IMG Offerings : Fixed better than Full?

[radhak]

Just about to buy insurance for my parents, and have to decide between the IMG products - Visitors Card (Fixed) or Protection America.

Apart from the basic differences between fixed/full, I see that there is no co-insurance for the Fixed (which is 80/20 for full). so just in case the patients needs to be admitted to a hospital room, for which they charge $1400 per day, then the fixed plan would pay for all of it (less deductible), while the full would only pay 'less deductible, AND less 20%', making around $250 + $220 = $470 my payment per day. Am I right?

Of course, if the hospital stay is 4 days or more, then the coverages to full beyond $5000, but I don't even pay that 20% from day 1 with the Fixed coverage.

Any comments, am I missing something?

thanks,
- Radhakrishnan

[insubuy]

Your understanding is not completely correct.

If fixed coverage were better than comprehensive and if the fixed coverage limits were enough, there would be no reason for the same company to offer comprehensive coverage plan and charge you 2 to 3 times more money.

e.g., if you buy $50,000 policy max, Visitors Care covers hospital room/board at $1,400 per day. What if per day cost is $10,000? What if $15,000 per day? (These are real numbers. I am not making it just for argument sake.) You will have to pay the difference yourself.

Fixed coverage would cover surgery up to $3,300. In practice, no surgery can be performed in $3,300. It would easily cost something like $20,000, $30,000, $40,000. You will have to pay all the difference yourself beyond $3,300.

Fixed coverage would cover up to $330 for emergency room visit. In my experience I have seen ER visit costing at least $1,500 to $2,000, and more in most of the cases. You will have to pay all the difference beyond $330 yourself.

On the other hand, in comprehensive coverage plan, you will have to pay maximum of $1,000 (20% of first $5,000) plus the deductible. You can also choose 90/10 for first $5,000.
However, there is no out of pocket maximum limit in the fixed coverage plan.

Therefore, it is always recommended to purchase the comprehensive coverage plan.

I hope this clarifies.

If you have any additional questions, please feel free to post them here or contact us at any time.

[insubuy]

Read the following thread that was just posted few minutes back to understand what kind of trouble people get into when they buy fixed coverage plan.

https://www.insubuy.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26356

[radhak]

Narendra, thanks for the quick response and the detailed explanation. Looks like full coverage might be for me.

I am now seeing a logistical problem : while filling up the application form, I filled up my Florida address in the 'mailing address' area, and the screen comes up with 'sorry, this product is not available in Florida'. I had understood that the state I live in is not relevant to the insurance plan availability. Was I wrong?

thanks,
Radhakrishnan

[insubuy]

Logically, the state you live should not be relevant if you are buying insurance for your parents who are residents of India and just visiting USA.

However, Florida is a special state and IMG products are not available in the state of Florida. Therefore, you can't purchase any IMG product if you are in Florida.

Please visit https://www.insubuy.com/, make sure to enter the state 'Florida' and choose any other insurance products that show up. e.g., Atlas America, Liaison International.