Parents visiting the United States look forward not just to seeing the sights and sounds of a new country and culture, but also to spend time with family. While some families may not travel much, others have extensive travel plans within the U.S. Often, visitors assume that visitor health insurance is not necessary if there is to be no travel within the U.S.
However, ignoring visitor medical insurance can backfire badly. Just a single trip to the doctor could set back the visitor (or his/her sponsor) by several hundred dollars, at the minimum. Consider the case of George Katehis, who was visiting his daughter in the United States.
He was only planning to stay with her for a month or so, and he didn’t want to travel extensively. George did not want the extra expense of the visitor health insurance, and so, did not purchase any. He often went to the supermarket to buy groceries and cooked traditional Greek dishes for her.
Unfortunately, on one of his trips to the supermarket, he was brushed by a speeding car, falling down and resulting in a fracture. Along with the ambulance charges, diagnostics, and consultation, the cost totaled nearly $5,000. This wasn’t something that he could ignore and take care of back home either. For less than a hundredth of that price, he would have been covered for exactly these types of expenses.
