Faye1

I'm a UKC who recently married a USC and am currently living in NYC...

I've been exploring various health insurance options and came across IHI Bupa which appears to cover both emergency and non emergency health insurance in the USA.

I'm trying to figure out if this is too good to be true as the rates seem very reasonable compared to local US insurance companies.

Has anyone had any experience with them?

ian-mstm

Having never heard of this company, I'd be more concerned whether or not your local emergency health provider (read = hospital) accepts this insurance. Just because you pay for coverage doesn't mean it'll benefit you at all if the need arises.

Ian

Englishmum

Is this the same company as BUPA International? (I am with them - it's the international entity of the UK domestic BUPA health insurers). They contract out to United Healthcare International in the USA.

Faye1

Yes its the same company - are you permanently living in the USA with coverage from them?

IHI Bupa are based in Denmark but offer global coverage. I called them and they claimed I can remain covered as a US resident and that even my USC husband can be covered with them....

I've asked for them to confirm this in writing!

Weeze

As they are the same as Bupa uk me and my family have used them for years with no problems. Was speaking to someone who uses them as their US health insurers and they said they were good. No personal experience of the US side of things though.

anotherlimey

Just read their small print:

tonrob

I was covered by IHI for 2 years when I first moved over in 2005. I found their customer service to be absolutely shite, and their coverage was a bit strange compared to 'normal' US coverage (e.g. they insisted that eye tests were not covered as this is not normal in Denmark). I had to pay most bills myself and then submit claims, which were always processesed late and basically meant that I was providing a 'float' for them out of my own pocket. When I complained they made excuses such as people off sick, too many people on holiday etc. but the issue persisted throughout the 2 years I was insured with them.

Englishmum

Well - I do have a green card but my spouse gave up his when he went on a new expat posting to Singapore, and went on another one to Switzerland a few weeks ago. I split my time between the US and wherever my spouse happens to be!

We've always found BUPA Intl to be speedy at paying claims and direct billing to a hospital (in Singapore) when my spouse had surgery and I like the fact that we have global coverage.

I think that in the main they tend to provide coverage to expats in the US on non-immigrant visas eg. L1's, H1's etc. and dependants. TBH I've rarely seen a doctor in the past 3 years (touch wood!) and it was just for a cough and an eye infection, so I haven't made any major claims in the US.

With anything you need to check up on the small print. What I do like is that they have a webchat facility where queries can be dealt with instantly and you can get an immediate transcript of the conversation e-mailed to you. Before deciding whether or not to sign up, I would send an e-mail enquiry with all the questions you may have to them.

http://www.bupa-intl.com/ (as mentioned previously, in the US "United Healthcare Intl" is the provider for BUPA members)

Mmmmm - this is interesting; I clicked on a link on the bupa-intl website for travel insurance and came across this:

http://global.ihi.com/sitecore/conte...ance/IHHP.aspx (this must be a different division of BUPA). I've never heard of them before! I've only ever dealt with the UK-based BUPA (can't remember the original name but it was something like 'British United Provident Association' or something similar; spouse was a member of BUPA when we lived in England more than a decade ago).