What kind of medical insurance is available?

Hello Love Monster,
My insurance is thru my husband's job on STT. We have Cigna as well as additional insurance that we pay for to fly us to San Juan in an emergency. I can't remember the name of the second insurance. I don't know about government insurance - try Canada? (haha) Seriously, from what I have heard most people have Cigna, but then again I don't know many people yet.
Teresa

You will need your own medical insurance. You will want to get this prior to coming to st thomas. There are not many programs for those without insurance. If you get ill you will be required to pay for treament upfront. Many people carry the second policy as the previous writer stated for air lift out in case of serious illness. If you prefer to go to an English speaking facility via med jet it can be extra as this would mean transport to Miami instead of San Juan. Its very advisable to carry the med evac insurance. There are several of these companies by the airport. I am not saying the hospital in StT isn't good, they just are limited in their scope of care.

Since the VI is a US territory do you need to purchase health insurance from a provider that is on the island or could you purchase from a provider on the mainland, such as NJ which is where my permanent address would be (parent's house)?

I would check with your NJ insurance provider and see if they cover you while you are in the VI. Most insurers will. If its a major insurance comapny like blue cross etc you should have no problem. Check long before your move to be sure though.

Some people have insurance through their employer, government employees have insurance (it was Cigna then Bluecross then Cigna again), some pay out of their pocket if they are not working anymore or their employer doesn't offer a group insurance to partake in, there are clinics for those who qualify (usually kids and moms of low income families) and medicare cards for other services besides physicals/dentist at the clinic again for those that qualify and then there are then some that have no insurance.

Cigna is a popular insurance carrier here.

If you want a really indepth review of insurance in the VI you might browse the following gov't report:

http://www.statecoverage.net/pdf/vireport0703.pdf

You may want to call a few insurance companies and get a quote mailed to you. Try the yellow pages to look up local insurance companies - www.viphonebook.com

--Islander