US Healthcare consultation for visitors
I work in the US on a H1 visa and my parents are visiting me for a couple months. My mom has developed arthritis and I wanted to get second opinion from a doctor in the US.
I understand healthcare costs are really high in the US, so trying to get more clarity on the following:
- Since I work in the US on a H1B visa, is it possible for me to cover my parents under the insurance provided by my employer?
- Is there any particular visitor insurance I can take for my mom that would cover an expense like this one?
- Any idea of the costs I could incur if I am not able to find an insurance to cover this?
Best Answer
I think Zach hit the nail on the head. Insurance is not an option at this point.
If you want to have her seen by a US doctor because you perceive the quality of care to be different, then you might just want to wait for their next visit, and have her get travel abroad health insurance BEFORE she leaves on the trip.
I live in Germany, and this insurance costs under 50€/year for the whole family. I would highly recommend such insurance for absolutely everybody before travelling to the US because of the high costs of medical care there. If your appendix bursts (which can happen to anybody at any time) then you could be looking at a bill of 25k. There are a million horror stories that you can read online.
In any event, since you already know what the issue you want investigated is, then you can shop for an insurer where such consultations and perhaps even treatments are guaranteed to be covered. It seems to be that some (perhaps most) travel insurances may not cover what you want investigated because it is not a sudden illness. I'm not sure of exactly the wording in these types of insurnaces, but I might guess that they do not provide coverage for chronic conditions, like arthritis.
I would guess that to be the case for the following reason... suppose I have a bad back. What's to stop me from getting such insurance, then going to the US to let them run a battery of tests that could cost 1000s? For that reason, I would guess that travel insurnace does not cover chronic conditions.
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