Sat 28 Jun 2008
Visitor medical insurance is considered to be the most important insurance considering the frequency of your travel. The management of travel and tourism industry has attributed to the rise in the number of times an ordinary person would travel.
For most people it is an idyllic alternative to spend a holiday. However there are some other reasons as well for which people travel to other countries. Some people like seeing foreign lands, while some others travel just because they have to visit their relatives. Some people also need to travel for their business. Thus traveling has become very common and therefore visitor medical insurance is being looked upon by insurance companies as a product which can get them a number customers.
Generally people would join a visitors insurance for making provisions for sudden expenses they may need to bear during their visit. Basically the idea of visitor insurance is similar to the other types of insurance like life insurance, etc. The insurance companies collect money from you in the form of premium and combine it with the premiums received from other customers to form a central pool of money.
This money is then use to pay for medical bills of contributors who may require medical guidance while you visit a foreign country. The visitor is insured till the time he continues to pay his premiums. The utility of the insurance scheme is accounted for in the manner in which it can be subscribed to. It is immaterial if you are no even physically present in order to have a policy in one’s name.
Make sure you join a plan from a company who has office or center in the country which is to be visited. Though the premiums for such countries are higher, such plans are a better choice because of the convenience of claiming for your compensation, which is guaranteed in this case. The reason why it is convenient is that the doctors or hospitals in that country accept the insurance cards of companies having centers in their country.
The doctors and clinics are generally reluctant to accept the cards of some other country or certain medical institutes may not be familiar or associated with your native insurance providers. It becomes easy for the hospitals and clinics to get in touch with the native office if any problem regarding insurance policy arises. The same thing would be difficult or even impossible if the insurance have been purchased in a foreign land.
Once visitors insurance is purchased, the insurance holder is given an identification card that needs to be displayed at the time of seeking medical assistance from a hospital or doctor. The insurance company will furnish such a clinic or hospital with written instructions for the likely medical expenses that can be claimed under the policy.
After this any claim that you make, will be evaluated by the insurance company and it will make the hospital or clinic appropriate payments on your behalf. Some companies also cover injuries under visitor medical insurance and visitor health insurance which you may have to bear because of accidents, war or terrorist activities. Depending upon the plan, the companies may either reimburse the costs you incur during the treatment or it can also directly pay your bills at the concerned clinic or hospital.