VeryVeritas

My daughter is traveling to the UK to study for a year and then will likely stay for work and further training. She is a dual citizen US/UK. The US health insurance scene is crazy and we were advised to cancel her US policy since it is expensive and won't provide coverage abroad. However, it is not clear to me that she is eligible for NHI coverage. That aside, we are looking for a decent policy to cover her for medical needs in the UK and the US as she will be traveling there for holiday--and, for now it is her place of residence.

I have started doing an internet search but wonder if anyone has any experience with this/would recommend an insurer?

I have found one company that licenses the Blue Cross name--Geo Blue Travel Insurance--that offers a student policy that looks good. Has varying deductibles and levels of coverage. But these companies are only as good as the claims they pay so again, if anyone has experience with this organization or any other would be happy to hear it.

durham_lad

I believe those staying on a student visa will be covered by the NHS on paying the NHS surcharge as part of the visa fees.

International students - A guide to The National Health Service (NHS) — University of Leicester

Giantaxe

She's a British citizen so won't be on a visa. Given the intent to study and then remain in the UK, I suspect that she's eligible for NHS coverage from day 1.

SanDiegogirl

She will be eligible for NHS services from day one - as a Brit and a resident of the UK

durham_lad

Oops, missed that. You are correct.

It may be harder to avoid the ACA mandate for not having US health insurance if the student year in the UK covered 2 partial US tax years.

VeryVeritas

Thanks. Maybe we will rethink duplicate coverage, then. She will be applying for a national insurance number the week she arrives. Is scheduling a doctor's appointment. So maybe will look for a low-cost catastrophic policy in case she gets ill during holiday.

Pulaski

So she's arriving for a holiday, then staying to study? .... If she is holidaying then she isn't eligible for an NI number.

Honestly I think she needs to keep her story simple - she is traveling to the UK to settle and study. Once she is "settled", which will be immediately, she is perfectly free to go on holiday in the UK, and as a British citizen neither the Immigration Service, the NHS, nor anyone else, will care. .... So as a settled British citizen she can apply for an NI number and is NHS eligible immediate - no surcharge will be applied. She can later change her mind and return to the US - or leave to go to some other country. But for now it sounds like she is just arriving in the UK to settle.

VeryVeritas

No, sorry for the confusion. She is going to the UK to study and settle. But she will be coming back to the US on breaks aka holidays. She is definitely not there for a vacation. We hope to follow her to the UK within the next calendar year.

VeryVeritas

Just an update and hopefully something that might be helpful to others. It is tricky finding international health insurance. Many companies appear to have an abysmal record when it comes to payment. Some won't cover you unless you have an existing policy in your country of residence which can make the entire outlay for premiums very costly. A lot of them make virtually every hiccup you have ever had a pre-existing condition. And here in the US, many insurers will happily pay coverage while the person is abroad but once they are back home and in need of further treatment it stops cold. Most seem to offer coverage for up to a maximum of 12 months. But twelve months is usually plenty of time to find and apply for alternate coverage.

In our case, we need to ensure that our student is covered abroad and also for brief periods of travel home.

The company with the most flexibility--products ranging from million dollar catastrophic care, IE hospitalization, to more traditional medical insurance products to be used at home and abroad, does seem to be GeoBlue. They are affiliated with Blue Cross here and, I seem to recall, BUPA in the UK.

Since we are reasonably confident that our student will only be home for short breaks and is settling in the UK, and will ultimately be using NH services, we chose a "catastrophic" policy that covers her in either locale for a period of time. If our assumption proves false we would then apply for a more traditional medical plan. The latter, in the case of this company and probably others, requires underwriting, so a more laborious process. The catastrophic policy does not.

Pulaski

I don't understand what you're insuring, and why. Your daughter will be covered by the NHS from the moment she arrives in the UK "to settle", then she buys travel insurance for her trips to the US. .... What am I missing?

VeryVeritas

I created the confusion here because initially I was only asking about UK coverage but it has morphed into another issue (for us) and that is how to cover her for the period of time she will likely spend back in the US on school breaks, something I had not initially considered until she announce she would be home for the holidays.

So, as you pointed out, she will be eligible for national health services--and I totally get that. However--she will be coming back and forth to the US. It is impossible to get an interim health care plan here anymore, or even catastrophic care due to the ACA. In fact we only have a single health care insurer in the entire state at this point. We can keep her US policy going at great expense, or we can get a student policy that covers her abroad and also for time spent at home in the US. It is far more cost effective to do the latter than to continue paying her current monthly healthcare policy payments just to ensure coverage overlap in the US. We even looked in to getting travel insurance for her trips home versus an umbrella policy, however she isn't considered a resident by dint of the fact she is first and foremost a student.

Sorry for the confusion. Hope I haven't added to it

SanDiegogirl

If she is living in the UK, even as a student, then she is considered resident for travel insurance purposes. Who has told you she is not?

She should obtain the travel insurance in the UK for travel to the US.

vikingsail

As Pulaski and SanDiegogirl have said on the facts you provided she is a UK resident. Visits to the US should be covered via UK purchased travel insurance. The only hiccup I can potentially see is if she is a US citizen as well ( I assume she is) and then you may have to 'get your ducks in a row' to ensure coverage is still available i.e., you want to make sure there is no denial coverage clause for a US citizen purchasing travel insurance traveling to the US, even though I understand she is resident in the UK. Trying to help here those Insurance companies can get very technical and better to address the issue upfront.

VeryVeritas

I think this is one of those things where an approach might seem logical on the surface--but until you actually start digging into it, the permutations aren't clear. We did look at various scenarios including ones suggested here.

Pulaski

You and/or your daughter are allowing future possibilities to create uncertainty, which insurance companies don't like. Your daughter needs to be clear about what she is doing, and stick to that, without getting suckered into discussions about what she might or might not, do a year or more in the future. ..... And it is perfectly fine for her to change her mind next year, and do something different, but based on what you have said above, she is moving to the UK to settle, while she is there she will be studying, and she may occasionally visit you back in the US, and therefore will need travel insurance. If she starts discussing future possible decisions a year or more in the future, then that will only muddy the waters and lead to insurance companies trying to sell her expensive "solutions" based on what they think your daughter might being doing a year or more from now.

Short version: KISS!