Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

Its been a while since i posted, so quick update....we got our own home on a rent-to-own contract so we've been busy updating it (it badly needed updating!) plus getting ready for babies arrival which is any day now!

Once the baby is born, I know he is a US and UK citizen, but does that mean the baby is entitled to US medical benefits like Medicare or Financial Aid? Or should I look at getting the baby some kind of health insurance and if so any recommendations on a company or any tips of what the plan would need to cover and what it doesnt need to cover?

Also just to be really really sure...to get a pasport for baby, the hospital gives me a package to fill out information for the baby and they send it away to register the birth?
Then i wait or go to the local office to get copies of the birth certificate. With that, the fee and some photos of baby I send it away with the US passport application and for for passport to arrive in mail?

sorry if im repeating myself 100 times about all this stuff, my mind is like jellY and its a bit overcrowded with baby stuff!

The other thing is Ive read and read about getting a credit score here in the USA but I feel like giving up. I tried applying for a CC with various companies including ones which are for people who have moved to the USA or have no existing credit score (capital one i think this was with?) and have been refused for not having an acceptable credit score every single time. I even tried to get added to my husbands existing credit card and was refused that. I got myself added to a bunch of bills but everywhere said that this wouldnt increase my credit score, it would only affect it negatively if we failed to pay on time etc.

I couldnt even get a walmart or chase card which everyone tells me is the easiest to get :(

can anyone help or point out something ive missed?

last but not least, we plan to fly to UK in october to introduce baby to UK family and go to my brothers wedding, everyone says to contact Cindy on here but Ive had no response, anyone know where she is or if theres anyone else that can help with plane tickets?


Sorry for long post!

Thanks in advance for help

xxxx

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

There will be a social worker attached to the hospital -- they are usually very knowledgeable.

500 bucks @ BoA or Wells Fargo/Wachy and open a secured credit card. Spend $50 (10%) every month (fill the gas tank) and then pay off in full when bill arrives. Don't apply for any more credit for at least 9 months after starting this game.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

the cindy you want is cindyabs.

when my baby was born it was at home so the midwives gave me a form to take to the birth dept place and i went and got a birth cert myself. I also ticked a box on that birth cert application to get a ssn which arrived a few weeks later. I then took the required forms, photos etc into the local post office and sent off the passport application myself - after the lady at the counter 'checked and accepted it as complete'.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

Did your husband request to add you as an "authorized user"?
That should be allowed, and should jump-start your credit score.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

Baby as a US citizen will have what ever benefits available if you qualify. For insurance, depends on your state and all that other stuff just like it always does.

Registering the birth, depends on the state and the hospital. Usually though, they'll have someone do the paper work, you check it over and sign it and that's it. Might have to go to town hall to pick up copies of birth certificate for a small fee in a few weeks.

The credit thing. Check out the wiki, plenty of info that's really easy to follow.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

This is the travel agent lady in question http://britishexpats.com/forum/member.php?u=3791 send her a PM and she'll get back to you. :)

Hey all the best...it doesn't seem like 5 minutes ago you were telling us you were pregnant.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

My son is a US and UK citizen, and once we'd discovered he needed medical care beyond the norm and would qualify for Medicaid, it was very simple (although lengthy) to apply for it. If your little one does require anything I'm sure you'll be steered in the right direction by the hospital.

On the insurance note... your baby will be covered by their mother's insurance (ie yours) for between a week to a month, but often the hospital (if that's where you're delivering) will require you to add the baby to an insurance policy in its own right before you leave. At least that's how it was with us here in WI. We just called Cigna and added him over the phone.

And the hospital also called up to my room and asked for my son's details for his birth registration by phone. Once everything was typed up a lady came to pay me a visit the day after the birth and had me check everything over and sign it. A couple of weeks later a letter arrived saying Little O was now registered and I could order his birth certificate by mail, which I did. I ordered two copies, and I think the first was about $30 and the second about $10. His SSN arrived automatically around the same time and when we applied for his passport we just took his birth certificate, passport photos (HILARIOUS getting those for a four-month-old! :lol:), form, and a cheque to the post office and they did the rest.

