Insurance issues

[mattjones2856 0]

Hi all,

Does anyone know what a K1 Visa immigrant needs to do about medical insurance when they enter the States? During past visits I have just had travel insurance to cover that sort of thing but I doubt an ordinary policy would cover someone who intends to immigrate. I checked the insurance I normally get and they said that they only cover trips that begin and end in the UK, so that would rule them out for a start.

I think that once we are married I will be covered by my partners insurance, but how do I ensure I am covered for the couple of months before that?

Any advice or others experiences would be gretaly appreciated!

Thanks,

Matt

[flipside 0]

Medical insurance in the US is insanely expensive. I'm not sure what you can do before getting married other then signing up for the least expensive option.

You could have a civil ceremony right away after you arrive to get covered under your partners insurance though.

[Anja_and_Henry 0]

You can find inexpensive insurances for short term with high retentions, blue cross, .... But maybe others have better ideas.

Anja

[raymaga 25]

Blue Cross offers insurance for emergencies only..... meaning that you can't just go to the doctor's office with a cold or a minor injury.... but it would cover you if you had a heart attack, got in a car accident or any other emergency type service.

I got it for one month before we were married and it cost us about $150.00 for the month.

[Anja_and_Henry 0]

that looks kind of interesting - but no experience

http://www.insurancedesi.com/new_immigrant_insurance.html

[mattjones2856 0]

Thanks for this guys, very useful info!!

To be honest, I'm surprised this isnt covered in a Guide or FAQ (unless I missed it!!!). Considering how expensive US medical costs are its something everybody will need to consider before they set off for the US. Any VJ Webmaster folks out there?!

Thanks,

Matt

[KarenCee 3]

Joel will be covered under my insurance at work after we get married

[Kez/JWolf 6]

I think most people just hopw that they dont need to see a doctor for the time when they are waiting to get married...

Kezzie

[Jasman0717 9]

Have your fiance call around to get estimates. Medical insurance can be very costly

[kc456 0]

Blue Cross offers insurance for emergencies only..... meaning that you can't just go to the doctor's office with a cold or a minor injury.... but it would cover you if you had a heart attack, got in a car accident or any other emergency type service.

I got it for one month before we were married and it cost us about $150.00 for the month.

What Raymaga proposed sounds like a good option. This type of insurance is often also called catastrophic coverage. You can deal with a cold without a dr's visit, but in case of a major accident, you don't want to end up in hospital without insurance. Even a simple two-day stay can be $15K.

Or have a civil ceremony right after arrival to get on the spouse's health insurance.

[pax 0]

The InsuranceDesi policy doesn't seem too expensive. It's probably not a bad idea to have SOME kind of interim health insurance if you can afford it.

[Fandango 1,439]

Well, how are you flying here? Is it a one-way ticket? Because if it's not (as it's ridiculous that return flights are usually cheaper) and you're planning on abandoning the return part of your journey, why not make the ticket's return be the day before you get covered on your fiance's insurance? That way your travel ins might cover you up until you marry.

But check around as I have no clue what coming on a return ticket implies.

[Nikita2Charles 32]

It depends on what state you live in

Here in california, you can there's Kaiser permanente. You can sign up for a year premium but there's no string attached it's only valid if you make the payment that way you can select the cheapest options, that should give you enough time to get married and add her to your insurance policy, here in california her insurance takes effect on the day of marriage and you have 31 days from the civil ceremony to change your status and add her to your health plan.

Good luck

[mattjones2856 0]

Well, how are you flying here? Is it a one-way ticket? Because if it's not (as it's ridiculous that return flights are usually cheaper) and you're planning on abandoning the return part of your journey, why not make the ticket's return be the day before you get covered on your fiance's insurance? That way your travel ins might cover you up until you marry.

But check around as I have no clue what coming on a return ticket implies.

Yea, thats an interesting thought but it seems kinda risky. I mean, insurance companies are notorious for worming their way out of paying and I'm sure it wouldnt take much digging to work out that I had no intention of returning to the UK, therefore invalidating my insurance.

Also, your right about the whole return ticket being cheaper than one way, it just doesnt make any sense!! I called up BA to ask about if its acceptable to buy a return ticket instead of a more expensive one way ticket and the lady said "Yes, but I didnt say that!". No wonder they overbook flights then end up getting caught out and having to bump people to a later flight.

[Texanadian 10]

This is going to be a thorny issue for me to deal with. My US fiancee's company pays for her health care plan ($815/month) and they used to cover dependants. (Family coverage was $1800/month).

Now they don't.

So I could join her work coverage, but they would charge me $700/month to be on it. Doesn't sound too promising to me.

Her son is covered on his Dad's health plan. His Dad is a retired postal worker and the cost to add him to that plan is $30/month. (Government jobs seem to have better health plans). That's incredible when you think about it. $30 vs $700

Looks like I'll be searching around for my own plan. When I travel to the US to visit, I pay Pacific Blue Cross a dollar a day for 2 million dollars coverage.