Can a Tourist Get Health Insurance in the USA? (2026)

Yes. A tourist can get health insurance in the USA, just not the kind Americans buy. The ACA Marketplace, Medicaid, and employer plans are built for people who live here, so the practical option for a B-2 visitor or a Visa Waiver traveler is a visitor medical plan, also called travel medical insurance, sold to people whose home is in another country. Many of these plans can be bought before you fly or after you land, and they pay for new illnesses and injuries up to the limit you choose. You can compare visitor insurance plans on Ombrela for your age and dates in a few minutes.

Key facts at a glance

• Federal Marketplace rules offer coverage to people who live in a state's service area and intend to reside there (45 CFR 155.305), while the B-2 visa is for visitors who keep a foreign residence they have no intention of abandoning (INA 101(a)(15)(B)).
• Under EMTALA, a Medicare participating hospital with an emergency department must screen and stabilize anyone with an emergency condition regardless of ability to pay, according to CMS, but the patient is still billed afterwards.
• The average emergency department visit cost $2,453 for people in large employer health plans, according to a Peterson-KFF analysis of 2019 claims, and a quarter of visits cost more than $3,043.
• Atlas America and Patriot America Plus can be purchased after arrival in the US, and Safe Travels USA Comprehensive must be purchased within 364 days of arrival, according to the plan data in Ombrela's quote system.
• IMG's Patriot America Plus certificate offers policy maximums of $50,000 to $1,000,000 through age 69, $50,000 or $100,000 at ages 70 to 79, and $10,000 from age 80.
• Visitor plans exclude routine care for pre-existing conditions; Patriot America Plus covers the acute onset of a pre-existing condition only for travelers under 70, according to its certificate.

Can a tourist get health insurance in the USA?

Yes, through visitor medical insurance. It is a temporary policy for people who are not US residents, bought for a set period that can run from a few days to about a year. Carriers such as IMG, WorldTrips, and Trawick International issue these plans, and brokers such as Ombrela let you compare them side by side. Each plan has a policy maximum, a deductible, and a list of exclusions, and it exists to pay for the unexpected: a sudden illness, an accident, a trip to the emergency room.

What it is not matters just as much. A visitor plan is not a US health plan. It does not pay for checkups, screenings, or ongoing treatment of a condition you already had before the policy started. No US law requires B-2 visitors or Visa Waiver travelers to carry health insurance, so buying a plan is a choice. It is also the choice that decides who pays if something goes wrong during the trip.

Visitor plans come in two broad designs. Comprehensive plans pay a percentage of eligible charges after the deductible, usually with access to a US PPO network. Fixed benefit plans, which our quote partner labels limited, pay a set amount per service, which can fall well short of a US hospital bill. Among the plans Ombrela sells, Patriot America Plus, Atlas America, and Safe Travels USA Comprehensive are comprehensive, while VisitorSecure and Visitors Care are limited plans. Our guide to fixed benefit vs comprehensive plans explains the difference in detail.

Why can't a tourist buy ACA Marketplace insurance or get Medicaid?

The common explanation is that tourists are not lawfully present. That is not quite right. HealthCare.gov lists holders of valid nonimmigrant visas among the immigration statuses that may qualify, and the federal definition of lawfully present in 45 CFR 155.20 includes anyone in a valid nonimmigrant status, which a B-2 visitor has.

The real obstacle is residency. Under 45 CFR 155.305, an adult qualifies for a Marketplace in the area where they are living and intend to reside, or where they have entered with a job commitment or are seeking work. The B-2 category, by statute, is for a person with a residence in a foreign country they have no intention of abandoning, who is visiting temporarily for pleasure. A tourist who told a Marketplace they intend to live in Florida would be describing something other than a tourist visit.

Timing works against visitors too. Marketplace plans are sold in an annual Open Enrollment window, and outside it you generally need a qualifying life event to enroll. Full Medicaid is limited to citizens and certain qualified noncitizens who meet state residency rules, which a visitor does not. Domestic short term medical plans are generally designed for US residents as well. Our comparison of short term vs travel medical insurance covers where each fits.

