carmen blue

I'm a US citizen (and so are our two children) but my husband is not - we're currently in the UK waiting for his green card. We're hoping to move to the US later this year or early next. Does anyone have any advice on getting health insurance to cover us for the first few months there? We just need something temporary because of our work situation (ie we'll be setting up business in the US and will probably look into getting a different health insurance at that time). But I'm not sure where to start looking, so any advice is much appreciated.

scrubbedexpat099

All insurance is temporary. And expensive.

Also State dependent.

Setting up a business may be helpful with pre existing conditions and tax.

SanDiegogirl

Look on 'ehealthinsurance.com' for a start.

This site will give you some idea as to what 'temporary cover' is and what it can cost.

I would be very worried about coming to the US with children for even a few months without health insurance so you need to put something in place as soon as you get here.

Bear in mind that, until 2014, insurance companies can still turn you down for individual cover because of pre-conditions.

carmen blue

Thanks for that. I certainly wouldn't go to the States without organising it first. I was hoping our travel insurance might cover us for a short period but understandably they won't.

Any ideas if any of the companies would want to see our UK medical records???

Giantaxe

From this week, they can no longer turn children with pre-existing conditions down, but I am not sure what happens if parent is turned down for such a condition.

carmen blue

That's fantastic. Thankfully we're all healthy, but I'm still going to miss the good old NHS!

scrubbedexpat099

Not so fantastic, you have to pay extra for all those who they can no longer turn down.

penguinsix

ehealthinsurance should be your first step, but it's going to require some things like an address and an SSN (sometimes) that might make it tricky to set up from abroad.

My advice would be to get some travel insurance to cover the first month or so. Won't be the best option if you are diagnosed with cancer in those first few weeks but should provide cover if you are hit by a luggage truck on the way out of the airport.

Then scour e-healthinsurance. Is it possible your company would be set up quickly? Maybe shop as a company rather than an individual so that you can compare options.

Highly state-dependent and with varying terms that affect the cost. If you have forgotten some of the basics since you last purchased US insurance check out the wiki:

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Health_Insurance

carmen blue

Thanks for that, penguinsix. My children and I have SSNs and we'll have an address, so I'll definitely try to set something decent up from here. Last time I lived in the States was 14 years ago when I was still under my parents' plan, so that Wiki was great. Thanks again - I appreciate that.