Having a baby in the USA on K1

[wishiwasthere23 0]

hello all...

Just looking to get some feedback on this...

If I was to have our baby in the USA on the K1 visa, does my husbands insurance pay, or does Canada pay for the medica bills?

The reason I ask is because, my fiance says it could take a while to for the benefits for me once we are married. Therefore I am wondering what I should do, stay here in Canada or go to him

uggh its all so complicate

Thanks guys/gals

[trailmix 77]

hello all...

Just looking to get some feedback on this...

If I was to have our baby in the USA on the K1 visa, does my husbands insurance pay, or does Canada pay for the medica bills?

The reason I ask is because, my fiance says it could take a while to for the benefits for me once we are married. Therefore I am wondering what I should do, stay here in Canada or go to him

uggh its all so complicate

Thanks guys/gals

Hi,

You would really need to check this out with the Health care department for your Province and he would need to check this out with his Health insurance provider.

For instance, some provincial plans with pay a very very small portion of your out of province costs for some things - but whether having a baby would qualify - who knows.

Your Husband has private insurance, when and how soon you can be covered may be different from whatever anyone else has experienced, so in my opinion best to contact them and get facts. Good luck.

[raymaga 25]

I was able to get on my husband's medical insurance right after we were married.

Some insurance plans have waiting periods, so your best bet would be to check with your husband's benefits department to find out when a foreign spouse can be added to the policy.

I would be very surprised if any Canadian health insurance would pay once you have left Canada to live in the U.S.

[SonoranSongbird 3]

I'd strongly recommend having the baby in Canada and then moving down. Most private health insurance plans have periods during which they exclude from coverage preexisting conditions. That is true even if you have a plan that will cover you immediately, as ours does. This happened to a friend of mine who got pregnant while doing a public health nursing internship in Sri Lanka. She had to pay several thousand dollars up front for delivery in order to be allowed to have her baby in the hospital! Fortunately, she had the money; you may not be so lucky.

I'm not sure where you are in the immigration process OR in your pregnancy, but you do have six months to activate your visa once it is issued, and you also have some leeway to ask the consulate to schedule an interview date that will keep your due date within that six month window. That is, once your petition reaches the consulate, you will know more or less what time frame they are scheduling interviews for (from comparing timelines on here), so you can ask for an interview in "late December" or "mid January" or some time beyond that point. Vancouver is better about this than Montreal, though. So you can start the process (if you haven't done so already) and still plan to have the baby before immigrating.

[payxibka 10,047]

hello all...

Just looking to get some feedback on this...

If I was to have our baby in the USA on the K1 visa, does my husbands insurance pay, or does Canada pay for the medica bills?

The reason I ask is because, my fiance says it could take a while to for the benefits for me once we are married. Therefore I am wondering what I should do, stay here in Canada or go to him

uggh its all so complicate

Thanks guys/gals

Chances are that the baby will be covered but you will not be....

[EED 0]

You should ask your fiancée to speak /review his coverage with his benefit administrators. . While you may be able to participate in your fiancées plan after marriage, the fact that you are already pregnant maybe viewed by certain benefit plans as a pre-existing condition. Therefore, the associated cost of the pregnancy and childbirth may not be covered.

If your fiancée’s employer plan cannot cover you, you may still purchase childbirth coverage up until the first trimester of your pregnancy. After that, the premium gets too expensive.

[payxibka 10,047]

You should ask your fiancée to speak /review his coverage with his benefit administrators. . While you may be able to participate in your fiancées plan after marriage, the fact that you are already pregnant maybe viewed by certain benefit plans as a pre-existing condition. Therefore, the associated cost of the pregnancy and childbirth may not be covered.

If your fiancée’s employer plan cannot cover you, you may still purchase childbirth coverage up until the first trimester of your pregnancy. After that, the premium gets too expensive.

If the "mother to be" is currently covered by a qualified plan, then the pregnancy is NOT a pre-existing condition. The question would be if in the eyes of the insurer, is a canadian plan a qualified plan...

[aravis227 1]

You should ask your fiancée to speak /review his coverage with his benefit administrators. . While you may be able to participate in your fiancées plan after marriage, the fact that you are already pregnant maybe viewed by certain benefit plans as a pre-existing condition. Therefore, the associated cost of the pregnancy and childbirth may not be covered.

