Englishmum

I don't get it; your husband has a permanent job in the US, but you live in the US part time and the UK part time?

Is your husband a PR in the States or is he on a work-related visa? Do you have a visa yourself eg. H4 or L2?

How come you are not on your husband's medical insurance?

I wouldn't even think about getting pregnant in the US without any medical insurance.....my Aussie friend had a 16 week scan and found that the baby had died, this was last year.....just the op for the D&C cost $11,000! :scared: (Mind you, the hospital - Hackensack University Medical Center in NJ) was like a 5* hotel.....lots of marble and a waterfall in the foyer....designer cotton dressing gowns....sculptures and oringinal paintings on the walls....but this was of no interest to her, it was all for show and didn't speed up her recovery one iota.

You will often find with travel medical insurance that they will medivac a patient out of the US back to their home country as soon as they are allowed to fly because it's cheaper than paying for the treatment in the States!

AmerLisa

Big time! Too many unknowns in that arena....don't do it. If your child should be born early or with health problems, special care could set you back hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm a bit of a pessimistic on things, but this could be a very bad mistake if you chose to do it.

Manc

However, if you already have healthcare coverage, there is an automatic 30 days extension of coverage for a new born child.

LeedsGirl

My C-Section years go would have cost around $8,000 and on top of that a weeks stay in the intensive care unit for both of us put the bill upto approximately $90,000 :scared: . Luckily my health insurance paid for it all. My advice is don't risk it if you don't have insurance.

Bob

The missus cost her folks $30K as there insurance got voided a month before she was due, mainly because the insurance company went broke.

That was 25 years ago, and was a quick and simple birth as well.

Bob

travel insurance will be void if you aren't a UK resident though...unless you got special one way travel insurance, which wouldn't cover giving birth.

AmerLisa

Twat alert.

mandpete

It's not just the cost of the actual birth you have to take into account. My friend's newborn was rushed into NICU and was in there for several days. Despite decent health insurance the bills came to well over $15,000. Then there is the after care over here which to me doesn't seem half as good as the after care in the UK.

Both my pregnancies in the UK ended up as emergency c-sections and after my first child was born I couldn't have coped for the first 2 months without the help of my family. So unless you have family or close friends in the US I would definitely choose the UK over the US.

MrsG

I Had a baby here in Texas 3 years ago. Regular pre-natal care with the exception of an amniocentesis. Anticipating a regular birth but baby was breech (which my OB/GYN didn't realise-but that's another story) so a C-section was done. Spent 2 days in hospital and the bill came to just over $15,000!
I had 2 babies in Scotland and have to say that the pre and post natal care there was far better!

bored-silly

I was pregnant when we arrived in the US and I had no problem getting health insurance through my husband's company.

snowbunny

Usually pregnancy is not considered a pre-existing condition IF you sign up within 30 days of starting the job. Some insurers can demand proof of prior coverage.... do they count NHS coverage as prior coverage?! that's an interesting question.

Many, many poor and uninsured mums give birth by showing up at the ER in full labour, but that's a pretty dangerous thing for both mum and baby. I guess you could do the prenatal stuff out of pocket, but .... so long as you have the ability to pay the bills, you'll be forced into doing so or into bankruptcy. I'm surprised you haven't mentioned bankruptcy yet, Manc.... a LOT of personal bankruptcies in the US are due solely to health costs, even when the persons involved are insured!

AmerLisa

Bankruptcy to walk out of a bill and be free as a bird will soon be not allowed. Thank you Mr. Bush.

snowbunny

There were some exceptions but I don't recall what they are.

Once again I feel like I've taken it up the rear. Amazing I can still sit down after his governorship here and now the Presidency. I'm at my butt's end.

AmerLisa

Not very many. The way I heard it is if you can afford a certain amount a month (no matter how small) then you will have to pay your debt. Mr Bush, a leader for big business.

snowbunny

No doubt until you retire, then it's garnished from Social Security.

Why doesn't he just bring back debtor prisons? More honest that way. Hell, we already exploit prisoners for free or low-wage labour; and we wonder why we have so many people behind bars.