No Health Insurance for Mother in Law

[woodsman4cb 8]

Hello, my wife is an only child, and her mother is not married, and we were able to get her mother a tourist visa. My mother in law is 80 years old. We were planning on letting her stay with us for 6 months. She has been here for approximately 1 1/2 months. Just yesterday we discovered that she had ran out of her blood pressure pills 3 days ago. My wife thought she had a good supply of blood pressure pills, but found out they are only sleeping pills. My wife had attempted to get health insurance just before her mom traveled, but was unsuccessful. She has been taking long naps, I'm thinking approximately sleeping 15 hours a day, and I'm concerned of possible respiratory problems. My wife assures me that she has been sleeping like that for a long time, to not worry.

She is attempting to get her prescription blood pressure pills sent from Brazil, which could take a week or more to receive. I'm concerned that if something happens to her health wise, that it could turn out bad, financially, while she is here in USA visiting. She also is in need of cataract surgery, that her insurance in Brazil would pay, if she were there.

My questions are: Does anyone know of a health insurance that she would qualify for, since she is already here? What is other peoples opinion, as to wether or not it would be advisable for her to go back to Brazil, have her eye surgery, stock up on blood pressure pills, and wait until she has health insurance while abroad in USA, before coming back to visit?

I appreciate any answers. I realize that if something happened health wise, it could drain the bank account, and then some...without insurance.

[aaron2020 11,651]

Hi,

You may want to check on the legality of sending prescribed drugs into the US. You don't want to inadvertantly commit a crime.

http://pharmacy.about.com/od/Technology/f/When-Is-It-Ok-To-Import-A-Prescription-Drug-Into-The-U-S-For-Personal-Use.htm

As a nonimmigrant visa holder, she is not qualified for public benefits. If she takes them, she will violate the terms of her visitor visa and it will be canceled.

She can get private insurance if she can find a provider willing to sell her insurance with will have an extremely high premium for a sick 80 years old woman.

Best bet is to go home for treatment.

Edited April 14, 2014 by aaron2020

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Usually travel insurance is bought before the trip, not during when it is known that she is ill.

[Super King 26]

I guess Aaron is right. You can't send drugs from other country.

http://www.imglobal.com/img-insurance/travel-medical-insurance/patriot-travel-medical-insurance.aspx. Google " international travel medical insurance. You will find lots of sites. Premium for the insurance mainly depends on duration of insurance, Age of person and previous medical history.

1) Consequences of not taking Antihypertensive medications depends on how well her blood pressure has been maintained for the past few months and her kidney function at this moment. If she can't have medicines for a while, I strictly advice you to limit her daily salt intake to minimal.

2) Now weather its wise to go back or not entirely depends on her current health and how many days of her trip is left. I mean if she came here for 6 months and there are still 3-4 months left, I would suggest you should buy international travel medical insurance asap rather than to go back and then come back again. But if only 1month or few days are remaining then she should go back and then come back again for visit with sufficient supply of medicines and prescriptions with her at a later date.

3) Cataract is not an emergency it can wait, at this moment only 1 thing that should be taken care of and that is to control her blood pressure.

Good luck and I hope your mother in law stay completely healthy.

[Confusedtinybird 41]

I would try to go to a 'Minute Clinic' CVS drug stores have them Target has them and get her the Blood Pressure pills. Bring in anything that shows she takes the Blood Pressure pills as medicine is different in each country. (What is available in Brazil might not be in the USA)

I would not try and send medication to the USA.

[Super King 26]

Usually travel insurance is bought before the trip, not during when it is known that she is ill.

Yes that's correct. Still you can try to call insurance agencies if they still provide insurance or not.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Hello, my wife is an only child, and her mother is not married, and we were able to get her mother a tourist visa. My mother in law is 80 years old. We were planning on letting her stay with us for 6 months. She has been here for approximately 1 1/2 months. Just yesterday we discovered that she had ran out of her blood pressure pills 3 days ago. My wife thought she had a good supply of blood pressure pills, but found out they are only sleeping pills. My wife had attempted to get health insurance just before her mom traveled, but was unsuccessful. She has been taking long naps, I'm thinking approximately sleeping 15 hours a day, and I'm concerned of possible respiratory problems. My wife assures me that she has been sleeping like that for a long time, to not worry.

She is attempting to get her prescription blood pressure pills sent from Brazil, which could take a week or more to receive. I'm concerned that if something happens to her health wise, that it could turn out bad, financially, while she is here in USA visiting. She also is in need of cataract surgery, that her insurance in Brazil would pay, if she were there.

My questions are: Does anyone know of a health insurance that she would qualify for, since she is already here? What is other peoples opinion, as to wether or not it would be advisable for her to go back to Brazil, have her eye surgery, stock up on blood pressure pills, and wait until she has health insurance while abroad in USA, before coming back to visit?

