What I found most bizarre is that Americans who are "temporarily" in the US (e.g. expats, visiting) can get health insurance with better terms and at about 1/10th the price of what residents are offered.
Someone is being had, I'd say.
It does include the acute onset of pre-existing conditions, $250 total yearly deductible, 100% percent in-network coverage. But it is not available to US residents, only for short term (up to two years) stays.
> Pre-existing conditions are not covered by Patriot America Plus Plan
It requires you to already have insurance somewhere else, and they expect you to go home for anything chronic (expensive). It sounds exactly the same as any travel insurance you can get in your home country (and is included in many fancy credit cards)
You said "expats" before, but ex-pat implies residency in the US. Tourists/business travelers are a whole other ballgame. They're just protecting against not getting hit by a car when they're at their week-long conference. They're all limited in scope of their costs by their visitor's visa duration (typically 90 days)
My colleague spent weeks on the phone arguing with the insurance company while debt collectors from the hospital hounded him after a simple ER visit. In the end someone at the insurance company paid his bill with their corporate credit card because they couldn't figure out a way to get it paid through the system. This despite the fact that the insurance company claimed to have a 'network'-type relationship with the hospital (which the hospital denied any knowledge of). They stopped offering coverage for the US altogether after that because it was too expensive.
My parents are still trying to get their travel insurance to reimburse them after an ER visit while on holiday.
Basically everyone is being had.
My guess is that expats and visitors from other countries are a healthy and lower risk group (because they’re also wealthier) than the general population.