Cancer survivor in need of health insurance help/advice

[Scotland2Cali 19]

Hi,

I am moving to California on Sept 20th to get married and start our life together. I am 33 and am almost 6 years post treatment in remission from Hodgkin Lymphoma.

What I am wondering is in legal terms, how long am I still covered by travel insurance and when do I need to take up US health insurance? Obviously due to my past health it is important to me to have cover but my concern is the price of insurance for cancer survivors and being able to afford it during the period that I am unable to work.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jules

[agrabs 241]

You will need to check the terms of your particular travel insurance plan to see what your coverage is. Different plans have different benefits depending on what you purchase.

After you get married your spouse may be able to add you on to their plan. After a life event such as marriage or divorce there is a window of time in which your spouse can add you on without waiting until open enrollment. If your spouse can not add you to their plan then you will have to purchase coverage thru the healthcare exchange. As part of health care reform you can not be denied coverage based on pre-existing conditions.

http://budgeting.thenest.com/effective-date-insurance-adding-spouse-after-marriage-28830.html

[Boiler 45,559]

K1 was probably not the best option, you need to get married asap before you can be added to a spouse policy, usually.

Travel insurance normally does not cover migrants, for those going and coming back.

[JFH 12,190]

Hi,

I am moving to California on Sept 20th to get married and start our life together. I am 33 and am almost 6 years post treatment in remission from Hodgkin Lymphoma.

What I am wondering is in legal terms, how long am I still covered by travel insurance and when do I need to take up US health insurance? Obviously due to my past health it is important to me to have cover but my concern is the price of insurance for cancer survivors and being able to afford it during the period that I am unable to work.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jules

Most travel insurance policies sold in the UK are sold on the condition that the trip is either a short-term business trip or a holiday and a return to the UK is involved and UK residency is maintained. I have yet to find one on general sale that covers one-way travel for immigration. Although there are probably specialist immigrant policies around if we look hard enough in the right place. You may find that if you take a travel insurance policy and subsequently attempt to file a claim that it is denied due to you no longer being a UK resident.

It's something I am also starting to research. Be interesting to see what we find.

Edited August 10, 2016 by JFH

[Boiler 45,559]

There is new migrant medical insirance you can buy in the US but limited cover and excludes pre existing issues.

[Unidentified 2,930]

Hi,

I am moving to California on Sept 20th to get married and start our life together. I am 33 and am almost 6 years post treatment in remission from Hodgkin Lymphoma.

What I am wondering is in legal terms, how long am I still covered by travel insurance and when do I need to take up US health insurance? Obviously due to my past health it is important to me to have cover but my concern is the price of insurance for cancer survivors and being able to afford it during the period that I am unable to work.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jules

Most travel insurances doesn't cover you actually living in the country as it's for travel and visiting. There are however insurance companies here in the US that is specifically for people who come here on visas and k1's though I have a feeling they don't cover pre existing medical issues.

[Scotland2Cali 19]

Ok, Thank you for your comments everyone.

It is good to know they can't deny me coverage.

As for the travel insurance it is just an annual one I have left over for a couple of months. I was just wondering if it would cover a general doctors appointment if needed. Any way its not to bad as I am having a final check up with my specialist in the UK before I go and then I am getting married within the month of arriving there so Hopefully I can then get on my partners insurance plan as you suggest. She is going to check it out with her employer.

Thanks again

[Boiler 45,559]

The policy is for those living in the UK. You will be living in the US.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Get married the day you arrive and get added to your spouse's insurance.

[yuna628 9,677]

Hi,

I am moving to California on Sept 20th to get married and start our life together. I am 33 and am almost 6 years post treatment in remission from Hodgkin Lymphoma.

What I am wondering is in legal terms, how long am I still covered by travel insurance and when do I need to take up US health insurance? Obviously due to my past health it is important to me to have cover but my concern is the price of insurance for cancer survivors and being able to afford it during the period that I am unable to work.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Jules

Hi there,

To answer your first question: travel insurance will generally only cover you up to the point you land stateside. That's because instead of visiting, you're coming to live here. Secondly, keep in mind that travel insurances, temporary insurances, and insurances directly marketed towards immigrants to the US are considered sub-standard insurance by the government. This means the tax penalty will still apply (the government would consider you like being uninsured). These types of immigrant insurances also do not typically provide coverage for pre-existing conditions.

For general wellness, whether you have insurance or not, you can usually go to a spot/minute clinic anywhere these days. You have to pay of course, but it is certainly cheaper than going to an ER, if you just need a basic checkup, have a cold or flu etc.