I appreciate any answers. I realize that if something happened health wise, it could drain the bank account, and then some...without insurance.

It is highly unlikely you will be able to get her insurance while she is here on a tourist visa. If your wife is a USC she might be able to get her mother a greencard and health insurance once she becomes a resident. That however will not be cheap by any means considering her age.

As an immediate alternative you could consider getting her medical history from her MD in Brazil and take her to a GP here, paying for a consultation and have him/her prescribe some blood pressure medication so that she does not go without. That should not break the bank.

If you have her drugs sent in from Brazil make sure to include a copy of the original Rx from her doctor and consider asking someone to bring them in for you rather than shipping. You may have issues if you send them via courier or USPS.

It seems she needs more that just her pills - if she requires eye surgery she will be better off doing it back home, IMHO, but that is a call you need to make as a family.

Good luck!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Yes that's correct. Still you can try to call insurance agencies if they still provide insurance or not.

They are free to try, but the whole point of insurance is gambling. The insurance is gambling that you will not be sick, and here the OP knows the person is sick, so the cards are stacked against the insurance company. Insurance is not a way to get a discount on known medical costs. I don't think travel insurance is covered by the new healthcare law, so I don't expect any insurance obtained to accept a claim for eye surgery or medicine that the policy holder knew beforehand they would claim.

The mom is elderly; anyone should know that a person of that age might have medical problems on holiday and plan accordingly.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[JohnR! 5,495]

They are free to try, but the whole point of insurance is gambling. The insurance is gambling that you will not be sick, and here the OP knows the person is sick, so the cards are stacked against the insurance company. Insurance is not a way to get a discount on known medical costs. I don't think travel insurance is covered by the new healthcare law, so I don't expect any insurance obtained to accept a claim for eye surgery or medicine that the policy holder knew beforehand they would claim.

The mom is elderly; anyone should know that a person of that age might have medical problems on holiday and plan accordingly.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

In addition, travel insurance is reserved for emergencies only. It does not and will not cover any routine visit to the doctor or surgery outside a dire situation.

[Boiler 45,484]

I was under the impression he was more concerned about future significant costs than the current relatively minor issues.

There is short term medical insurance you can buy in the US, has been mentioned here a few times. I did look at some of the plans once, obviously limited in scope but better than nothing.

Why did she not buy it before she left?

[Super King 26]

I agree with you guys. I meant to say that she should try to get medical insurance if possible because if untreated, uncontrolled hypertension can lead to stroke, Acute kidney failure, retinal bleeding etc. So if she won't go back to brazil, its wise to get travel medical insurance that can be used in time of emergency and of course premium would be high but its still wise to get insurance.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Samhunter

[Boiler 45,484]

Nothing she is going to get will cover pre existing conditions.

Edited April 14, 2014 by Boiler

[JohnR! 5,495]

I agree with you guys. I meant to say that she should try to get medical insurance if possible because if untreated, uncontrolled hypertension can lead to stroke, Acute kidney failure, retinal bleeding etc. So if she won't go back to brazil, its wise to get travel medical insurance that can be used in time of emergency and of course premium would be high but its still wise to get insurance.

It sounds as though she might need her medication sooner that the time it would take for any new policy to take effect. The situation at hand is not an emergency because it is not a condition that arose after she began her trip. It seems she did not bring along enough blood pressure medication. It is an emergency of sorts but certainly not one travel insurance would cover.

[novedsac 355]

If you have her drugs sent in from Brazil make sure to include a copy of the original Rx from her doctor and consider asking someone to bring them in for you rather than shipping. You may have issues if you send them via courier or USPS.

And that friend / family member won't have issues if caught at the border in the act of smuggling a prescription drug for someone other than themselves (or their minor dependent)?

The safest way would be to use a courier experienced in the movement of prescription drugs across the border.

Furthermore, if the drug is not approved for use in the USA, then it is illegal to bring it into the USA whether there is a foreign prescription for it or not.

Quickest fix would be a local clinic with a local physician writing a new prescription for something reasonably obtainable here in the USA - the only downside would be the cost. But no need to worry about whether you can / cannot import the drug, a potentially lengthy delay at the border for FDA clearance, putting a friend/family member at risk, potential confiscation, etc.

Best solution is to think of these things ahead of time and plan accordingly.

[JohnR! 5,495]

[...]

Quickest fix would be a local clinic with a local physician writing a new prescription for something reasonably obtainable here in the USA - the only downside would be the cost. But no need to worry about whether you can / cannot import the drug, a potentially lengthy delay at the border for FDA clearance, putting a friend/family member at risk, potential confiscation, etc.

[...]

That gets my vote as well.