Did anyone make use of Visitor Medical Insurance?

[new_guy]

I know we all buy the medical insurance for "just incase", do we have anyone here who really make use of it? what are your real experience, which one is better? when you call them how was the response from them? is it taking days or month to pay the bills?
A real life expereince is appreciated than directing to another url!

[priya04]

Posting actual experience with getting bills paid

Hi, posting this since it might be useful for some of you:

My mom had to go to the doc for joint pains and they did thyroid tests, along with a million other tests as part of the diagnosis and the thyroid test came out hypothyroid. So, the doc said my mom's joint pains are due to low thyroid and SRI refused to pay saying hypothyroidism is a pre-existing condition. I had to get all kinds of paper work from India to show them that my mom was never treated for hypothyroidism before. SRI eventually paid for all the claims.

I bought SRI insurance b'coz a friend of mine uses the same insurance every time her mom comes here. They live in bay area. Her mom had shoulder pain and she had to get some kind of steroid shots, physical therapy etc., and SRI paid without any complaints. I think her mom had to go to a doc during her second visit also (either SRI doesn't keep records of visitors who bought their insurance or they didn't consider the shoulder pain issue a pre-existing condition, even though they paid for it the year before)

Another friend of mine uses insurance that's offered by India Health network time and again. Her father has diabetes, high BP etc., and the first they came here he had serious health issues and had to go through a lot of tests etc., and they suggested that he get a bypass surgery done (which they did after going back to India).
India Health Network didn't think his condition was pre-existing, I guess, b'coz they paid for all the tests too.

Giving you all this info, so you can get an idea. Make sure that

* your parents go for a physical check up that would test for BP, diabetes, thyroid etc., and get the records here.
* to get a letter from ur doc back home that says ur parents don't have any pre-existing conditions.
* to get ur parents to sign the paper that gives u authority to talk to the doctor's office, to get the medical records released to you etc.

It always helps to have all these in hand when u r haggling with insurance agents regarding ur claims.

Hope this information helps.

[dahlia]

Very useful. Well done.