Can I buy visitor insurance after I arrive in the US?

Yes, for many plans. In the plan data behind Ombrela's quotes, Atlas America, Patriot America Plus, and VisitorSecure are all listed as purchasable after arrival at the destination, and Safe Travels USA Comprehensive must be purchased within 364 days of arrival. Some plans add conditions by age: VisitorSecure, for example, requires travelers over 65 coming to the US to start coverage within 30 days of arrival.

Buying late changes one thing above all: coverage starts on the effective date and never before it. An illness whose symptoms began before that date, or a condition a doctor had already advised you about, is treated as pre-existing and excluded. IMG's Patriot America Plus certificate also requires that, on the effective date, you have legally left your country of residence, legally entered the destination country, and not become a habitual resident there.

Some visitor plans apply a waiting period when the start date falls after arrival, and the certificate wording is where it will appear, so read it before you pay. If you are already unwell, get care first rather than waiting for a policy, because a plan bought today will not pay for an illness that started yesterday. If you are healthy and uninsured, buy now with the earliest start date available; Ombrela's quote form accepts start dates from today.

What does visitor health insurance cover?

Comprehensive visitor plans generally cover the following for new, unexpected conditions, subject to the deductible, coinsurance, and the plan's limits:

• Doctor and clinic visits. Patriot America Plus pays urgent care visits in the US without applying the deductible, with a $25 copay, and walk in clinic visits with a $15 copay, according to IMG's certificate.
• Emergency room care. The same certificate applies a $250 emergency room deductible to each US visit for illness that does not lead to admission; injuries are not subject to it. WorldTrips says Atlas America charges a $200 copayment for an emergency room visit for illness unless you are admitted.
• Hospital stays and surgery, including intensive care, up to the policy maximum.
• Prescriptions linked to a covered illness or injury.
• Telehealth. IMG's certificate lists telehealth and virtual physician visits as eligible expenses, and WorldTrips says Atlas plans covering the US offer video visits through Air Doctor.
• Emergency medical evacuation and repatriation, usually only when the insurer approves and arranges it.
• Acute onset of pre-existing conditions, a sudden and unexpected flare up that needs urgent care, with age limits that differ by plan.

The usual exclusions are routine and preventive care, ongoing treatment of pre-existing conditions, travel undertaken to get treatment, most pregnancy care, and hazardous sports unless you add a rider. Read our guide to what visitor insurance does not cover before you choose.

How much coverage does a tourist need?

Start with what care costs. A Peterson-KFF analysis found the average emergency department visit cost $2,453 in 2019 for people in large employer plans, and those are negotiated insurance prices. A visitor with no insurance is billed the hospital's own charges, which are set separately and are often higher. Our breakdown of US hospital costs for uninsured visitors shows how quickly an admission adds up, and the medical cost estimator sizes the risk for your destination.

For most healthy adults, a policy maximum of at least $100,000 is a common starting point, and many families choose more for older parents or long stays. Age caps matter: under IMG's certificate, Patriot America Plus limits travelers aged 70 to 79 to $50,000 or $100,000, and travelers 80 and over to $10,000. Pick a deductible you could pay the same day without strain; Patriot America Plus offers choices from $0 to $2,500. Our guide on choosing a deductible and policy maximum walks through the tradeoffs.

How do I choose the right visitor insurance plan?

• Comprehensive or limited. For a stay in the US, a comprehensive plan is the safer default because a fixed benefit schedule can leave large gaps on a hospital bill.
• Network terms. Patriot America Plus, Atlas America, and Safe Travels USA Comprehensive use the UnitedHealthcare PPO network. Outside it, plan data shows Atlas America and Safe Travels USA Comprehensive paying 100% of eligible charges after the deductible, while Patriot America Plus pays 90% of the first $5,000 and then 100%. See how direct billing and PPO networks work.
• Acute onset and age. Patriot America Plus covers acute onset under age 70. WorldTrips says Atlas America requires the traveler to be under 80. Trawick says Safe Travels USA Comprehensive covers acute onset up to the policy maximum through age 69, then up to $35,000 from age 70 and $20,000 from age 80.
• Eligibility by country. Each plan excludes certain home countries and nationalities, so the list you see on a quote is already filtered to plans the traveler can buy.
• Rules you must follow. IMG's certificate reduces eligible expenses by 50% when pre-certification is required and not obtained, and asks for an emergency hospital admission to be pre-certified within 48 hours or as soon as reasonably possible.
• Extensions. Most plans can be extended online before they end, which avoids a gap. Our guide to extending or renewing visitor insurance explains how.

