Medical Travel Insurance for U.S. Citizen traveling to the U.S.

May 8, 2018 9:22 AM

I'm looking for an medical insurance plan I can buy for 10 ten days that will cover me while I'm in the U.S.

I am a U.S. citizen who is living abroad. I have local medical insurance that covers me in the country where I live and would cover 50% of medical expenses while I'm traveling in the U.S. However, I like buying additional insurance for trips in case of emergency. I used to buy an insurance through Seven Corners called Liaison International, but they recently switched plans and don't have anything that will cover a U.S. citizen who is traveling to the U.S. anymore. Does anyone have experience with other plans? Thank you!

posted by Lingasol to Travel & Transportation (5 answers total)

I'm in the adventure travel business and our company recommends Travelex. Go to the website and you can plug in your country of residency and you can get an online quote. I've had a few clients who have had to file claims with them and they were very quick and helpful. I'd recommend contacting them and asking very specifically what you are looking for so they can help you choose the best option for you and explain the fine print.
posted by HeyAllie at 10:42 AM on May 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Not sure which country you're in, but in Canada I've used various travel insurance providers for my wife and kids (all US citizens), including BCAA and Costco. They've never asked about citizenship at all, they only care that you're a resident of your home province (BC, in this case) and covered by insurance there.
posted by borsboom at 10:44 AM on May 8, 2018

I think that your US citizenship is a red herring here. You're a resident of a foreign country, right? I think that's all most local insurers will require despite Seven Corners policy. Looking over the eligibility terms of a popular insurer in the UK, I can find no evidence they care about your citizenship.

In which case you can and probably should buy insurance from a local travel insurer in your country of residence. This is optimized for catastrophic stuff and the emergency room while on holiday, not the ongoing chronic illnesses domestic US insurers have in mind (which drives up prices). And regardless their prices will be cheaper because your risk of needing ruinously expensive US healthcare is pooled with other people traveling to cheaper countries.

If you were in the UK I would suggest whatever MSE currently recommends. Many of those providers will operate in other countries.
posted by caek at 1:30 PM on May 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Well dang, I used to use the same Seven Corners plan every year for Christmas.

In any case, I always bought it through Insubuy, which always provided some peace of mind as it specifically asks for citizenship. Looks like there's only a few different available now (U.S. citizen traveling to U.S.) but I've used the site itself for a few years running.
posted by lesser weasel at 10:01 PM on May 8, 2018

I have had to do this - UK/US citizen but live in the UK. I have used 'Holidaysafe' from the UK as a one-off and also 'Coverwise' as that includes US in it's global multi-trip package. Both were easy and quick but most multi-trip packages restrict you to trips of less than 30 days. I think Coverwise has packages for people living outside the UK too.
posted by sedimentary_deer at 8:36 AM on May 9, 2018