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US Medical Insurance...

US Medical Insurance...

Old Jun 14th 2013, 3:23 pm
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Default US Medical Insurance...

Hi All

My USC wife and I are moving from UK to USA in the coming weeks and I had a quick question about medical insurance...if there even is such a thing as a quick question about medical insurance!

For what I understand, US medical insurers often want to see proof of previous medical cover. How do I sufficiently demonstrate that I was covered for the entirety of my life under the NHS as a UKC?

Additionally; I figured US medical insurers might want a copy of my medical records before they provide me with coverage. Is this true? If US insurers do not need to see my records, then I'll save £40GBP [which is what my local doctor's office is quoting, to provide me with a copy of my own medical records]

Many Thanks,
Rich.
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Old Jun 14th 2013, 3:29 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

£40 for medical records isnt bad, especially if you are of any age. Mine charges £1 a sheet!
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Old Jun 14th 2013, 3:42 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Originally Posted by civilservant
£40 for medical records isnt bad, especially if you are of any age. Mine charges £1 a sheet!
Hi CS,

Appreciate the input. Under the Data Protection Act 1998, organisations are obligated to provide you with copies of the records they hold about you upon request, in a timely fashion. For medical records however, they are legally allowed to charge up to £50.00 GBP.

Hopefully the below links and information is of help to you if your local doctor's office it trying to rip you off
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/29/section/7
http://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public..._guides/health
http://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public...al_information

"Organisations may charge a fee of up to £10 (£2 if it is a request to a credit reference agency for information about your financial standing only).
There are special rules that apply to fees for paper based health records (the maximum fee is currently £50) and education records (a sliding scale from £1 to £50 depending on the number of pages provided)."
Cheers,

Rich.
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Old Jun 14th 2013, 4:43 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Rich, get a copy of your vaccinations but you're unlikely to need full medical reports. Apparently US medical organizations are wary of foreign records, and you'll most likely have a medical anyway - both physical and a massive questionnaire to fill in (the latter you might, might not).

As for proof, some insurers will understand the NHS and just take your word for it; others may need some help. The best is probably a letter from your GP to say you had coverage from such and such a date (mine refused to do it from birth, only from when we joined their surgery, but that was good enough as it was over 6 years). Again, they'll charge probably but at least mine put all 4 of us on the same letter for 28 quid (approx 50p per word...).
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Old Jun 14th 2013, 4:50 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Originally Posted by richbogle84
Hi All

My USC wife and I are moving from UK to USA in the coming weeks and I had a quick question about medical insurance...if there even is such a thing as a quick question about medical insurance!

For what I understand, US medical insurers often want to see proof of previous medical cover. How do I sufficiently demonstrate that I was covered for the entirety of my life under the NHS as a UKC?

Additionally; I figured US medical insurers might want a copy of my medical records before they provide me with coverage. Is this true? If US insurers do not need to see my records, then I'll save £40GBP [which is what my local doctor's office is quoting, to provide me with a copy of my own medical records]

Many Thanks,
Rich.
Believe me paying out £50 is a drop in the ocean when it comes to paying for US healthcare. Have you or your wife got a job with healthcare benefits? If not it can be even more expensive. There are lots of threads about healthcare...if you use the search engine you should be able to find them. Go to 'Advanced Search' and make sure you highlight the US and Trailer Park forums. There is also information about US healthcare in the BE Wiki.
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Old Jun 14th 2013, 4:52 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Originally Posted by richbogle84

Yes, get used to that feeling.
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Old Jun 14th 2013, 5:59 pm
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50 Squid refers to cost of your records, they usually charge you a admin cost for printing them out though. Can be anything from nothing to a couple pounds a page.

You probably want just a brief over view and vaccine record, unless you've had a lot of illnesses and the like.

As for what you need for US insurance, different companies want different things. Can be a letter from your GP or local health authority, saying you've been living x years under the care of the NHS or words to that affect.

Need to get US cover within 62 days though for it to mean anything.

If you've got a job providing insurance, it won't matter.
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Old Jun 15th 2013, 12:23 am
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

£50 is nothing--absolutely nothing compared to the costs you are about to experience.

I'm gathering you are probably pretty healthy--no major issues under treatment at this time so your doctor visits were probably for 'one off' things here or there. But even with that, a full copy of your medical records throughout your life is a good thing to have.

When you get older, and parts of you start to fail, there will be 'indicators'--measurements in blood tests and other things that will alert them as to possible situations. If you have a baseline of these numbers from when you are healthy it makes it easier to compare later in life. "I've always had a high such-and-such on this thing since I was in my 20s, so exploratory surgery because of a high indicator in the test might not be necessary when I'm in my 50s".

