thehensh

Hi All,
I am currently looking to move to Florida USA by the middle of July i have my Visa, any information on by a house watch to watch out for and what pit falls to avoid. Also where i can get the cheapest but best medical insurance cover. Any sort of resume service so i can covert my qualifications so i have a chance in the job market. So any info or advise would be very much appreciated.

ian-mstm

Florida is pretty big... where, specifically, are you going?


Respectfully, "cheap" and "best" are mutually exclusive options. What sort of coverage do you need?

Ian

thehensh

Hi,
I am looking to move to Hernando Beach area, and i am 55 so looking for mainly major illnesses to be covered and operations. Day to Day health not really needed?
Thanks Mike

ian-mstm

Very nice! I think the gulf coast is much nicer than the east coast.


Are you going to have a job? Employer? Family? Private health insurance might be expensive - especially if you have any pre-existing conditions - but it's certainly doable. There's no shortage of threads dealing with health insurance... and there's a handy search feature at the top right of each page.

Make sure you bring proof of prior coverage (NHS - assuming you're a UKC) as you only have something like 2 months to get what's called "continuous coverage" without running into problems. If you don't have proof of prior coverage, you're pretty much at the whim of anything the insurance company wants to make you pay for.

Ian

Nutmegger

Doesn't sound as if he will arrive with one in place . . . At the age of 55, I'm afraid that any individual insurance coverage is going to be rather expensive. I always recommend looking for an insurance broker in your area who specializes in health coverage, rather than trying to navigate the minefield alone.

penguinsix

The term of art for emergency only coverage is called "Catastrophic Coverage". However, in exchange for relatively low monthly fees you'll often find relatively high deductibles (the amount you have to pay each year before insurance kicks in).

Catastrophic coverage is an option for many young and healthy people who don't go to the doctor often and don't really anticipate many medical ailments. At age 55 you should be looking at more preventive care and regular visits, something that will add up quickly and will be under your annual deductible. Take a look at your current expenses (annual physical, XX number of visits for illnesses and medications per year) and then try to budget if it would be cheaper to get full coverage or risk just the catastrophic coverage.

As others have said, going at it alone at age 55 is going to be expensive--very expensive. At a time when most Americans are switching over to public health at that age (and thus depleting the pool of 'healthier' people) you find the remaining pool to be those who have not qualified for Medicare (unemployed) and those with a lack of coverage. This means the prices for all go up to ensure the higher risk individuals. You really want to find a job that offers group coverage and come into that existing setup bit more easily than walking around looking for an individual plan.

Good luck.

Dan725

My best advice - don't tie yourself down buying a house. The job market down here in general is bloody awful, and even more so just now. And Hernando Beach area....not exactly an employment mecca - at all. So I'd rent until you can get your feet on the ground and get that sorted out. Also, as has already been pointed out, medical insurance is not going to be cheap at all for you, so factor that in to your job search.

Translating current qualifications....what is your line of work, and what quals do you have? There are services that do educational translations, www.WES.org being about the best known....but oftentimes it'd be best to wait until you have a possible job offer with an employer as they may wish you to use a different service.

cluedweasel

Agree with this totally. Buying (and selling) a house in the U.S. is expensive compared with the U.K.

Jerseygirl

Didn't you look into health insurance before you decided to move?

First of all...are you retired? If so healthcare is probably the #1 reason why expats go back to the UK when they retire. We usually get several retired people per week asking about moving to Florida. When they find out how expensive healthcare is (that's if they can get it) they usually decide to stay put. Perhaps you are hoping to get a job...if so make sure healthcare insurance is included.

There are plenty of past threads on this subject...you can find them by using the search engine located at the top of the page. Give me a shout if you have problems locating them. Also take a look in the BE Wiki. Good luck.

Bob

Didn't we have this thread yesterday?

SanDiegogirl

Yes, the OP posted in the Welcome Inn section and several of us responded to him/her there.

Jerseygirl

We have threads like this every day...or so it seems.

Dan725

Aye, everyone always wants to move to Florida....after 10 years total here, I'm about done with the bloody place!

ETA: But good luck, OP!

Bob

It's 62 days.

Problem is, getting online quotes don't mean anything, once they get your full medical history and lack of credit history, it can take a couple of months for the policy to be sorted, usually putting you past prior coverage.

Geoff, posted about his troubles of getting cover, living in nothern California, but the principle is the same, the threads are worth searching out, they were posted within the last couple of weeks.

Bob

So I'm not going crazy, I was sure I answered the exact same questions already