Pregnant and coming to the USA on K1 (How much will it cost us)

[belinda63 3,047]

you are eligible for the ACA with a green card. You will not be eligible for Medicaid.

[kzielu 1,149]

I'm curious about this too as I am 9 weeks pregnant. I won the DV2015. My interview will be some time in January. We will have 6 months to enter the US after. As the baby is due in June it will be tricky. I am really sitting on the fence over the issue. I was thinking about giving birth in the US so my child would be American, however as my husband and I will be going without jobs I am worried about the cost. We need to keep our savings to survive until one of us gets a job.With a Greencard is one eligible for Obamacare or will we have to pay over $10,000 to have the baby there?

Just make sure you really understand what Obamacare is - contrary to its name it has nothing to do with being affordable (as understood by europeans) and typically comes with high deductible. So eventhough you will be enrolled, you will still likely pay couple of hundred dollars monthly premiums and first couple of thousand dollars will go directly out of your pocket (deductible) until insurance will kick in at 20% you / 80% them (or some other percentage) rate.

Healtcare insurance in US most of the time does _not_ mean - I have insurance, I do not pay anything for medical procedures/ visits/ whatever.

[belinda63 3,047]

Good answer ^^^^^^

US health insurance is a nightmare and if you don't fully understand it you can get in a lot of trouble. You have monthly premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and total out-of-pocket expenses. Then you have in-network and out-of-network providers. No matter who or how you obtain insurance you need to make sure when you see the doctor that 1. they accept your insurance, 2. they are an in-network provider, and 3. they explain the total cost of what is being done.

For example, you go in for a check-up. You might have a co-pay for seeing the doctor. They draw blood (or have you sent somewhere to have blood drawn). That is usually a separate bill and should also be done by an in-network provider. If you have not met your deductible, depending on what insurance you have, you might have to pay the full cost out-of-pocket (our of your pocket), Then you have some x-rays done. Same thing, is the radiologist an in-network provider. Have you met your deductible? Is it a covered service?

[kzielu 1,149]

Other thing that insurance companies do is "first doctors visit" scam. In my plan, all preventive visits are free - so I go for one and I got billed for it as "first doctor visit" (which it was - obviously never been there before, had to file questionnaire on my health history and that was it). Happens to me whenever I go to a doctor I haven't been to - drives me nuts.

(Preventive visit was mole check with dermatologist - hard to imagine something more preventive that can potentially save insurance companies hundreds of thousands dollars for skin cancer treatment....). "Fortunately" at that time already paid my $4,000 deductible, lol

[Niceb 2]

We will have greencards but no jobs when we arrive. Are there a special discounted health plans for those that are unemployed or are we will have to pay thousands per month for health insurance plus in the region of 10k for the birth? Sorry for the dumb questions but I don't understand the US health system.