USA Travel Insurance Guide Line
Health insurance from other countries generally isn’t accepted in the U.S. and medical care in the States can be expensive. That’s why buying visitor insurance for your U.S. trip can be a smart move.
Insurance for visitors can reimburse a person’s medical expenses if they get sick or injured during their stay in the U.S. Visitors insurance works more like traditional U.S. health insurance—with deductibles, copays, and provider networks—than standard travel medical insurance. If you need routine, urgent, or emergency medical care while in the U.S., visitor coverage can help pay the bills.
What Is Visitors Insurance?
Visitors insurance provides short-term medical coverage for non-U.S. citizens staying temporarily in the USA. These types of policies—also called travel medical insurance—are typically for trips up to 364 days. For example, visitor insurance is a common type of travel insurance for parents visiting the U.S. whose adult children live here. If you’re an American traveling internationally, you can also buy travel medical insurance, often as part of comprehensive travel insurance policies that cover trip cancellation, trip interruption, travel delays, medical costs, and much more.
Best Visitors Insurance Companies
Many travel insurance companies sell different types of visitor insurance plans to meet a range of budgets and needs. You can purchase visitor insurance online at company websites or a visitor insurance comparison site.
Insurance for Visitors Plans
Types of Insurance for Visitors
The two main types of visitor insurance are fixed insurance and comprehensive insurance. Fixed insurance offers less coverage compared to comprehensive insurance. For example, maximum coverage amounts for comprehensive plans can reach millions of dollars. However, the broader coverage provided by comprehensive plans makes them more expensive than fixed insurance plans.
Fixed Insurance for Visitors to the U.S.
Coverage Limits for Various Expenses: Fixed insurance plans have an overall medical cost maximum that the insurer will pay, along with specific benefit limits for different covered medical expenses.
Deductibles Apply Per Event: You pay an initial deductible for each injury or sickness, and the fixed insurance coverage pays for the remainder of your covered expenses.
Limited Coverage: Fixed insurance provides much less medical coverage compared to comprehensive insurance.
Minimal Trip Benefits: Fixed plan travel insurance typically provides little to no coverage for trip cancellation, delay, or interruption.
Network Flexibility: You can receive treatment from any hospital or doctor, but benefits only pay up to the set limits for each service.
Comprehensive Insurance for Visitors to the U.S.
No Sub-limits: There is no coverage cap on different medical events. Benefits for covered medical expenses have a maximum plan that the insurer will pay.
Coinsurance and Deductibles Apply: You pay the deductible and a pre-set percentage for coinsurance. For example, the coinsurance might be 20% for the first $5,000 of medical expenses. After $5,000, the plan pays 100% of eligible medical expenses up to the plan maximum. Other plans may pay 90% up to the first $5,000 and 100% thereafter.
Robust Coverage: Comprehensive insurance provides more robust coverage than fixed plans, which can be worthwhile if you’re concerned about the high cost of a medical emergency.
Trip Coverage: Some comprehensive plans provide benefits for trip cancellation, interruption, and delay.
Out-of-Network Coverage Costs More: Comprehensive coverage usually works within a preferred provider organization (PPO) network, which means higher costs if you see providers outside the network.
What Does Visitors Insurance Cover in the USA?
Visitors insurance generally works like a U.S. health insurance plan. It helps pay for inpatient and outpatient care, urgent and emergency medical services, as well as various other treatments, such as:
Emergency dental costs
Emergency medical evacuation expenses
Emergency medical treatment for pregnancy complications
Medication/prescriptions
Mental health disorders
What Does Visitors Insurance Not Cover?
Exclusions vary by policy, so review the policy for details on what conditions and activities are not covered. Common exclusions include:
Attempted suicide or suicide
Cosmetic surgeries
Elective surgeries
Extreme sports injuries
Injury or illness while over the legal limits for alcohol
Self-inflicted injuries that are intentional