We haven't got a UK passport for him yet, but we aim to get one before we take him out of the country again in 2012.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

The filing of the paperwork is done sort of jointly by your husband and the nurses. They'll be plenty of papers flying around (how to breastfeed, how to hold them, etc) and a form that is used for the birth certificate. As birth certificates are issued by the county clerk of the county you live in (or by the city clerk in larger cities) they vary from city to city, but the information is pretty simple and doesn't take more than a few minutes to fill out (name, address, parents name, etc).

There is a check box to click for getting a Social Security number. Click that and they will mail you one.

In some states they clerk will mail you the birth certificate and in others you'll either have to ask by mail or going down to the government office handling that sort of thing.

Once you have the birth certificate, get some photos and you, your baby, and your spouse (yes, all three of you) need to present yourself to a passport acceptance agency, i.e. the post office. You can do it without your husband, but that is an additional paperwork burden (notaries, etc). They don't want people absconding with kids so they force both of you to show up. Download the forms from the net, fill them out, take the pictures and you'll probably be out of there in about 10-15 minutes at most.

As for insurance, I'm sorry to ask but you have your own insurance, correct? If you have insurance already, it's a relatively simple matter to add the child to your plan. Contact your HR person who handles your insurance and ask them for the procedure, or contact your insurer directly. I think most plans have a bit of a grace period (1-2-4 weeks) to add new children to the plan but it varies.

I would not even begin to pick and choose what they should be covered for and what they should not be covered for. Take the plan you are covered under and add them. You should be covered for most major medical concerns as well as preventive care such as doctor's checkups and appointments. You should note that your first year you will have well over a dozen appointments for the baby with the pediatrician, starting just a few days after the birth (or even in the hospital itself). This will add up in doctor copays and also affect your deductible.

Your child is a native born US citizen eligible for all the rights and privileges of citizenship, so there is no delay on any public benefits. However, Medicare is a program designed for the elderly, so he won't be eligible for that until they are in their 60s. Medicaid is a program for the poor, and whether they qualify for that depends on your overall financial status (hint: generally you need to be rather poor). S-CHIP, or CHIP is for families still financially troubled but not qualifying for Medicaid and the requirements for that vary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Children's_Health_Insurance_Program

It is worth noting that not all doctors accept Medicaid. In fact, a growing number do not. The reimbursement rates are so low vs. private health insurers that many doctors do not feel it is worth their time and money to take in new Medicaid patients. You may find that you are having to drive a bit further or visit a pediatrician who is not your first choice if you opt to pursue a public health insurance option for your child.

Good luck with your new baby.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

Ok, I just looked a bit at this list here:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...98#post8045998

It seems that Missouri covers pregnant women via Medicaid with state funds, i.e. there is not the 5-year-ban that exists for Medicaid for new immigrants. If you are eligible for Medicaid then your baby would likely pretty much automatically qualify once they arrive as well (of course the specifics would depend on your state).

http://www.dss.mo.gov/fsd/msmcp.htm

If you are not already enrolled in this, and if you are not covered by some private insurance (i.e. you're doing this out of pocket), I would really, strongly, recommend considering applying as soon as possible. While we all hope and pray you have a nice, ordinary, and simple delivery, should things get a bit tricky the bills will ratchet up astronomically in minutes. This may be charges beyond those of just the OB should they need to do an emergency c-section and you have to get anesthetized ($$) with a full surgical team ($$) and a pediatrician in the room ($$) and the most expensive piece of equipment in the entire hospital that goes "Ping" ($$$$). Our ordinary standard birth of our second son was $16,000, but there have been folks on this board who have run up $250,000 charges for complications. Getting some form of protection, such as Medicaid, is a really good way to protect yourself financially and it seems Missouri is wiling to go out a bit further than most states to help folks who have just arrived.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

Just to clarify:

Medicaid is NOT just a program for the poor. We're certainly not what you'd call poor and Little O qualified in October! Medicaid is used when healthcare needs are beyond that which can be reasonably expected to be paid for by a family or individual - my son has many conditions which require extensive therapy, surgeries, and treatment, and covering the cost of that by ourselves would probably bankrupt us. Medicaid is used as SECONDARY insurance. We continue to pay in to our Cigna family plan, but any co-pays, deductibles, prescriptions, or costs outside of that regular montly payment are now covered by Medicaid.

