Does the American’s US health insurance play any role? Will the person receive an invoice from the country they’re visiting?
And what about a person from a country with generous healthcare visiting the US? What/who do they pay?
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It depends on the country and exact circumstances. For example in the UK if they’ve got a visa they will have paid an NHS surcharge and will use it as a British citizen would without any charges, if they’re a tourist they would be charged and need travel or personal health insurance that covers it.
Obviously a complicated question, so very general answers –
1) American private insurance does *not* usually extend to overseas treatment. If you are traveling overseas as an American you may want to purchase separate “Travel Medical Insurance” which handles these types of scenarios.
2) Yes, they will be billing in accordance with the policies of the provider/nation they receive treatment in.
3) Nations that have public healthcare will often cover/negotiate on behalf of their citizen if they receive treatment in the States. Again, they might not cover everything 100% and travel medical insurance is something people should look into.
I had an asthma attack in Munich after my sunscreen exploded in my bag and destroyed my nebulizer. Took a cab to the ER, got a breathing treatment and blood test, and visit from the doctor. Paid a whopping 147 euros. Almost had enough cash in my wallet but used my card instead. Didn’t bother trying to run it through insurance.
The US has a lot to learn.
In Canada, you will get treatment and then they will charge your insurance. This happened to my mom and was no different than some of the other horror stories you see on Reddit.
In Japan you will simply pay it out of pocket. It’s incredibly cheap though. I paid 750 for an ambulance ride and stitches after laying down a motorcycle. 450 of that was for the novocaine when they did the stitches. If I’d have known that, I’d have just bit on a towel while they did it, lol.
The NHS in England will send a bill which the American visitor can claim back from their travel insurance.
Usually you would take out travel medical insurance for that reason.
I ended up with a $20k hospital bill in Chile, I had to pay it. Yes I had an invoice. Luckily my insurance eventually covered it but it took almost a year to get reimbursed.
A buddy of mine got bad food poisoning in Cuba… ended up in the hospital. He had to pay on the spot as well… free healthcare is for citizens only.
In Malaysia..he would be charged Non- citizen rate..which is 3x more than citizens, so about usd3 😀
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