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Topic: Getting healthcare coverage back home  (Read 1333 times)

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Getting healthcare coverage back home
« on: April 01, 2011, 09:54:51 AM »
Hi, can anyone advise how I would go about getting US coverage? Names of any companies that would cover an American living abroad? I was hoping to get covered before I went back home this summer as I need to have a few things checked out. Any advice would be really appreciated!


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Re: Getting healthcare coverage back home
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2011, 01:41:49 PM »
I just wanted to add that I am currently a permanent resident of the UK. The american insurance policy would be to supplement my UK coverage.


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Re: Getting healthcare coverage back home
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2011, 02:38:33 PM »
www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/buying-private-health-insurance-14819/

They warn you how difficult -- and expensive -- it is to get health insurance.  It will depend nowadays on what state you're going to. And US policies may not cover you in the UK if you are a permanent resident. I was told my policy would only cover you as a tourist -- you would have to pay whatever the fee was and submit a request for reimbursement.
>^.^<
Married and moved to UK 1974
Returned to US 1995
Irish citizenship June 2009
    Irish passport September 2009 
Retirement July 2012
Leeds in 2013!
ILR (Long Residence) 22 March 2016


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Re: Getting healthcare coverage back home
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2011, 02:56:59 PM »
I'm a little bit confused. You're not moving to the US, you're just interested in getting something checked out with a US doctor while you're there visiting? Or, you're moving to the US and interested in getting coverage right away?

If it's the first one, I would be very surprised if a US insurance company would cover you for something like that. I think in that instance, you may have to pay out of pocket. If it's something totally rare then maybe you could get a research MD to see you pro bono, but I think that would be near impossible.


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Re: Getting healthcare coverage back home
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2011, 04:11:11 PM »
What I'm looking for is an American insurance policy that will cover me when I'm visiting there. I spend roughly a month and a half out of the year on the east coast and would prefer to have any routine medical checks done there. Obviously anything urgent will have to be dealt with here in the UK, but on the whole I prefer the American system so I would like coverage for when I visit.


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Re: Getting healthcare coverage back home
« Reply #5 on: April 01, 2011, 04:19:51 PM »
Hmmm....for the amount that you're going to pay for this insurance (if you're able to even get it) it might make more financial sense to pay out of pocket, especially if you're going to return to the NHS to have any follow ups done.


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Re: Getting healthcare coverage back home
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2011, 06:17:54 PM »
In the unlikely event you can find an insurer who will do this, you'll likely pay a very high premium for the privilege. It's just not how insurance works. If you LIVE in one country, you are insured via their system unless you are rich enough to not have to worry about it. I suppose it's possible you could have set something up before you left the US but I don't think being in the US for 6 weeks out of the year would meet any insurers residency requirement.

You can buy travelers insurance that will cover you while in the US but I don't think it'll cover anything routine.
When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life. ~ John Lennon


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Re: Getting healthcare coverage back home
« Reply #7 on: April 01, 2011, 08:21:09 PM »
Thanks for everyone's replies, this one looks like a loser! If I find out anything different I'll post back. Thanks again.


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