If you are down to two plans, our head to head guides on Atlas America vs Safe Travels USA and Patriot America Plus vs Safe Travels USA Comprehensive set out who each one suits.

How do I buy visitor insurance or travel insurance in the USA for a visiting relative?

Anyone can buy a visitor plan for someone else, and most policies for visiting parents are bought by their children in the US. You need the traveler's name exactly as on the passport, date of birth, country of citizenship and residence, and the dates of the stay. Payment is by card, and the ID card and certificate usually arrive by email within minutes. Send a copy to the traveler and keep one yourself, since you may be the one calling the assistance line.

Be careful with the phrase travel insurance. In the US it often means trip cancellation cover for Americans leaving home, which does not help a foreign visitor who falls ill in Chicago. What a visitor needs is travel medical insurance. Our explainer on visitor insurance vs travel insurance clears this up, and travelers entering on ESTA can read whether ESTA requires travel insurance.

What happens if a tourist gets sick in the US without insurance?

A US emergency room will not turn you away. CMS describes EMTALA as requiring Medicare participating hospitals with emergency departments to provide a medical screening exam and stabilizing treatment regardless of ability to pay. That obligation covers the emergency, not the invoice, and it does not extend to a follow up visit, a scan next week, or a planned procedure.

The bill arrives afterwards, often from the hospital and several separate physician groups, and the hospital can pursue it after you go home. Our guide to seeing a doctor in the US as a tourist explains where to go for care, and unpaid medical bills on a visitor visa explains what happens if a bill goes unpaid.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a tourist buy health insurance on HealthCare.gov?

In practice, no. B-2 status counts as lawfully present under federal rules, but the Marketplace also requires that you live in the state's service area and intend to reside there, while a tourist visa is for someone keeping a home abroad. Enrollment is also tied to an annual Open Enrollment window. A visitor medical plan is the product designed for tourists.

Can I buy visitor insurance if I am already in the US?

Yes. Atlas America and Patriot America Plus can be bought after arrival, and Safe Travels USA Comprehensive within 364 days of arrival, according to plan data in Ombrela's quote system. Coverage starts on the effective date only, so any illness that began earlier is excluded as pre-existing. Check the certificate for any waiting period and buy as soon as you can.

Does visitor insurance cover pre-existing conditions?

Not routine care. Visitor plans exclude ongoing treatment, medication refills, and checkups for conditions you already have. Many comprehensive plans do cover the acute onset of a pre-existing condition, a sudden and unexpected flare up that needs urgent treatment, with age limits: Patriot America Plus covers it under age 70, and Atlas America under age 80, according to IMG and WorldTrips.

Is health insurance mandatory for tourists visiting the USA?

No US law requires B-2 visitors or Visa Waiver travelers to carry health insurance, and border officers do not check for it. That leaves the full cost of any treatment with the traveler. Because a single emergency room visit averaged $2,453 even at insured prices in a Peterson-KFF analysis, most visitors are far better off buying a plan for every day of the stay.

How long can a visitor insurance policy last?

Most visitor plans can be bought for anywhere from 5 days up to 364 or 365 days, depending on the plan, and many can be extended online before they expire. IMG's Patriot America Plus certificate allows extensions up to a maximum of 24 continuous months. Extending before the end date matters, because a gap can turn a new illness into an excluded one.

A trip to the US should be about the people and places you came for, not a hospital invoice. Get visitor insurance quotes on Ombrela and choose a plan that matches your age, your health, and the length of your stay.