Getting a bit discouraged )-:

I would double check the health insurance. No reason why it shouldn't work here. Sometimes the people you speak to at the insurance company about the VI have no clue that we are a US territory and your insurance should be no different than if you travelled to another state.

RL

Will your current policy not cover you at all or do you just incur "out of network" expenses?

I've found that the insurance companies are just as confused as we are about the Virgin Islands. Aetna was telling me that all doctors on STX are "out of network", I called back and talked to someone else and they said I would NOT be out of network. I think you just have to talk to someone who knows more about U.S. Territories.

As far as I know, Cigna is the only insurance company here that the doctors are all "in network" The VI doctors belong to a group called VI Equicare, which sets the prices that doctors can charge. I have learned that Cigna is the only insurance company that accepts these prices. At the company where I am employed, we used to be covered under United Healthcare. We discovered that there are NO doctors in their network, so all visits were at the "out of network" price. Furthermore, United considered their chages to be above the "reasonable and customary" charges and would not apply anything towards the deductible. Thankfully, due to the diligence of our HR department (thanks LB!!) we are now covered under Cigna. Cigna is the largest insurer in the Virgin Islands, since all government employees are covered under Cigna. Maybe someone else out there has some more information?

Thanks guys, I'm feeling better already! (-:
My current insurer is Aetna, and while I tried to explain that it was the UNITED STATES VIs, she just didn't listen...I will call back and speak with a supervisor.
Now...any advice on the car insurance? !
Thanks again!

annNypisces,
Aetna will work here. That's what Longview inspection uses and we aren't out of network, we are considered out of "AREA" which is a completely different thing that out of "Network". Out of "Area" coveres the same as in network. I would get this in writing so you can take it to the doctor you choose on the island so you don't chance them billing you for the total amount (assuming you are out of network)

As for car insurance, I use Guardian. I heard 1st insurance is good also.

I thought Cigna ONLY insured the government. I didn't know you can buy it individually??

Hi East Ender.

I don't know if any island employers other than the VI government offer group plans with Cigna. We had Cigna for many years (through our stateside employer) and we were always considered out of network (not area but network!) when we tried to get reimbursed for medical treatment we procured on island. Lots of mainland employers offer Cigna but there seems to be something "special" about the VI government's Cigna plan. If the local medical establishment were willing to honor stateside Cigna insurance plans we'd gladly switch back to Cigna.

Hi dnt: I thought that the government Cigna was set up specifically for the government, not associated with stateside Cigna plans.That is why I was confused about islandjoan's statement. The government's Cigna has a very good reputation for paying, I would be happy to have it, too.

Curiouser and curiouser.

When I moved here, I had a rather stringent insurance company, State BC/BS from South Carolina. It took several calls, but as they had no providers here they had to, by law, consider all providers as 'out of network'. Had there been network providers, I would have had to chose them first for full coverage.

As everyone was 'out of network', they allowed me (again, after many a call) to choose my own doctors, etc. and they did pay. The M.D.'s, etc. just needed a billing address which is located on the back of the card, or at least a toll-free physicians number.

Once the calls were made, there was never a hitch.

Just one experience that may help others.

Best wishes,

Dan

hi East Ender

I work for a small EDC company on STX and our insurance broker (based on STT) recently facilitated our switch from United to Cigna. They told us that Cigna is now accepting smaller groups—still not individual policies—but groups of 10 are now possible. Our coverage was effective March 1. We were told that our policy is the same type of policy that the gov't workers are covered under, so hopefully everything that we've been told is true. Guess we'll all find out when we have to go visit a doctor or specialist!