Thanks very much to everyone on this thread (and to the people who PM'd me).

I'm not eligible for student health insurance (or to use the student health service on campus) because I'm not paying fees which include a health levy - that is why they have me down as a 'visiting scholar' and I've been told I need to arrange my own health insurance.

There is a student / RA/TA plan with Smith Chesson and Woody (a subsidery of BlueCross / BlueShield). I'm not eligible for that because of the not paying fees thing. I emailed them, though, and they sent me a link to 'Gateway International' which offers health insurance to visiting people (with repatriation of remains etc which is required for J1 visa entry - which is what I need to meet).

So... I'm thinking 'Gateway International' will be a subsidary of BlueCross / BlueShield - since those people recommended their plan. I compared that plan to others... But I'm thinking that one has the most extensive coverage.

One thing that concerned me was that there was no mention on their website of providers who bulk bill to them directly (no 'in network' providers) and there were also no claims forms online. I emailed them about that and they said I can go to anyone and there is no 'in network / out of network' distinction - but they don't have a list of providers who bill them directly.

Which leads me to believe... That nobody will?????

They said you get a claims form once you have purchased the insurance - but they emailed me one. About 5 pages of crap in order to make a claim... I'm thinking that is probably standard...

I know of one university teaching hospital nearby that has 'family doctors' / GPs. I'm thinking... I might email them and ask about whether they bill 'Gateway International' directly. They say on the hospital website that they directly bill BlueCross / Blueshield so it would be weird if Gateway International was a subsidary of them and yet they didn't bill Gateway International directly - wouldn't it?

Or is that how they screw international peoples over... Make up some subsidary for them that isn't so well known so nobody will bill them directly and they can take a year or so to pay out claims?????

There wouldn't be much point in purchasing insurance from them if I needed to pay all my medical expenses upfront and then had to wait up to one year (for example) for the claim to be processed...

I had a look at the fairly standard BlueCross / BlueShield plans and they are more extensive - but then they are around 3X the price...