CAdreaming

I came on a K1 and am with Patriot America - you can do this monthly (I think tho there may be a 6 month sign up at first) You can have this as a new immigrant for 2 years

Nutmegger

There was an interesting article in a recent issue of Consumer Reports about so-called "mini-med" plans and how they may seem good until it's time to make a claim. Worth a read for anyone starting to navigate US health insurance:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/c...insurance.html

Jerseygirl

Seriously without good health insurance cover get ill or have an accident and it could bankrupt you.

Bink

+1 Also be aware that if you do get pregnant, even on insurance it can be expensive and as mentioned, most individual plans simply will not cover it.
I can't say what the actual cost to an individual would be as I'm certain the hospitals here inflate the price for Insurers (and they then apllied discounts etc) but my wifes pregnancy was billed at $18k (before dicounts etc were applied).
We were just responsible for the deductible and copays fortunately but it was still kinda expensive especially compared to Britain where it all would have been free.
Good luck!

Bob

Even if that was per month, that wouldn't be bad.

The thing you want to look into with any short term plan is if they would be considered creditable coverage so that you wouldn't have a break of 62 days of coverage from the NHS to getting full cover, which would be what would prevent any pre-existings from being excluded etc.

scrubbedexpat099

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/to...ance-problems/

A thread on the same subject.

frambuesas

Just had a look - they are great! My husband had a look over it all too, as he is more familiar with the way it's all worded, and he agreed. Phew! Thanks so much for the recommendation!

frambuesas

Thank you!

frambuesas

I know, I was kidding, I promise. I will get it sorted ASAP.

frambuesas

I am confused as to what this means!

frambuesas

Okay, well, we are not planning to get pregnant for a few years yet, but obviously things can go wrong... I would like to have a plan that covers pregnancy JIC, but as it seems to be unusual, it may just be better to have general coverage now and look for specialist pregnancy cover later. Thank you for the information.

SanDiegogirl

You only get cover for pregnancy with Group Health Insurance i.e a policy via an employer/company.

penguinsix

Hi,

We have a basic primer on health care insurance in the wiki here:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Health_Insurance

In the health insurance industry, there is something called a "pre-existing condition". For example, you can't go out and break your leg, then the next day go to the insurance company and say "I'd like insurance coverage please" and then the day after that show up at the hospital and say "treat this, and put the tab on my insurance company." (I know, a silly example, but to illustrate the point). Insurance companies don't want to pay for things that you did before you joined their policy.

Now, if you have had "credible coverage" within the last 60 odd days, then your pre-existing conditions won't be precluded from coverage. Say in the UK you were treated for high blood pressure. If you QUICKLY get a plan in the USA, your NHS coverage will be considered "credible" such that your US insurance agency will have to cover the pre-existing condition of high blood pressure.

If you wait too long, then you get in a rut where you have to wait as long as six months (or never) to get coverage for pre-existing conditions. This is all scheduled to change as part of the health care reform act, but a very major portion of this act is under constitutional review by the Supreme Court (i.e. does the government have the constitutional authority to order the citizens to purchase health care?). It's actually a very tricky question, constitutionally speaking, and the results of that argument will likely be studied in law school for decades. It's quite possible to make convincing arguments on both sides. Will be interesting.

Anyway, you will likely get a much better offer on insurance from your husband's plan, which is probably a "group" plan offered by the university vs. you going out an buying an individual plan from some broker.

As others have pointed out, paying about $250 a month for a 29-year-old in child bearing years is well, pretty cheap. If you are a smoker or have a history of cancer in your family, you'll pay much more. As you and your husband start to budget for the future, I could easily see $400 or more a month for insurance costs for the both of you. FWIW the actual cost of my insurance for a family of 4 was $1,500 a month last time I checked. I don't pay it so I'm not sure what it is now.

penguinsix

I think pregnancy is not considered a pre-existing condition if you get insurance through a group plan. However, if you buy insurance individually, they can consider it a pre-existing condition and not cover it, or they can require say a 10 month waiting period before pregnancy coverage commences. But with those caveats I think you can technically get it on an individual plan (though I haven't tried myself).

GeoffM

Most of the individual plans I've been looking at lately have included a maternity option. I haven't tried seeing what it would do to a "quick quote" though, much less a formal written quote. But when I was looking previously (when the wife was pregnant) all the plans stated that starting a plan whilst pregnant was a pre-existing medical condition and wouldn't be covered.

Looking at some of the figures people have posted, me paying $600 for a family of four doesn't seem quite so bad now - though a reasonably high deductible! But I think I've gotten over the shock of health insurance and have just considered it as a fact of life; a necessary expense.