Obviously for you, you certainly need to think about coverage carefully. So there are three options that would work for you best. The first is get married as soon as possible, and have your spouse add you to their health insurance. Try and do this as soon as you possibly can. I'd also advise you to snag an SSN soon after you arrive. Not having an SSN right away won't be a preventing factor to obtaining health insurance, but it is an important identity document to have, and some insurance reps can give people a hard time without one (unless you're willing to hash it out with them).

Your other options would all follow this same idea - you can also purchase health insurance privately from any private insurer in your area. You won't be denied coverage.

Your third option would be after marriage, applying for adjustment of status/EAD/AP right away. As an immigrant with an NOA1 this would be a qualifying document, and as recently married and recently immigrated you qualify under special enrollment for Obamacare (healthcare exchange). For California you would have to seek out coverage through Covered California (state exchange) first. EAD and or green card is obviously another qualifying document, but for obvious reasons you won't want to wait that long. You can see the link in my signature regarding immigrants and the federal exchange, you'll need to take a look at CC's website for the state rules (which usually follow the feds).

As for price, well there's sticker shock in any of these cases. Health insurance is not free, and any low cost affordable stuff in O'care only applies in some situations. Most of the insurances on the exchanges you can actually purchase privately, you'll have to shop around. In my state it costs me about $400+ a month for our private spousal plan. A cost of a plan is not really going to be about your health problems, but is going to be in tiers - from bronze to gold usually. The choice is up to you and you will not be denied, and you can cancel at any time. Lower costing plans are going to give you lower premiums, middle of the road copays, but a higher deductible - and higher costing plans will offer higher premiums, low copays, and lower deductibles. Go through stuff with your spouse and see what is the best choice for you vs what you can afford.

Edited August 11, 2016 by yuna628

[Scotland2Cali 19]

Hi there,

To answer your first question: travel insurance will generally only cover you up to the point you land stateside. That's because instead of visiting, you're coming to live here. Secondly, keep in mind that travel insurances, temporary insurances, and insurances directly marketed towards immigrants to the US are considered sub-standard insurance by the government. This means the tax penalty will still apply (the government would consider you like being uninsured). These types of immigrant insurances also do not typically provide coverage for pre-existing conditions.

For general wellness, whether you have insurance or not, you can usually go to a spot/minute clinic anywhere these days. You have to pay of course, but it is certainly cheaper than going to an ER, if you just need a basic checkup, have a cold or flu etc.

Obviously for you, you certainly need to think about coverage carefully. So there are three options that would work for you best. The first is get married as soon as possible, and have your spouse add you to their health insurance. Try and do this as soon as you possibly can. I'd also advise you to snag an SSN soon after you arrive. Not having an SSN right away won't be a preventing factor to obtaining health insurance, but it is an important identity document to have, and some insurance reps can give people a hard time without one (unless you're willing to hash it out with them).

Your other options would all follow this same idea - you can also purchase health insurance privately from any private insurer in your area. You won't be denied coverage.

Your third option would be after marriage, applying for adjustment of status/EAD/AP right away. As an immigrant with an NOA1 this would be a qualifying document, and as recently married and recently immigrated you qualify under special enrollment for Obamacare (healthcare exchange). For California you would have to seek out coverage through Covered California (state exchange) first. EAD and or green card is obviously another qualifying document, but for obvious reasons you won't want to wait that long. You can see the link in my signature regarding immigrants and the federal exchange, you'll need to take a look at CC's website for the state rules (which usually follow the feds).

As for price, well there's sticker shock in any of these cases. Health insurance is not free, and any low cost affordable stuff in O'care only applies in some situations. Most of the insurances on the exchanges you can actually purchase privately, you'll have to shop around. In my state it costs me about $400+ a month for our private spousal plan. A cost of a plan is not really going to be about your health problems, but is going to be in tiers - from bronze to gold usually. The choice is up to you and you will not be denied, and you can cancel at any time. Lower costing plans are going to give you lower premiums, middle of the road copays, but a higher deductible - and higher costing plans will offer higher premiums, low copays, and lower deductibles. Go through stuff with your spouse and see what is the best choice for you vs what you can afford.

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to write in such detail. I really appreciate it. The link you provided is also very useful. As things stand we are looking to get married within the first 10 days of my arrival, we are just waiting to hear back from the pastor about availability. At which time I will either go onto my partners plan depending on the ins and outs of it, or once I have applied for AOS and take the Obamacare route which I didn't know that I could, so thank you for that information. I am dreading the price of it but it will certainly be worth it although I hope I will never need to use it!

Thanks again.

Best Wishes