If your fiancée’s employer plan cannot cover you, you may still purchase childbirth coverage up until the first trimester of your pregnancy. After that, the premium gets too expensive.

If the "mother to be" is currently covered by a qualified plan, then the pregnancy is NOT a pre-existing condition. The question would be if in the eyes of the insurer, is a canadian plan a qualified plan...

I believe that pregnancy is NEVER a non-coverable pre-existing condition in the US...I'm pretty certain that was passed into law in the '90's. Double check with your husband's insurance, but I believe you would be safe as long as you can get on the plan in time.

Also, I'm not sure how this works, but if your visa is already approved, does it cover a new-born or would you have to apply for an additional visa for the baby and then wait again? I don't know any info on that...hopefully someone else around here knows more, but it might be something to consider.

[aravis227 1]

Ok...just verified. According to this webpage HIPAA. As of 1996 it is federal law that pregnancy CAN NOT be considered a pre-existing condition.

[Reba 2]

Even with insurance in the US, it'll still cost more to have the baby here than it would in Canada. Plus, while you're on Canadian maternity leave, you can move to the US on your K1 and still collect EI benefits.

No, the baby would not need a visa, they would need to register his/her birth abroad at the US consulate, and it would have US citizenship.

[KarenCee 3]

Just curious...you say K-1 but you refer to him as your husband. Are you two married?

[wishiwasthere23 0]

Even with insurance in the US, it'll still cost more to have the baby here than it would in Canada. Plus, while you're on Canadian maternity leave, you can move to the US on your K1 and still collect EI benefits.

No, the baby would not need a visa, they would need to register his/her birth abroad at the US consulate, and it would have US citizenship.

No..well i call him my hubby now..but we are only engaged

Thank you for all the helpful info...we have decided it would be best for me to have the baby here, and he will come up for the birth. But I have another question...if he is here fo the birth, how will he let his US consolute now about the babies birth, so that they baby has a US passport?or will it be a US citizen..this confuses me also.

Thanks a bunch guys...u rock!!

[trailmix 77]

I was able to get on my husband's medical insurance right after we were married.

Some insurance plans have waiting periods, so your best bet would be to check with your husband's benefits department to find out when a foreign spouse can be added to the policy.

I would be very surprised if any Canadian health insurance would pay once you have left Canada to live in the U.S.

That is why I mentioned checking with your provincial plan, because in fact Alberta does have an extended coverage plan:

Moving to and from Canada

If you are permanently moving from Alberta to another country you can arrange for AHCIP coverage for up to three months from the date of your departure, provided your account is paid up and your extended coverage is pre-paid before you leave.

I'm not sure what the rate is and I doubt they would cover delivery - and probably not for the amount charged for having a baby in the U.S. - but indeed it is available.

[Eric_and_Corinna 0]

Even with insurance in the US, it'll still cost more to have the baby here than it would in Canada. Plus, while you're on Canadian maternity leave, you can move to the US on your K1 and still collect EI benefits.

No, the baby would not need a visa, they would need to register his/her birth abroad at the US consulate, and it would have US citizenship.

No..well i call him my hubby now..but we are only engaged

Thank you for all the helpful info...we have decided it would be best for me to have the baby here, and he will come up for the birth. But I have another question...if he is here fo the birth, how will he let his US consolute now about the babies birth, so that they baby has a US passport?or will it be a US citizen..this confuses me also.

Thanks a bunch guys...u rock!!

Your child will be a dual US-Canadian citizen if you aply for the Consular Birth Abroad. This is a good place to start:

http://toronto.usconsulate.gov/content/con...t=births_abroad

I'm just assuming you would be near Toronto. The paperwork is kind of a pain in the ####### and kind of confusing, but the process at the Consulate itself is very painless. The biggest pain is getting an expedited Ontario birth certificate-normally they take something like 4 months. If you get your local MP involved, they can get the birth certificate to you pretty quickly.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Actualy, that is getting your local MPP involved, not your MP. Your MP (Member of Parliament) can do nothing to help with Provincial matters, only Federal ones. The MPP (Member of Provincial Parliament) can help expedite the birth certificate, which is a Provincial responsibility. Definitely get their assistance - it works.