To: bovik@CS.CMU.EDU
Subject: Health Insurance for foreign visitors
Date: Wed, 08 Jul 92 13:44:59 -0400
Message-ID: <647.710617499@VOILA.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU>
From: Nick_Haines@VOILA.VENARI.CS.CMU.EDU

My fiancee is coming to Pittsburgh from England in September, for a
year. Since we're not married I can't get her put onto any of the CMU
HMO's. The alternatives are either independent health insurance, at a
cost of >>$100 per month, _or_ extended travel insurance. She can get
one year's travel cover for #260 (less than $500), from Campus Travel
in Cambridge. This rate is slightly lower than most competitors, but
typical rates are less than $600 pa. This doesn't cover checkups,
dental care, eye tests etc, but does cover all major medical expenses.
There's no deductible, and it's 100% cover. Why is it so cheap? The
catch is that if she gets something long-term and expensive, they'll
fly her back to Britain where she can get free health care. The
maximum cost to the insurers is for minor treatment, or short-term
emergency treatment and the flight.

From asking around, this is quite commonly available in any country
with `free' health care, and does actually work when put to the test.
For instance:

> Date: Thu, 2 Jul 92 16:07:24 EDT
> From: "Mikko H. Lipasti" <mhl@spirit.ece.cmu.edu>
> Subject: Re: Health Insurance
> 
> One comment about the repatriation process:  someone I know had a nervous
> breakdown while in the U.S., spent about a month at a psychiatric hospital
> in Minnesota, and was then flown back with a medical doctor as an escort.
> Cost to him?  $0.  So, the coverage seems to work quite well.

Oh, also these sorts of policies often also cover other travel-related
things, such as luggage, delay cover, and bereavement cover (you can
get flown home if a member of your family dies).

Nick Haines nickh@cs.cmu.edu

PS: She's getting a full dental checkup before she comes over, to
avert problems while here.