ryanthelion84

my pregnant wife, my daughter and I may well be on our way to the US on an L1/L2 visa if things go my way with a recent intra-company job app....

I'm yet to hammer out details with the firm but company health/dental plans on what ive told is a good level of cover will come with the role...

however I'd like to start exploring the specifics of being pregnant in terms of pre-natal check ups, scans, giving birth and the post-natal care in the US to try and understand what may/may not fall under insurance cover and what additional costs are likely to be involved...

Anyone got any experiences of this?

Thank you all!

Ryan

Giantaxe

This will almost totally depends on the health insurance that your company provides, so there is no straightforward answer. You need to get as much information from your employer as to what coverage they provide and at what cost.

ryanthelion84

If the job application progresses well I'll post back and let you know how i get on!

SanDiegogirl

There are loads of people on this forum who can give you information as to giving birth in the US, and they can no doubt also tell you how much it cost them, but this won't be relevant to you if you don't know what your Health Plan covers. Different Plans have different coverage.

You need to get EXPLICIT details of what the Company Group Plan does and does not cover from your US HR department. You also must find out if your wife's pregnancy will be immediately included on your Group Plan or if there would be a waiting period. Are pre-conditions taken into account before you or the rest of your family can be included on the Group Plan?

What deductibles are there before the Plan starts paying for the remainder of the costs incurred by the pregnancy? Once the deductibles are paid (BY YOU) does the Plan pay 100% of the rest of the costs or do you have to pay a percentage?

Is Pregnancy considered just another medical issue or do you have to pay additional premiums to get it included? Not all Plans have pregnancy as a basic cover.

Since you mention a home birth and birthing pool etc is this covered by the Plan?

Undoubtedly the Plan will not pay 100% of your costs for this pregnancy and giving birth in the US. Find out now what this is likely to be and don't get unpleasant surprises

..... and if the Plan does not cover Pregnancy or there is a waiting period, seriously consider having the baby in the UK

Bob

It will entirely depend on what insurance coverage you have.

Also if there's a waiting period before being allowed to enrol, though that could possibly be negotiated.

An example, for us, it was a case of $20 co-pay at the doctors for check up, then $20 co-pay at OBY/GN and then $20 co-pay for the hospital, plus an arm and a leg for parking. That was it for costs, though we had to pay extra for pre-natal classes, the missus had her half refunded, but not me, and doing this class meant we got a tour of the hospital free rather than an extra charge.

A mate of mine who only had medical insurance working for a school, couldn't enrol his missus for a further 3 months, he'd just started work and was covered, but dependants had to wait 3 months for cover, so her first few scans at the hospital were $750 a pop.

Our hospital also had birthing pools, it was a case of if you wanted one, you asked and first come first serve type of deal, so no guarantee, but the delivery rooms were nice. Generally turfed out in 48 hours though unless c-section, then you have a couple extra days. No nurse home visits unless you leave the hospital within 48 hours. Did ask about it, and doctor at the hospital said he'd do it for $1000, but insurance wouldn't cover it.

Picnic

And just to warn you that there doesn't appear to be a US equivalent of the health visitor for weekly baby weighing, friendly advice etc. Any baby checks over and above those mandated by your plan (and they won't be generous) will incur a doctor's visit copay or contribute towards your deductible.

penguinsix

It will entirely depend on the specifics of the plan.

You'll need to learn some terms like co-pay (what you pay each time you visit a doctor or hospital), co-insurance (the percentage of the cost you pay) and deductible (the amount you pay first before insurance starts to pay).

For example, our policy had a 90% co-insurance with $25 co-pays and $0 deductible. It also had a maternity copay waiver meaning we paid it once to the OB and once at the hospital ($50 total) despite monthly and then weekly (and then bi-weekly) visits to the OB prior to birth.

Our recent non-complicated delivery was $16,600. We paid the $50 of copays. Insurance paid $11,000, which is the going rate they pay for such things in my part of the country. Then I had to pay 90% of what they paid, about $1,100 upto an annual maximum of $2,000 (i.e. I never pay more than 2,000 a year out of pocket). The remainder was 'eaten' by the hospital--they just write it off. We also paid a $300 'extra' to get a private recovery room (our child was born in a slightly older hospital). Oh, and $4 for TV for the first night, as I was bored waiting for things to get started.

Our first son, with a better insurance plan, cost $50 total. $25 copay to the doctor and $25 to the hospital.

We've had some members here with complicated deliveries or with babies who had some problems that have reported $250,000 in medical bills within the first week. Yea, that's not a typo.

So take a look at the Health Insurance WIKI : http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Health_Insurance and review your policy and come back with more detailed questions.

Good luck.

MsElui

my OB in Ohio was going to charge about $4k for a normal delivery incl all pre natal appointments, more if there were any complications or intervention. This did NOT include certain scans/tests that are not standard.

There would also have been a separate charge for the hospital - charging for the labour room you use, the operating room if ceaserian is required, any supplies (like drugs, needles, etc, where baby stays etc. Ive no idea what this could run too. also if other docs need to get involved (like anesthetist they will be charging too)

If your wife is lucky enough to have an easy straightforward drug free birth birth with zero issues (even minor things like stitches will add up) then it might not cost a lot. However - the majority of mums have some issues - some minor other hugely complicated and everywhere in between. You take the risk that you could end up with a HUGE bill.

When I had my first kid in the UK - I stayed an extra day in hospital as i was unsure and anted the option of help at hand and that was fine. Here they would charging dollars for that. And the after care for mothers and babies is not like the UK where midwives and health visitors visit you at home and then continue to be of assistance over the next 5 years.

ryanthelion84

Hey all!

Top advice!

I'm starting to get the insurance thing a little now but as you say until something is presented to me in terms of a company policy I have no real starting point in determining how it will work for me!

I've mentioned it in other posts already that I've not yet heard anything regards my internal job application so things may fizzle out till another day as yet anyway...meaning that our son/daughter may well be born in the UK yet!

Rete

First and foremost, since you wife is already pregnant, determine if the healthcare the job offers will even cover her. Most would not since she got pregnant before there was coverage.

I don't see where you mentioned in this thread about a home birth or a birthing pool. Most insurances will not cover home births and most states will not allow it anyway. Another thing to check into.

Duncan Roberts

We paid $20 for the whole thing, all pre-natal visits, scans (plus some extra since it was high risk), tests, hospital stay, delivery, drugs, supplies, staff and the like plus a few follow up appointments for baby and mother. The insurance paid out about $20,000 total if I remember rightly, it may have been a little more though. Our insurance is good with pregnancy!