ICICI Lombard - Is this the same as Coris? How good/bad is it anyway?

[ouster]

Hey guys,
Any help would be appreciated.
I see a lot of complains about ICICI Lombard. I'm planning to bring my mom here and she's 70. I want to know how good the insurance is. My mother has no pre-existing conditions that we are aware of.
If she needs to see a doctor here, how acceptable is the insurance? I spoke to an agent in India and he told me that it was pretty good. He did specify, however that I would have to go to a "Hospital" as opposed to a doctor's group, or a physician. This sounded a little silly to me as I don't think I would want to bother with checking hospitals if ever the need to go to see a doctor arises.
Anyone here has experiences dealing with this specific insurance as compared to any american insurance? How good is the acceptance of an american insurance?
From the cost perspective, ICICI Lombard is comparable to the quotes that I've got from the american insurance companies for comprehensive policies on this site, so no great advantage there.
Any views would really be appreciated.

[insubuy]

ICICI Lombard plan is administered by Coris in USA, to the best of our knowledge. Therefore, any experiences you know/heard/see about Coris may generally apply in case of ICICI Lombard as well.

Before buying any insurance, you need to make sure few basic things:
* PPO Network: Most comprehensive plans from US have PPO network. e.g., Protection America (IMG) has First Health PPO network. It has got very huge number of providers in the network(some 475,000 doctors, and 4,500 hospitals in US). Very widely recognized PPO. When you go to those providers, they will bill insurance company directly and charge you only network negotiated fee.

Whenever you buy insurance, you have to ask whether there is any network. If they say, you can go to any doctor, you have to ask "I can go to any doctor. But who is going to accept it?" If they say, everyone. Then, first ask the hospital where you have to the insurance from, where claim is going to occur and whether they would accept it, bill directly or not. If they say no, no matter what agent/insurance company says, it is not going to help you.

* Insurance card: As most of you know, whenever you go to the doctor, first thing receptionist ask is 'give me your insurance card' which you get if you buy from US. Ask any company whether they issue any such card. In absence of such thing, providers would generally be not willing to bill insurance company directly, and rarely overseas.

* Claims/administration: Even if the claims are adjusted in US, ask whether
administrator has actual reserve of money to pay or they have to get it from insurance company first. And if later is the case, if administrator in US can't first pay you/provider until they get money from actual insurance company. And all that can take time, sometime months, and meanwhile, collection agencies may already be after you.

* Customer Support: Ask about working hours for emergencies, and for admin hours. Whether there is any toll free number, whether you have to call the insurance company overseas before going to the doctor etc.

* Coverage type: Make sure you understand whether the coverage is fixed or comprehensive. This is not explained many times. Some times, coverage is comprehensive below some age (like 55) and fixed after some age(e.g. above 55). Please clarify that first.

* Cost: While this is an important factor, please do not make it the only factor into consideration before buying it. Many times, what you pay is what you get.

* Renewal: Ask whether the plan is renewable in case you are not sure how long the person is going to stay. If the person is initially planning to stay for 6 months, and decides to extend for another 6 months, whether the policy can be renewed. (To the best of our knowledge, Indian law does not allow any insurance company in India to insure person for more than 6 months who is staying/visiting abroad.)

* Refund: Ask whether there is any refund in case of early departure from US because of whatever reason.

Also, please read https://www.insubuy.com/visitor-medi...ance-overview/ that will help you understand the process.

If someone is saying that you need to go to hospital instead of a doctor, check whether there is any outpatient benefits (such as doctor's office visit, outpatient prescription drugs, x-rays etc.) are covered or it is just hospitalization coverage.

And whichever agent you are talking to (US or India), ask them whether they are licensed insurance agent, what kind of professional experience they have. If you are buying through some travel agent in India, he may not be aware how healthcare system works here in US.

Also, from whomever you buy, ask what kind of mediation or representation or other support someone will be able to do in case of any problem later. If the agent is in India, ask how they will provide service in US.

If you have any further questions, please post them here or call us at 1-866-INSU-BUY

Narendra
INSUBUY
https://www.insubuy.com
(866) INSU-BUY x112

[ouster]

Thanks!!!

Thanks for the awesome tips, and prompt reply!!! From reader experiences, I guess we can discount ICICI-Lombard. They charge almost the same as a comprehensive plan from any american insurance, and in emergencies, the last thing you want to go through is running around looking up providers.
If my mother's trip is of a fixed duration, cost of insurance ***'t a problem, she has no pre-existing conditions, what comprehensive insurance policy would you suggest?
Thanks in advance

[insubuy]

Protection America is the best choice.

For that plan, to answer the questions I raised:

PPO Network: First Health PPO network. Very huge network. Widely accepted.

Insurance Card: As soon as you make a purchase, you get a virtual id card instantly. Next business day, actual health insurance card is mailed to you.

Claims/Administration: IMG has actual reserve of money to pay claims, and it is based in Indianapolis, USA. They don't have to ask anyone or get money from anywhere before paying your claims.

Customer support: For emergencies, 24 hours. For other stuff, regular business hours (almost entire day), Monday to Friday.

Coverage type: Comprehensive, for all ages. Less policy maximums for ages 70+.

Cost: Pretty comparable to other comprehensive coverage plans in US.

Renewal: Even though you in particular may not be looking for this, it is renewable for as little as 5 days at a time.

Refund: As long as there is no claim, insurance company will refund fully unused months minus $25 cancellation fee.

Agent:
We are licensed insurance agents and leading broker in USA for visitor medical insurance. Everyone you talk to in our company is licensed & experienced insurance agent, assuring you high quality of service.

Support:
If you feel you are having a problem dealing with the company (which should not happen generally), you can contact us and provide us all the relevant information and provide us the authorization to discuss your claim with insurance company (That is because we work for you, and not for them. And by privacy law, they can't discuss your medical details with us with authorization.) A team of 3 persons in our company will take a look at it independently and come to conclusion. If we see enough merit and something is not obviously pre-existing, we would help you through this and try our best, put our arguments, explain the situation, clear any confusion and do whatever best we can do.

You can look at the plan at https://www.insubuy.com/patriot-amer...e/brochure.jsp and make instant purchase online.

And for any questions, we are open 7 days a week, from 9 AM to 11 PM Eastern.

Narendra
INSUBUY
https://www.insubuy.com
(866) INSU-BUY x112

[ouster]

Once again...

Thanks for the prompt reply