Pre-existing medical for foreign student
originally posted: 11/22/2006 reposted: 2/18/2011 This post has not been recently reviewed or revised by the author and may be out of date. If in doubt, please send a new question or ask for an update.
Q: I am a foreign student who lives in Alexandria, Virginia. I had a problem with my kidney before I came to the U.S. recently my kidney started to have pain . so decided to go to the hospital but I do not have any health insurance. So now I am looking for an insurance company that covers all my kidney's medical expenses, also the kidney ultrasound etc.
A: Sorry that there is no such insurance in Virginia. Insurance laws in the U.S. are designed to prevent foreigners from coming to this country to seek medical treatment. Your choices are: 1) return to your home country for treatment, 2) access a charity service that may be available in your area for people that do not qualify for insurance, or 3) establish citizenship and meet residency requirements in here that would make you eligible either for the Medicaid program or Virginia's regular high risk health insurance program (depending on your income and assets). Obviously the first option is the fastest and most reliable.
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