Health insurance for US citizens visiting US while residing abroad?
August 5, 2019 4:30 PM   Subscribe

I've been researching this question a bit and I'm having a hard time finding reliable information for how to obtain health insurance in my situation: 4 months ago I moved abroad for a Ph.D. program, and gave up my health insurance from the US. It was going to cost about $600/mo on COBRA to keep my former employer's health insurance plan, and I have excellent insurance in the country where I'm studying at $60/mo, so it didn't make sense to keep my insurance in the US. However, my family and friends all still live in the US, and I would like to visit the US for a few 2-3 month periods in the coming years.

The first thought was to look at travel insurance, but I discovered that most plans do not cover you in a country where you have citizenship. There is one plan I found that is specifically for this purpose, IMG Patriot America plus (https://www.visitorscoverage.com/patriot-america-plus-insurance/) but when I was reading the terms of this policy there were several confusing aspects. When I search online, I can't find any posts from anyone who has used this insurance, and the reviews I find on google seem mostly to be on marketing sites. Has anyone used this plan or a similar one?

My other option, I suppose, is to look on the health marketplace in the US to find a plan for these periods. However, it seems like all of these plans are $300-400/mo minimum, and I'm not sure whether I would be able to end these plans after only 1 or 2 months.

How have others (living abroad by US citizens) handled health insurance when visiting home? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
posted by unid41 to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
IMG was what I had when I lived in Costa Rica 15 years ago, but IIRC it had a limit on the number of days per year that you could spend inside the US as well as a very high deductible. But it's definitely a legit company and was recommended by a few guidebooks for expats.
posted by Jacqueline at 5:05 PM on August 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


Short term health insurance. You might be the only person for whom these are a good idea - they get lots of criticism because they aren't subject to requirements under the ACA and generally don't cover things like preventative care or maternity costs or preexisting conditions. But in your case, you can always go back to your country of residence for those needs. I plugged in my information to a couple sites (I was able to find quotes without offering my email address or anything beyond age, gender, and zip code) and got plans at $50-$200/month, depending on the deductible and cost sharing options. Generally you renew the policy monthly.
posted by exutima at 5:59 PM on August 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


You might want to double check with your insurer. Here in Mexico, at least, it is not uncommon for a health policy to include limited international coverage. It might be a bump to what you're paying monthly now but still make sense compared to the alternatives.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:40 PM on August 5, 2019 [1 favorite]


My IMG plan has a set number of days back in the US. I think it’s two weeks per year. Last year when I had exactly this issue past the two week IMG period, I called https://www.travelinsurancecenter.com/ and they referred me to a travel insurance plan that could meet this need.
posted by Skwirl at 12:40 AM on August 6, 2019


I believe that World Nomads will cover you outside your country of residence, so your citizenship shouldn't matter.

Their policies definitely are travel insurance in that they won't cover extensive treatment unless you need it in order to be well enough to get home. So if you would want to remain in the US (where your family and friends are) if you had a major medical crisis, they're not right for you. However, if you'd want to return to where you are now, you might want to have a look.
posted by inexorably_forward at 1:18 AM on August 6, 2019


Just wanted to second what Tell Me No Lies says: check with your current insurer in your country of residence, and if they won't cover you check with other local insurers. (And ask the people you know locally - especially in academia there will be people who've needed temporary foreign insurance.)
posted by trig at 1:26 AM on August 6, 2019


Expat here. I use World Nomads as it is based on country of residence.
posted by jrobin276 at 2:10 AM on August 6, 2019


Our insurance covers us for when we go back to the US. We are coming from Germany - check with your insurer.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:17 AM on August 6, 2019 [1 favorite]


Seconding local short term insurance policies. We use these when my (foreign) in laws come to visit. Check out InsuBuy.
posted by duoshao at 5:14 AM on August 6, 2019


Also use World Nomads here. It's not so much about citizenship as it is about residency. If you're resident in another country, that's OK. (That said, never had to claim before!)
posted by heavenknows at 8:31 AM on August 6, 2019


I'd worry about open enrollment if you were going to buy on the marketplace. I'm not sure how that would work.
posted by kathrynm at 4:01 PM on August 6, 2019


My expat brother's German insurance covers him while he is here visiting us, for example.

It is very, very worthwhile finding out what is covered by your new health insurance in a more medically sane country. Even if the baseline plan has restrictions, it should not be horribly difficult to add an inexpensive codicil to cover traveling.

About the only times that I have heard of a real need for more expensive insurance taken out only for visiting another country, it is to cover things like helicopter medevacs out of the Atacama desert and the like: specialty insurance for remote locations.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 4:36 PM on August 6, 2019 [1 favorite]


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