Medical Coverage in the US...

[INK 0]

My wife and kids are leaving for the US while I wait for the IR-1 visa. They will be without medical insurance until I get there and officially transfer internally to the US organization of my company, at which point they'll have insurance via my employer. My question is what is the best way to get them covered during the transitional period (~2 months)? I have been looking into Bluecross and they offer coverage for about $325 for my wife and two kids...anyone has experience with this?

[rsn 135]

My wife and kids are leaving for the US while I wait for the IR-1 visa. They will be without medical insurance until I get there and officially transfer internally to the US organization of my company, at which point they'll have insurance via my employer. My question is what is the best way to get them covered during the transitional period (~2 months)? I have been looking into Bluecross and they offer coverage for about $325 for my wife and two kids...anyone has experience with this?

Are you looking for catastrophic insurance or insurance to cover routine procedures/visits?

[INK 0]

My wife and kids are leaving for the US while I wait for the IR-1 visa. They will be without medical insurance until I get there and officially transfer internally to the US organization of my company, at which point they'll have insurance via my employer. My question is what is the best way to get them covered during the transitional period (~2 months)? I have been looking into Bluecross and they offer coverage for about $325 for my wife and two kids...anyone has experience with this?

Are you looking for catastrophic insurance or insurance to cover routine procedures/visits?

I would say mostly emergencies - we are not too concerned about regular visits as we have quite a few MDs in family in the area there...

[rsn 135]

My wife and kids are leaving for the US while I wait for the IR-1 visa. They will be without medical insurance until I get there and officially transfer internally to the US organization of my company, at which point they'll have insurance via my employer. My question is what is the best way to get them covered during the transitional period (~2 months)? I have been looking into Bluecross and they offer coverage for about $325 for my wife and two kids...anyone has experience with this?

Are you looking for catastrophic insurance or insurance to cover routine procedures/visits?

I would say mostly emergencies - we are not too concerned about regular visits as we have quite a few MDs in family in the area there...

In that case you can get catastrophic insurance in the U.S. as well. I purchased one for my fiancee while I was waiting for her to make it onto my insurance. I used Atlas but there are many choices. One thread that I looked at w/ links is here.

Edited November 19, 2009 by rsn

[Blitz 3]

My husband is with BlueCross/Blue Shield in California, I think it's called? I gotta say, it's a HORRIBLE plan. It's relatively "cheap" by US standards (roughly $100 a month for him only), but he needs an MRI to check out something strange in his neck. After waiting a month to even get a call back from his doctor's office, he found out that even with his "coverage", he will still have to pay at least $1,000 for it!!!

So obviously his "cheap" plan is just for catostrophic situations too, and we will just have to hope/pray that whatever is wrong with his neck is not too serious b/c we simply can't afford $1,000+ on an MRI right now. If only he had it done in Canada before he moved back to the US, even if it meant waiting a few weeks longer to get it, at least we'd find out what is wrong. Ugh.

Sorry to ramble...but that's the one thing I dread about moving to the US - the stress over dealing with the crazy health insurance industry. Thankfully I can at least have my baby in Canada beforehand.

Good luck!

[minnew 4]

Whenever I would go to visit my fiancé(now hubby) I would get GMS of SK travellers insurance, even if just for a week. At that time my benefits were not effective with my job that gms would cover travel.

When I moved to the u.s.a I used www.sevencorners.com inbound immgirant medical insurance. I based it on vj Canada members using it, and also had no problems. It gave me peace of mind for the month and a half before my tricare benefits were effective after marriage. For the time I needed it, it was

around $100 for a single person.

Hope this helps,

Good luck

[Carlawarla 1]

Here is a link to one that several members have used.

https://www.sevencorners.com/insurance/inbo...migrant/HWDYZWN

Some other members have looked at Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, and CAA as well.

Edited November 19, 2009 by Carlawarla