cdnabroad

Hi there,

I got a green card in April and am planning on moving to the US in late August.

I am wondering what people do for insurance when they first arrive. . .do they get a good travel policy from the UK, and use that (God forbid) before getting a job, and US company issued health insurance, or what?

I can't seem to find any information as to what to do!

I know this forum is the oracle for info so please let me know.

Thanks guys!

henryh

Travel insurance policies may have exclusions for immigrants.

If you expect to have a job with benefits relatively soon, you can buy some temporary insurance - I just bought two months' worth from www.gradmed.com (you don't have to be a recent graduate). I chose a high-deductible, "catastrophic" plan and it was about $80/month.

fatbrit

I really think that's about as far as you should go with either temporary or individual insurance. All you can hope to do is avoid the tens-of-thousands medical bills.

cdnabroad

Couldn't you get really good travel insurance from the UK for say 3-6 months. . . as a back up?

SanDiegogirl

Travel insurance is for emergencies only (to stabilise you until you get home) - usually no ongoing treatment; plus if you are not living in the UK the insurance becomes, in most cases, void.

SanDiegogirl

Go here to look for short term insurance. Quite a few companies, Aetna, Blue Shield etc have short term cover. Its not comprehensive but better than nothing.

Some other folks might come along in this forum who have taken out these policies and will have more information.

eHealthInsurance.com

fatbrit

You can try and back it up as much as you like. It'll cost you $$$ and may not work.

Look for the posts from user GeoffM over several threads in the last few months to see someone navigating the health insurance field straight off the boat. He hasn't yet come to the only conclusion that, at the moment, unless you get insurance through your employer, it's basically worthless. If I were him, I'd just get a catastrophic policy and leave it at that. It may all change if/when Obamacare cuts in.

GeoffM

Er yeah I did realize that long before I even arrived, which was why I had that Association Pros in the pipeline. Unfortunately that fell through badly so I continued the emergency cover through Seven Corners inbound immigrant insurance. Yesterday, however, I got a letter to say I was covered under Kaiser Permanente's HIPAA plan - just in the nick of time as the 63 day thing was imminent.

Don't get travel insurance. You're not travelling, you're immigrating and the policy will be worthless. Sure, they'll take your money and sell you a policy, but if you ever tried to claim...

Noorah101

You did not get a green card. You got an Immigrant Visa.

Terminology is important.

Rene

scrubbedexpat099

Travel insurance is for Holidays, Business Trips etc, not a one way emigration.

The best bet is for somebody else to pay for it, or as much of it as possible which means a good Employers policy.

Think of it as sort of similar to Pension Schemes in the UK.

Bob

Can't have tried very hard, there are literally hundreds of threads on the subject as well as some info in the wiki.

Some of the info will depend on which state you move to as they might have their own options.

In general, suck it up and pay a stupidly high premium for stupidly shit coverage. Travel insurance isn't worth the paper it is written on. What you don't want to have happen is a break of 62 days of coverage from leaving the UK with NHS coverage and getting a job that offers insurance from day one.

cranston

Yeap, that about sums it up. Welcome to America.