The Moose

I don't know for certain, but I would guess not. They do have a helpline number however and the staff are actually really quite helpful.

The reason I say that I guess not is that you have to put in the date you arrived. It was fine for me, however it wouldn't let me continue before my wife arrived as I couldn't put in her date as it was in the future. I suppose there's nothing to stop you putting in the incorrect date, and going through the process.

To be honest with you, however, there's no point as coverage won't actually start for a while. For example, if you bought it before March 15th, the start date of coverage would be April 1st. If you want to be covered you'd need to buy some sort of short term policy of which there are many (and to me they look dubious so I just went without for a short period).

I'm Florida also - about as South West (on mainland FL) as you can get and I run an e-commerce business specializing in security products.

bowgsy

You're right, I spoke with an insurance broker who confirmed the cover wouldn't start until April 1st anyway. He said I would need gap insurance which he is going to get me a price for. In terms of your healthcare policy who did you end up going with? I've looked at Florida Blue's HMO Silver plan which looks pretty good. It has a zero deductible and has an out of pocket cost of $1900. It's $600 a month before any tax credits.

Nice part of Florida to be living in buddy!

The Moose

It could be worse! What about you? The real problem we have is that we are becoming everyone's holiday accommodation from the UK - I really should set up an AirBnB page and get people to book through that...ha.

Where in FL are you going to be based?

$600 a month for a 0 deductible with out of pocket of $1,900 sounds massively better than I was offered...almost too good to be true for the 3 of you! Are you sure all the info was entered correctly? Which FloridaBlue plan was that (4 digit number) if I may be so bold?

It's worth also getting a quote through the Florida Blue website as well as Healthcare.gov - they had a few extra plans that weren't on the Healthcare.gov website for some reason. I didn't go with the additional plans in the end but they were interesting and had we had kids would have been our plan of choice.

bowgsy

Ha yep i'm expecting a influx of visitors! We're in Sarasota. the health plan code is 1604C. I thought you had to get the insurance direct through the healthcare.gov website to qualify for the Obamacare?

Pulaski

All health insurance currently has to be "ACA* compliant", i.e. meet the same rules and standards, whether you buy it on an exchange, off exchange, or get it through your employer.

* "Obamacare" is the informal name for the Affordable Care Act..

kodokan

You have to buy the policy through the healthcare.gov website to qualify for any tax subsidy you may be due, if your income is less than 400% of the poverty limit.

The Moose

Are you sure about that? On the Florida Blue website there's a calculator that allows you to see the plans with the subsidy applied and allow you to make the purchase through the site. I had read that you can claim it later on your tax return if you needed to.

The Moose

Sarasota is nice - my family used to have a place on Siesta Key when I was a baby before moving further South!

That plan 1604C looks great at $600 per month all in - pissed that I wasn't offered it!!!

kodokan

Everything I've ever read says that the subsidy is only for exchange-purchased policies; like mentioned here: https://www.healthinsurance.org/obam...xchange-plans/ But it's possible some states have their own 'government approved' website, I guess, that can offer state-branded versions of the exchange plans..? Either that, or they're just pulling a fast one!

bowgsy

Yeah looks great doesn't it! I'm going to apply for that this week. I believe I need to April before march 15th for coverage to being April 1st.

On another note we arrived in the U.S yesterday with our five year E2 visas but what I hadn't realized was that you only get a maximum 2 year I-94. Which means we have to leave the U.S briefly before the two years is up in order to extend the I-94.