Top Three Basic Health Insurance for Travelling to the US

When travelling to the US, it's crucial to have health insurance under your belt. Not only is the US known for having some of the highest healthcare costs in the world, but it's also frankly not as unlikely as you may think that you'll need to see a doctor or even visit the emergency room during your visit — especially if you plan to stay in the country for more than just a few weeks.

Fortunately, there are many online international insurance companies (known as 'insurtechs') that specialize in health insurance for travel to the US. In our list below, we explore the three that we think offer the best deals in terms of price, medical coverage, and overall travel coverage.

VisitorsCoverage

One of the best-known international insurance providers on the web, VisitorsCoverage is a pioneering Silicon Valley insurtech company that offers an impressive selection of health insurance for expats visiting the US. As of 2018, the company had around a million customers and is currently rated 4.8 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot, making it a trustworthy and credible choice for your travel insurance partner.

VisitorsCoverage offers a large variety of plans and models, and depending on your needs and preferences, you may want to compare and explore their full catalogue of plans. However, for the sake of this article, we focus on only their basic plan below, which we think is a versatile option for most visitors to the US:

Plan: Choice America Plan

Price: $200 to $400 per person, per trip, on average.

Term duration: 5 to 365 days.

Eligibility:

• You have to be under 79 years of age.
• You cannot be a US resident or citizen.
• You cannot be a citizen of Botswana, Gambia, Ghana, Kosovo, Niger, Nigeria, or Sierra Leone

Coverage: This plan offers a fairly comprehensive set of medal benefits and coverage for a basic health insurance plan. These include:

• COVID-19 treatment¹.
• Pre-fixed limited coverage in or out of the PPO network (after deductible).
• Outpatient and inpatient care.
• Flu vaccinations¹.
• Doctor's visits (including specialists).
• Transport coverage.
• Dental accident coverage.
• Emergency room coverage.
• Emergency medical evacuation.

Deductible: $0, $50, or $100 based on selection.

Maximum limit: $50,000, $100,000, or $150,000 based on selection.

Best for: Travellers who don't think they need a high limit of liability in the US but are looking for extensive medical coverage at a reasonable price. If you have a pre-existing condition or want a higher limit of liability, this plan probably won't suit you, though VisitorsCoverage additionally has extensive premium offerings that are also reasonably priced.

¹ Minimum purchase of 30 days of coverage to be eligible

PassportCard Nomads

PassportCard Nomads is an online travel insurance provider aimed at expats and nomads living abroad for extended periods. On its most basic plan — PassportCard for Digital Nomads — customers are covered for trips to the US of up to six months, during which time they enjoy a range of unique insurance perks for people on the go, including camera, baggage, and laptop insurance, as well as search and rescue coverage.

PassportCard comes with three plans, all of which come with a red health insurance card and a unique insurance number to show to the doctor. Below, we break down the Starter Plan:

Plan: PassportCard for Digital Nomads

Price: Starting at $59 per person, per month.

Term duration: Up to six months.

Coverage: Although less extensive on the medical front than VisitorsCoverage's basic plan, PassportCard still covers all the basics and goes above and beyond when it comes to travel:

• Emergency coverage.
• Medical coverage.
• Pregnancy (up to 12 weeks).
• Search and rescue.
• Sports accident coverage.
• Theft of camera, laptop, or baggage.

Deductible: $0

Maximum limit: $500,000.

Best for: Because of its higher limit of liability and no deductible, we think PassportCard Nomads is best for travellers looking for a low-cost travel insurance plan with wide coverage — especially if they stand to benefit from more adventurous coverage such as outdoor sports and camera and laptop insurance.

Insured Nomads

Aimed at remote workers and globetrotters, Insured Nomads is another savvy insurtech platform offering travel insurance to the US. Founded and run by expats around the globe, Insured Nomads offers an impressive range of travel insurances, including plenty of medical-related coverages.

Plan: Travel Insurance World Explorer

Price: Starting at $84 per person, per month.

Term duration: One trip of between 7 and 364 days.

Eligibility:

• For travel to the US, Canadian citizens are not eligible.
• You cannot travel to or through Cuba, Iran, Syria, Sudan, North Korea, or the Crimea region.

Coverage: This plan offers a fairly comprehensive set of medal benefits and coverage for a basic health insurance plan. These include:

• Online consultation (telemedicine).
• Medical, emergency, and accident coverage.
• Outpatient and inpatient care.
• Medical transportation coverage
• Evacuation and repatriation.
• Life insurance.
• Adventure sports and marine activity coverage.
• Electronics, camera, cellphone, and sports equipment coverage.
• Flight delay provisions.

Deductible: $0, $100, $250, or $500 based on selection.

Maximum limit: $250,000, $1,000,000, or $2,000,000 based on selection.

Best for: Although easily the priciest of the three plans on this list, we think Insured Nomads gives the best combination of medical- and travel-related coverage, making it an ideal option for travellers to the US looking for comprehensive benefits all around. (Insured Nomads also offers an even more comprehensive global health insurance plan for expats for those who plan to live in the US for an extended period of time.)