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[dottoressa]

Hi, can anyone recommend an affordable health insurance plan for H4 dependents (who are not allowed to work with that visa type, but are required to purchase health insurance)? Since the dependent won't have any income whatsoever, the monthly payment should be between $50 and 80 and cover emergencies such as car accidents.

[clean]

Does the dependent's sponsor (husband/wife/parent) have a job with insurance?  Often the employee has access to the employer's group health plan.  As long as they are dependents I dont think that their H4 status would matter.

See HR department... However, it will be a lot more than $50 a month for the additional coverage.  Dont quote me and Im not going to look it up, but I think that the 'family' plan here is $400 a month extra.  (Though my own individual  coverage costs me $99 a month).

[dottoressa]

The sponsor has insurance, but only for himself. To add a dependent would cost an additional $500, which the sponsor won't pay, and the dependent, not allowed to earn a single cent with that fantastic, wonderful visa, can't afford.
I saw that there are all kinds of visitor insurance plans available (such as "US NetCare"), but I don't know if they're good, or if they accept an H4 dependent who has been living in the US for over 6 months already.

[wet_blanket]

It is often more economical to purchase travel insurance in the country of origin, which covers medical care up to a limit (which varies but would be sufficient for an accident and run of the mill things) and then will fly the policy holder home if the cap is reached.  The caveat is these policies don't tend to cover prescription meds if they're not prescribed for a claimable event.

Usually you can only get such insurance for up to a year.