Medical Treatment for Parents in US

[desifl]

Hi Guys,

Recently I had to to a lot of study on this matter too. I came to the conclusion that insurance is a big fraud. What I did was take a short-term insurance with like a $1000 deducible for emergency situation and meanwhile for any other thing, just called up the doctor and showed him without insurance. Other things I did were:

1. For any blood tests or other tests , try some online sites . Search on Google, you will find tons. e.g Quest diagnostics, HSLabs.
2. Try to make friends with Indian doctors in your area. Dont laugh , I am telling you, it is a practical way. There are lots of indian doctors in USA. For common problems, you can show them most of the times without paying.
3. Look for charity clinics run my churches and all. For like $25 or something, you can get prescriptions and you can just buy it from walgreens and all.

These are just some of my suggestions. Medical Insurance is a BIG consideration actually. I am finally going back to India because of this as I cannot afford to have my parents here and they cannot live without me.

Thanks and best wishes to all.

[Murali]

This sounds pretty ODD ?

Let me ask you, for this reason why even you take the insurance for you and family TELL NO to your employer and save pretty decent amount every pay period I guess you can save a lot ?

Secondly this is really not practical? How many people can have Drs friends ? How many of you can go and knock the Door of Church? and tell them "We don?t have Insurance ?" but can you also justify "We cant afford?" come on..

This may be your individual thinking but can certainly not be advised to others.

There is certainly nothing call FREE lunch, specially in this country.
This is what I would say, every thing looks OK in this country UNTIL you really get into some problem then there is no one can help you take my word on this.

My 2 cents ..

[desifl]

Murali,

Try reading my post again. I said that short term insurance is DEFINETELY required but you cannot depend on it. Many people are so afraid of doctors and insurance that they fear going to a doctor thinking that they will be paying too much. While they might end up paying $200 or so for a doctor visit, it is not a lot. And it definetely is better than taking a 100 dollar deductible and then filing claims and all nine yards.

Dr. Friends...Its very much practical..Try networking.

Churches - They don't ask if you can afford it. Talk about affording dude I am sure all of us here can afford much more than we bitch about but since we Indians are always in a "Save" mode, we don't do that.

Yes, there are no FREE lunches anywhere. Actually thats essentially the essense of my post. Dont be afraid to go to a doctor without insurance. It dosen't cost a whole lot. Same goes for online blood test agencies and all.

Regards.

[insurancehater]

This is an interesting post by desifl. I work on a project that involves processing medical claims and have since got a good understanding of the fine print of the insurance plans.
First thing that bothers me is that no one sends you the fine print until you enroll in the plan. Looking at the brief benefits that the cheapest plan Inbound provides, I think it is pretty much useless. But if you don't mind spending 500 to 600 bucks for 2-3 months that your parents are visiting, it might be ok. In case the plan ends up paying anything, it is better than nothing.

I have looked at several sites for visitors insurance and all of them sell handfull of insurances from the handfull of companies that exist. And all them charge the same. As path2usa has helped in getting the documentation right I would always buy the insurance through them. I have to acknowledge, they have made pretty good site here with detailed documentation on this necessary evil step called "getting a visa".

[pl]

I would like to spend $500 - 600 for 2 persons /per two months? Any plans specify.