Insurance for old parent - please, need your input!!

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kittenKat

Registered Users (C)
Yes, I know this question was discussed number of times, but... Friend of mine (resident soon to become citizen) plans to invite her elderly dad to US. She searched and found those "visitor" insurances (http://www.insurancequest.com/International/us_visitor/index.html). $1,905.93 for 181 days of coverage for 70 years old, OK with pre-conditions, up to $60K in coverage and so on...

Could it be possible true??! I remember checking insurance for elderly residents and they couldn't even get it with pre-condition. Is it something I'm missing here?
 
kittenKat said:
up to $60K in coverage and so on... Could it be possible true??!
Click to expand...

An elderly individual with a serious health incident that requires hospitalization and surgery can rack up $60K in medical bills in under a week. What then?

It's also worth noting that these are typically for visitors to the US, not residents.
 
It's only short-term insurance, and the coverage amount is very low (just barely enough to do an emergency surgery and stay in the hospital for a few days to recover). That's why it's available.

If they're only visiting and not immigrating, and their home country has a government-run health system, it is possible that their government will pay for emergency treatment required in the US.
 
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kittenKat said:
$1,905.93 for 181 days of coverage for 70 years old, OK with pre-conditions, up to $60K in coverage and so on...
Click to expand...

This is only for visitors. For a regular resident, the amount will be about 5-7 times (for 6 months, based on two of my relatives in their 70s), with a fairly high co-pay (25%?). I dont know the amount of their coverage.

60K is real peanuts in terms of medical costs. A simple, 10 minute ear tube insertion surgery, costs about 7k. So you can guess how much it would cost for anything significant...
 
I see.. So it looks real, but medical emergencies will be really high. Thanks for input! I certainly will explain her the situation.
 
There is a significant difference between a visitor's policy and a resident's policy. At least one company offers a visitor's policy with limited emergency coverage for a pre-existing condition. Most resident's policies - if available at all - have very strict preexisting condition limitations. The high rish insurance pool in my state can have premiums over $4,000 per MONTH per person for some age/gender combinations.

There is a company that offers a "bridge" policy for new residents. It has very limited coverage as well.

Once a person can buy into Medicare, the premiums per person per month are less than the high risk pools but are still significant for most families.

Once one has signed the affidavit of support, the govenment can come back after the signer for reimbursement of payments made on behalf of the sponsored person.

One needs to note that a large number of bankruptcies are caused by health care expenses.
 
I talked to someone who is fairly well versed in risk assessment in health insurance and he said at 70+ (with pre-existing conditions) you are looking at about 7-10k a month with a good coverage. Irrespective of your monthly premium you are looking at a high co-pay. There aren't many options available for older residents and the onus is on the sponsor to provide the necessary support (which is tough!).
 
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