There is no shame in being poor and I'm happy to admit I've been there before. But I think it's important to clarify that we have Medicaid for a disabled child, who comes from a middle-income family. It is therefore NOT just for the poor. It is for people whose incomes would be seriously and irrevocably affected by healthcare costs, for whatever reason.

Oh, and while Medicaid is an HMO plan, if it is only used as secondary insurance (like with Little O), it doesn't actually matter to us where we go. We have to basically be in-network with Cigna, but even if we have to go to a specialist who is out-of-network, Medicaid is there to cover the difference. So yes, while SOME doctors don't accept Medicaid as primary insurance, in our case it doesn't matter too much..

I just thought it would be helpful to clarify those points.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

ok, first off, no i dont have insurance.

unplanned baby surprise and no insruance company will take on a pregnant woman as its classed as a pre-existing condition. Sucks to be me but I applied for financial aid through the hospital and so far they have been pretty helpful with an emergency ultrasound i had and they covered 100% of it. They said they will look at and work out whats what with the final bill after the baby is born. So crossing fingers that they can help, if not...then we'll try to organise some kind of payment plan with the hospital i guess.

Penguinsix:
that list of states that cover pregnant women with medicade is from 2004, if you find a more recent list Missouri is no longer included.

the second link i followed to the page for pregnant women: http://www.dss.mo.gov/fsd/mpreg.htm
Im not really sure what they say is an "eligible non-citizen" but between me and my husband we make more then the income limit for 3 people of $2823

MsElui and JerseyGirl: thankyou for the member name i needed! I will pm her soon :)

meauxna: yes he tried to get me added as an authorised user, and they refused to do it saying I didnt have a high enough credit score. I read over the wiki again but im not really sure what else i can do. The ony problem with a secured credit card is that i need $300 upfront to give them and with the baby due any day and a new house to furnish I just dont have that kind of money spare.

it may have to wait which sucks because it takes time to build up credit!

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

i actually had my third baby (only baby born in the US) at home. So I avoided the hospital fees altogether. I still had to pay for the midwifes - although they were open to barter for their services but i didnt go that route. Id planned my second child in the UK at home - AND both the first two had been very easy quick births - so the home birth choice wasnt a radical one for me to take.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

Is this post applicable to you, regarding group insurance?

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

Thanks for the update on the list. It was the best I could find and unfortunately the number of states that offer benefits to immigrants is declining.

For the purposes of group insurance, pregnancy is generally NOT considered a pre-existing condition, but...but...there are lots of caveats.

http://www.ivillage.com/pregnant-wit...age/6-n-145593
http://www.insure.com/articles/healt...pregnancy.html

Is there anyway you could get added to a group plan of some sort (sometimes clubs and associations offer group discounts). A number of independent computer programs get a 'group' plan from the International Game Developers Association (i.e the guys who write video games). There are other groups like this you might consider.

http://www.igda.org/board-blog/igda-...thcare-program

The other bit of advice I can offer is never take at face value the bills you get from a hospital. As an individual you are often billed a very high rate. Insurance companies get in essence a 'bulk discount' so they often pay only 75% of bills like the one you will see. What this means is your bill is "negotiable"--the amount you finally end up paying doesn't necessarily have to be the same amount they bill you.

Good luck with all this.

Re: Medical Stuff for Babies/credit score stuff
 

I'm not certain either what the exact definition of 'eligible qualified non-citizen' is in Missouri either, but I suspect it is similar to the term that is used by Medicare/Medicaid in other states (i.e. I suspect they are using a 'Federal' term as set forth in the federal law). Generally they refer to a 'qualified alien'. This sucks as it generally means the 5 year ban on Medicare/Medicaid for new immigrants.

This is a document from Pennsylvania and Florida but you'll find they do offer some definition of eligible qualified non-citizen. I'm not saying Missouri follows exactly the same definition, but it's quite possible they do.

http://www.doh.state.fl.us/Alternate...oncitizen.html

http://www.pamedicaid.pitt.edu/docum...-pak%20_3_.pdf

Here is a definition of qualified alien:

https://www.cms.gov/MedicaidEligibil...ads/alien1.pdf