meauxna

Oh, of course.. I missed that one. But if they are coming on non-immigrant visas, does that change anything?

moving2nyc

OMG!!!!!!!

I just had a call from my wife who called our doctors to ask for the letter to provide the insurance company over here.

The doctor explained she could never do this and would prefer to send the insurance company my wife's files so they know all about her previous conditions.

My wife was really upset about this and it sounds like the doctor was really horrible to her.

Our family doctor who was lovely recently retired so she was talking to another one of the partners who clearly doesn't know what she's talking about.

Will the doctors note need to be on an NHS headed paper? Or should we try and get this from the NHS trust?

Any advise anyone?

Ozzidoc

As previously advised, ask your GP to write a letter on the GP practice's letterhead stating "covered by NHS" etc.

Duncan Roberts

If the doctor wont do it then you can ask the trust to do it. Or tell her to try this number 020 7210 4850.

Also, the doctor would be violating NHS rules if they sent your records to the insurance company because the NHS claims the records as proprietary property and will not release it outside the NHS.

moving2nyc

Hi everyone,

Thought I would update you on my insurance situation. Our doctor was pretty useless, they claimed to have spoken to their union who have advised them NOT to write a letter saying that the NHS is part of a "health plan".

She thinks it's mis-leading and if I tried to get private health care in the UK I would have to declare all pre-existing conditions.

The best I've manged to get from them is a letter saying we are resident in the UK, have been part of the NHS and that we are not receiving treatment at the moment. Cheeky buggers then explained they'll charge me £10 for the letter!!!!

So our plan is for me to apply for the company insurance first and supply the letter and our NHS cards as "creditable cover". If that passes through without a problem then we will apply for the rest of the family when they move over next year.

Anyone see any problems in my plan?

Thanks in advance

lapin_windstar

Isn't that all you need?

Where did they get the term "health plan" from? Don't get me wrong, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, but it sounds like you may have made the mistake of giving people too much info! The extra details about citizenship and naturalisation and residence etc all sound irrelevant IMVHO.

Just tell them the minimum they need to know to do their job: "I need a letter to confirm I've been covered by the NHS since <some date in the past that checks the insurance company's box>. Can you prepare that for me? Yes? Good.".

As you continue on this journey, you'll realise you will understand more about the processes for people in your unusual position (compared to 99% of other punters) than most administrators. If you give them too much detail, you'll risk confusing their tiny little minds and make them panic and freeze!

moving2nyc

Thanks for the advise,

I agree that there are too many small minded people involved in this process. When I get the actual letter I'll post it here to see what the collective experts think.

I'm sure everything will be OK, I'm just trying to avoid getting caught up in the red tape I know exists in US medical insurance
I'm going to apply first anyway so if I get on board with the letter and my NHS cards then I'm sure the rest of my family will

Thanks again

dbj1000

But that's OK - just makes them easier to hit with a proverbial 18-wheeler!

katnap8

When I added my husband in 2003 (with pre-existing conditions) to my health coverage through my employer in the US (when we lived in the US), we only needed to say that he had the NHS and he was added with no other problems.

I thought if you were on an employer based insurance that pre-existing conditions did not affect your insurance regardless if you were the employee or the spouse of the employee as the company premiums average people who use the coverage loads and those who hardly see the doctor.

Duncan Roberts

is all you should need as long as they include a note of the date you leave the UK and the words "since birth" assuming that you have been covered since birth. All you have to prove is that you have had health coverage though a government health system for at least 12 months with no gap of 63+ days prior to enrollment in your US plan. You could always send a copy of you NHS card as well.

Jerseygirl

Forget about words like 'health plan'...all you need to do is ask your doctor to confirm that you and your family (listing names) have been receiving full medical care from 19** to 20** from the National Health Service.