DaveKC

Hey Sarah1409, don't panic on the health front and all the scaremongering of some people. If your husband works for a reputable oilfield company, either one of the majors or larger service company's, they will have very good Health Insurance schemes. I know of many UK expats here in Houston that have had their children here and had some complications. Just check it all out with you husbands HR group and ask all the questions. Good Luck

Bill_S

Nobody is trying to judge you. We're trying to make you aware of the realities of the US medical system. Further to FB's point above about a complicated delivery - that's exactly what happened to an old mate of mine a couple of years ago. His son's birth went awry, mom needed emergency surgery, mother and child in ICU for two weeks. (They're fine now). This happened in Canada, so the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of care was covered. Good luck.

SarahH1409

Thank you! He works for the largest deepsea oil drilling company in the world so I am not panicing at all!!

I was hoping to get info on websites rating schools etc, not ganged up on! Just as well I have thick skin!

Bill_S

The Houston Chronicle has a search tool for school data here.

SarahH1409

Thank you Bill

DaveKC

Good stuff, if the name begins with T and ends in D your in very good hands. In fact I know the VP of HR well and they won't let you down.

One of the many multi Health Practioners here is one we use which is Kelsey-Seybold. http://www.kelsey-seybold.com/ Check their section on kids and parents http://www.kelsey-seybold.com/Just_F...ds_parents.cfm

For Dental care I would recommend Plum Dental Associates on the Katy Freeway at Dairy Ashford. Missy Plum is fantastic and has been my dentist now for 5 years.

Check them out.

Cheers

fatbrit

I'm sure you will be. But from day one? With pre-existing conditions covered or not covered?

scrubbedexpat097

Not to be causing a panic but....you may have insurance coverage, your husbands firm may be a very successful company but they do not determine what the health insurance company will cover if you sign up with a pre-existing health issue. A lot of times already being pregnant is classed as pre-exsisting..

SarahH1409

Yes... I have been covered by them for the last 3.5yrs as my husband has been on the international books. If we go on holiday anywhere within the USA, South America or Canada we dont need holiday insurance as we are covered by them... my husband has so much $'s (as he is paid in $) deducted from his wages towards his insurance and his company pays the rest

SarahH1409

Arrrrrgghhhhh!!!

I have already stated that if (which I very much doubt!) are not covered by insurance then we have money to pay for it.... I am not going to scan in my bank details just to prove it to you all...

If you look at my original post I was looking for recomendations on schools/doctors.

I was recomended this site by a friend, but I must say I am not overly impressed... if you are all expats you would think you would have all had these sort of concerns before you moved over too!
I am an avid forum user to gain and provide info on many different subjects and I have never seen anyone jumped on like this before!

fatbrit

You're not going on holiday; you're coming to live here.

But if you're sure it's fine, far be it from me to bother you. The fact that we all have lived in the US for many years and think that your forthcoming pregnancy is an issue for concern from the insurance point of view shouldn't worry you at all.

fatbrit

Would you like an in-plan or out-of-plan recommendation?

SarahH1409

Oh forget it!! You clearly read what you want to read.

ChocolateBabz

Hi Sarah,

We moved from Aberdeen to Houston in May 08'. Can't help much with recommending a doctor - we have only been twice in the last year for minor complaints and although we were treated very well can't comment on their pregnancy care etc. (We are in Pearland BTW) Have you looked at the city-data forum for Houston - folks on there are always looking for recommendations for doctors, dentists etc.

If you are already covered by your hubby's Health Insurance Plan why don't you give them a call (and cross check with his HR Dept) as to what is covered under the plan. We found my hubby's HR were not always 'on the ball' as to what is actually covered.

As for schools my 10 year old is about to go into 5th Grade in the local middle school. I think there is a website called Great Schools that gives ratings and so on. We simply chose our local school as everything is so spread out over here and we didn't want to be driving all over Houston every day for the school run. Now that he has been in this ISD for a year we are happy with what we see. If we had had any issues with schools we could have moved him this year.

Good luck with the move !

Bill_S

Houston has a lot of hospitals and a lot of good doctors. You'll be able to narrow the field when you have the details of your insurance coverage - the plan will tell you which hospitals/doctors are considered to be "in network". Once you know that you can search for doctors who are accepting new patients. Co-workers, neighbors, friends can be good sources of info about doctors, dentists, and schools.

I lived in Houston for a year and a half in the early 90s. I was working in the heart of the Texas Medical Center - you couldn't turn around without bumping into a doctor so I don't think you'll have trouble finding one.