatively new to the field, they might not be able to provide you with comparable support.

With a through review of each of the above mentioned points, it is prudent and strongly recommended you to purchase a reputed USA-based visitors insurance for travel to USA. Always review and buy the best travel insurance for visitors to USA from a US based provider as all claims are handled in the United States only. VISOA.com has several comprehensive coverage and cost-effective plans that allow you to enjoy your visit while traveling outside home country, and provide the necessary peace of mind knowing that you are protected for costs encountered during travel medical emergencies.

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Visitor Medical Insurance for Indian Visitors to USA

Each year, many Indian citizens visit America for many reasons such as visiting theire sons, daughters who live and work in the USA. Many more people from India come to America as short term visitors on a holiday trip to visit USA and travel around America along with sightseeing and adventure trips around America. A lot of older parents and in-laws or other relatives and friends just come to America to be with thier grand children during their retired life. All these folks from India need visitors insurance India which are US visitors insurance for parents policy as the domestic medical insurance plan bought in India will not be helpful in terms of sickness/injury protection in USA. The healthcare system in America is high cost and international travelers from India visiting the United States of America can buy India USA travel insurance and happily stay in USA without worrying about the financial burden when any health related emergency or accident happens in America.

Visitor Insurance for Indian visitors to USA

The private visitor insurance India provider companies offer a host of visitor insurance USA plans to satisfy the needs of persons visiting USA from India. Travel medical insurance for visitors from India is developed by reputed visitor health insurance companies based in North America. The Indian visitors in USA need short term visitor insurance India policies that best suits their needs for their age group, and one can compare the quotes of these plans and choose among them to make a purchase instantly online. The compare tool developed by VISOA.com is user-friendly and helps visitors from India to decide which visitors insurance coverage plan to pick and choose the best visitor insurance or low-cost visitor insurance for Indian visitors traveling to America.

Visitors Insurance USA for Visitors from India

Visitor insurance India providers offer multiple visitors medical insurance to choose from that cover Indian visitors travel outside India. The visitor insurance for Indian visitors to USA is exactly the best solution and seekers can conveniently compare various visitors insurance plans online and choose the right plan that suits their specific needs for their visit to USA.

Visitor Insurance USA for Travel from India

Visitor health insurance for visitors from India visiting USA provides coverage for general benefits like hospital medical expenses, emergency evacuation, medical reunion, common carrier death benefits, repatriation of mortal remains, accidental death and dismemberment, etc. while in the USA. Also, certain visitor insurance USA for visitors from India plans offer coverage for visitors to USA from India with acute onset or relapse of certain pre-existing conditions, there are certain restrictions and exclusions, this can be reviewed in plan brochure online. This feature is essential for relatives or parents visiting USA as the basis for medical underwriting is the doctors reports that is routinely ordered from the physician who has treated the insured in USA.

Below are the Visitor insurance India plan suggestions based on age of visitors to USA:

Age below 65 years:

Ages 65-79 years:

Ages 80+ years:

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Visitor Medical Insurance from USA or India

If you, a friend or a relative such as in-laws or parents are planning to visit the United States from India, then it is a well-documented fact that you would certainly need medical protection and health coverage in the form of visitor medical insurance. It is important to discount these absolute facts as to why you certainly need the required coverage but to proactively buy visitor insurance for parents for the entire duration of short-term visit or long term stay in the USA, because of the simple reason that the health care costs are much higher in the United States when you compare them to what it would cost in India.

Visitor medical insurance is relatively a new concept for most Indians visiting USA, however more and more most people are now being aware of its benefits and it is gaining acceptance to cover such risks. Before you decide to buy visitor medical insurance for travel to the USA, it makes a lot of sense to learn more about such plan choices, the acceptability of these plans by providers in the U.S. and what does it cost to buy coverage.

This leads us the most important and common query when it comes to selecting, reviewing and purchasing visitor medical insurance – should you buy a policy from USA or India? Before you make a decision either way, you need to be fully aware of the benefits and pitfalls of this decision from either side. The majority of points are in favor of buying visitor medical insurance from United States than from India are as follows:

Any policy is as good as its acceptability in the hour of emergency, a visitor medical insurance from USA has wider acceptably with a vast rage of hospitals, doctors, laboratories, and many other caregivers included within the PPO network of many U.S. based comprehensive plans. Plans from India are limited in terms of wider acceptability in USA and some doctors or hospitals may not accept your ID card from out of country plans and you may have to pay out of pocket for the services and claim the cost after your return to India.

The USA based plans are highly regulated by the respective Department of Insurance is each state, as an consumer, you are better protected when it comes to your claims being honored. This is not the same for plans from India, it is quite common that the claim process may be delayed due to administrative difficulties, and the rejection of claims is more.

U.S. based plans offer a wide range of featured benefits and plans options that are unparallel when you compare them with policies offered by Indian companies, which have very few options and as the insured you may not find the option that suits your specific coverage needs.

When it comes to customer care and support, USA based plans feature 24/7 support that is top notch and they will go the extra mile to see that your needs are addressed. This is not the same when it comes to plans offered by Indian insurance companies; customer service is not yet advanced in comparison. Most Indian companies are new in the industry, they are either in the learning mode or just expanding their customer care teams, still they have a long way to go to be able to provide proper support as U.S. based company’s do.

USA based plans offer easy and timely renewal options, making extension of coverage dates as simple as a few clicks. On the contrary, most Indian companies do not offer renewal or have extension facilities built into these plans, the insured individual may run into a wall when it comes to extending the visit and you will be uninsured for the extended duration or you may have to buy a new visitors health insurance policy.

In any dispute arises with regards to your policy, your complaint will be routed to India. For US based plans, the policy jurisdiction is the USA and the complaint can be easily settled in United States, as you will be holding US based coverage.

The quoted cost of premiums for US based plans is slightly higher when it is compared against India based plans, but before you draw any conclusions, dig a little deeper. Indian policies are cheaper in general, but the actual cost difference may be very little if you consider the benefits offered and premium cost paid. Indian policies may seem cheaper at first glance, but may not provide adequate and well-rounded coverage that you really need and get with an US based policy.

Before buying visitor medical insurance for travel to the USA, you should learn more about the policy by reading the plan brochures. It is also prudent to buy coverage that you really need, instead of buying a cheaper policy that has no meaningful benefits included. VISOA.com features several USA based visitor insurance plans that offer top rated coverage for visitors to USA, and even for other destinations around the world. In conclusion, it will always be better to review and buy the best travel insurance for Indian visitor traveling to USA from a US based provider.