As Bob mentioned, it's rather important that your new cover start within 62 days of leaving NHS coverage in the UK. Most insurance agencies just assume since you were in the UK you had coverage, but some may request a letter or an NHS card or something. You medical records might also help for that.
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Old Jun 15th 2013, 5:18 am
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Originally Posted by richbogle84
For what I understand, US medical insurers often want to see proof of previous medical cover. How do I sufficiently demonstrate that I was covered for the entirety of my life under the NHS as a UKC?
If you are getting a group plan from your employer there is usually no documentation of previous coverage required.

If you are buying the coverage yourself the insurer might require proof of previous coverage, at least until ObamaCare starts in 2014, but it will depend on where you live in the US. For example in Massachusetts the state requires you to have medical insurance and there are no previous coverage or prior conditions requirements. if you are an MA resident and you don't have employer insurance, Medicare or Medicaid etc you must buy a state approved insurance and the cost is determined by your age, gender and the level of coverage you choose.
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Old Jun 15th 2013, 4:11 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Despite the costs, I have to say I'm generally impressed with the service I get from my insurance. Yesterday (like previously) I had an email to let me know my lab results were ready, so I logged in to their website, and there are the results, barely 2 minutes after the lab had entered them into the system. Then, a couple of hours later, the doctor replies to my email with a phone call. He set a few things up and called me again to say they're ready. Excellent service. (Nothing serious)

Back at my GP in the UK if I wanted a result (usually 1 week after taking the sample) I would have to phone the surgery between 12noon and 1pm and wait in a telephone queue until the lone nurse would be able to give non-specific information about my result. If I missed that time slot then I'd have to wait until 12noon tomorrow.
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Old Jun 15th 2013, 4:28 pm
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If you don't have employer provided health insurance, everything should be sorted out in January when the "Affordable Care Act" health care exchanges should be up and running. As a young person, the price is expected to be reasonable with no need for medical records. The following is the estimated cost of coverage for the "silver" plan in California. Cost may possibly be lower in other states.

http://www.coveredca.com/calculating_the_cost.html
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Old Jun 15th 2013, 4:37 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Originally Posted by GeoffM
Despite the costs, I have to say I'm generally impressed with the service I get from my insurance. Yesterday (like previously) I had an email to let me know my lab results were ready, so I logged in to their website, and there are the results, barely 2 minutes after the lab had entered them into the system. Then, a couple of hours later, the doctor replies to my email with a phone call. He set a few things up and called me again to say they're ready. Excellent service. (Nothing serious)

Back at my GP in the UK if I wanted a result (usually 1 week after taking the sample) I would have to phone the surgery between 12noon and 1pm and wait in a telephone queue until the lone nurse would be able to give non-specific information about my result. If I missed that time slot then I'd have to wait until 12noon tomorrow.
In the US, there as still some doctors that want to control everything 100% keeping the patent in the dark. In my case, my doctors were always very open providing me with a copy of the lab results but that wasn't the case for my maids doctor. He told her that she was pre-diabetic and put her on a strict diet but when I asked her about her glucose and AC1 readings, she didn't know and the doctor wouldn't give her the results even though she asked several times.
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Old Jun 15th 2013, 4:47 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Originally Posted by GeoffM
Despite the costs, I have to say I'm generally impressed with the service I get from my insurance. Yesterday (like previously) I had an email to let me know my lab results were ready, so I logged in to their website, and there are the results, barely 2 minutes after the lab had entered them into the system. Then, a couple of hours later, the doctor replies to my email with a phone call. He set a few things up and called me again to say they're ready. Excellent service. (Nothing serious)

Back at my GP in the UK if I wanted a result (usually 1 week after taking the sample) I would have to phone the surgery between 12noon and 1pm and wait in a telephone queue until the lone nurse would be able to give non-specific information about my result. If I missed that time slot then I'd have to wait until 12noon tomorrow.
I second that...even though we have spent a few thousand dollars on co-pays this year.
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Old Jun 15th 2013, 4:47 pm
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Default Re: US Medical Insurance...

Originally Posted by Michael
In the US, there as still some doctors that want to control everything 100% keeping the patent in the dark. In my case, my doctors were always very open providing me with a copy of the lab results but that wasn't the case for my maids doctor. He told her that she was pre-diabetic and put her on a strict diet but when I asked her about her glucose and AC1 readings, she didn't know and the doctor wouldn't give her the results even though she asked several times.
I think the way the Kaiser system is set up, it'd be difficult to hide results. I guess it must be possible for various reasons, but those reasons would have to be justified. The wife, who works for Kindred, says that their system has similarities too, though not as "advanced" as Kaiser's. I notice that Kaiser's isn't entirely their own system either, but uses portions from some IT company's generic health IT system.

Meanwhile, how many billions has the NHS spent on a custom IT system which doesn't work. Not invented here.
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Old Jun 15th 2013, 4:51 pm
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Originally Posted by Jerseygirl
I second that...even though we have spent a few thousand dollars on co-pays this year.
Yes, you certainly pay for it, and at hugely inflated costs. But then UK taxpayers each spent about £500 on that IT system which was scrapped.
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