Medical in USA during K-1 Period

[Yellowhead 12]

I have been blessed with the joy of an American hospital bill in the past (luckily, with travel insurance to boot) and I am trying to figure out my options during the K-1 period. My fiance (petitioner) has been looking into his health care benefits through his job, and they require that we are married and require a SSN for health care enrollment, as far as he can tell. We do plan to marry within 2-3 days of my arrival, but the SSN isn't so quick. I am curious if anyone has dealt with these issues in the past. I know travel insurance in its most normal sense won't suffice, as the trip would have no end date and I would no longer be covered by MSP in BC once leaving the country. Can anyone provide info about my options? I definitely want to have coverage before stepping foot on American soil and 2-3 months without healthcare is a frightening thought.

Help!

[J & J 3]

I needed some sort of insurance as well because our wedding isn't till Nov. and I can not get covered until we are married.

Here is some websites I found from other VJ members:

http://www.usnetcare.com/

http://www.nriol.net/

http://www.americanvisitorinsurance.com/insurance/visitors-medical-compare.asp

http://www.***removed***.com/

I ended up purchasing one from the www.nriol.net site.

Hope this helps some

[FireKari 4]

After you are married, but before your SSN:

Call the insurance company and explain to them that you are waiting and what documents you do have.

For me and my husband they are accepting my greencard and alien number for up to six months before they will HAVE to have my SSN in order to process anymore claims.

It doesnt hurt to ask, and if you arent getting the answer you want, simply tell them that you must be speaking to the wrong person, and ask for a manager.

As for the coverage in the mean time, check the threads that were posted.

I know there are some good options that some of the members have used.

I just took the chance... which didn't turn out to be the best choice.

Good luck =)

Edited October 19, 2010 by FireKari

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Speaking as someone who works with HR and Benefits people at my company - I don't believe the law requires that you have a SSN to get medical insurance....consider that a little baby when born obviously does not have one right away, but is obviously covered.

There was an act recently passed which caused our company to have to try to collect all available SSN's for children and spouses to pass onto the insurance companies...but I can tell you that not everyone has provided them and no one has lost their company healthcare because of it. It was a 'best efforts' kind of thing on our part

I was added to my husband's company coverage upon marriage (about 2 weeks in)and I provided my SSN a month or 2 later when I got it in December.

If your husband to be doesn't get the answer he wants from his HR person (they are often clueless abotu the intricate rules), he should consider calling customer service at his provider (ie CIGNA, Kaiser etc...)they may have a better grip on the laws and rules...if what they say is different he can then go back to HR armed with his info.

[Krikit 1,165]

If he is with BlueCross/BlueShield they covered me from the moment I had my visa endorsed at the POE. We just had to provide them with our marriage certificate and my SSN when that information became available.

[Yellowhead 12]

If he is with BlueCross/BlueShield they covered me from the moment I had my visa endorsed at the POE. We just had to provide them with our marriage certificate and my SSN when that information became available.

He is with Kaiser I believe. I will have him call the HR department for his job and if that doesn't work, we will get in touch with higher ups. I can't see how they would turn down money from us considering the premium rates for Kaiser.