FAQs and Answers by Green Card Holders and US new immigrants

The Trump administration announced on October 4th 2019 that new US immigrants must show proof of adequate US immigrant health insurance while applying for Immigrant visa. This rule will come into effect on November 3rd 2019 and the visa can denied if the immigrant fails to show the proof of US immigrant health insurance.

While the details of the proposed immigrant insurance requirements are still to be announced, the Best US immigrant insurance plans that we offer on American Visitor Insurance work as short term health insurance which new US immigrants can use till they are eligible for domestic US insurance plans.

Yes! Any of the policies we offer can be used for a new immigrant. You simply have to use their foreign address as their “home” or “residence” address on the application.

If you do not want to do that, if you only have a US address, then your options are more limited, but you can still find some (in particular Atlas America or Atlas America Premium).

As of now, there are no specific requirements for the insurance policies that are purchased for new immigrants or visitors to the US.

They are meant to take care of the visitors should they have some unforseen medical issues while they are within the US and all of our plans meet that definition. You should be able to find an appropriate plan for your situation and budget.

All plans can be purchased online and paid for by credit card. A person in the US can buy them for an incoming visitor or immigrant.

If you run into any problems with the purchase links (some browsers and browser settings interfere with proper functioning of the buy pages), just give us a call and we can help you by phone.

Visitor or new immigrant plans are for sudden illness and accident. They are not meant for wellness doctor visits, but they are not only for emergency room visits either. If your visitor is sick and wants to visit a doctor or go to an Urgent Care Center, this sort of visit will also be covered.

Generally, at a hospital, they should be able to call and arrange payment with the insurance company. It may be at a doctor’s office, they will say “we don’t take this insurance” which means that they do not want to make the call for you.

In that case, you will have to pay up front and submit a claim for reimbursement. In most cases, you will have to submit a claim to explain what happened to the insurance company.

Yes. New Immigrants or Green Card holders who can be parents or family members can buy a travel medical insurance either short term or long term during their stay here. These plans can be purchased for the duration until you are eligible for domestic health insurance.

You can also buy this insurance for your children/grand children who have applied for Green Card and waiting for its arrival to fill the gap.

US citizens or legal permanent residents 65 or older qualify for Medicare. If you are a new immigrant and you are 65 or older and have never worked in US you do not qualify for Medicare. However, even if you do not qualify you can purchase it if:

• You are 65 years or older
• You have recently become US citizen by naturalization and have not worked enough to qualify for social security benefits
• You are a legal permanent resident and have lived in US continuously for 5 years and do not qualify for social security benefits

No. You can only include immediate family members (spouse and children up to age 24) on your US health insurance plan.

Green Card holders with a permanent residence outside the US can purchase Patriot America or Patriot America Plus plans which are economical and can be purchased for as few as 5 days and up to 12 months.

However, at this time, they will NOT cover you for COVID-19, so an alternate are plans available (fixed and comprehensive) from INF. However the INF plans must be purchased for at least 30 days (some have a better price if purchased for at least 90 days).

Following are the best green card health insurance: Premier Plan Elite Network
Please see this page to view the available plans by getting Quotes

For the age range of 70 and above, Patriot Platinum plan which is a comprehensive option can provide a coverage of $2500 for acute onset of pre existing condition. INF insurance offers coverage for pre-existing conditions.

The Premier Plan is the only fixed benefit (Scheduled benefits) plan with full pre-existing coverage and the Elite Plan is the only comprehensive visitor medical insurance plan with full pre-existing coverage. INF Premier and INF Elite plans should be purchased for minimum 3 months.

Comprehensive plans provide coverage of up to $20,000 for the people in the age range of 80 and above. Inbound Guest Plan L and Inbound Immigrant are the popular Fixed plans that are suitable for this age group.

INF offers covers health insurance for coverage for green card holders. Following are the best green card health insurance:
Elite Network (comprehensive plans)

Find the best US immigrant insurance