Going from NHS back to American Insurance

I have a blood disorder that's considered a "pre-existing condition." In the US, If I have continuous health insurance with no more than a 6-month lapse, my next employer's insurer is forced to cover it. If I have more than a 6-month lapse, my employer's insurance can opt to not cover the condition.

Does anyone know if NHS is considered health insurance for this purpose? If I am on NHS for  a year or two, then come back to the US, can an insurance company opt not to cover my condition?

Thanks in advance!

I believe it is but I think you can have a bit of a time trying to convince them of this. Check out the Dive Into America forums... I think there is info on that there.

Good question! I hope it counts---but you might be able  to buy private insurance through Bupa while you're in the UK if it doesn't.

Depending on why your coming over you could look at travel insurance and see if this counts as existing insurance, if you are coming over with work you could ask them about this also and see if they can come up with a solution for you, it would concern me to as you do not want to be left without the possibility of treatment on your return to the US.

I am disabled and get free health care when I lived in the US but now we are unsure if I could still receive this as I have lived in the UK for 3 years now and am married.

It is one thing I would not like to be without for myself or my family.

Indy and Sonya

I may have the wrong end of the stick here, but I think the OP is asking about going from NHS to US health care. And she wants to know if a US employee insurance plan will accept that she's had health insurance which covered her pre-existing condition (NHS).

As I say, I may have it bass ackwards because her profile says she's already in the US "for now". But I just want to point out, that it's unlikely that any foreign health programme (even UK private) will be considered for US continuity eligibility. Case in point, your US employer's insurance won't even cover you in another state, unless it's an emergency or life-threatening illness; don't even ask them to reimburse for foreign treatment. How's that for restrictive? Hope Obama, et. al. gets US health care figured out someday.

Various companies and states have their own policies, but they have to cover a pre-x if it has not gone longer than 60 days without coverage (some employers will cover all pre-x conditions regardless of your previous coverage -- that's typically U.S. federal jobs). The NHS DOES count as coverage. I just did a search to try to find the exact info I had on this before, and can't find it at the moment. But if you are covered by a national health care system of a foreign country, that is coverage the same as if you had any other insurance. You need a letter from the NHS stating that you were covered. I found info in the past on Dive into America and some on a site about HIPAA.

Various companies and states have their own policies, but they have to cover a pre-x if it has not gone longer than 60 days without coverage (some employers will cover all pre-x conditions regardless of your previous coverage -- that's typically U.S. federal jobs). The NHS DOES count as coverage. I just did a search to try to find the exact info I had on this before, and can't find it at the moment. But if you are covered by a national health care system of a foreign country, that is coverage the same as if you had any other insurance. You need a letter from the NHS stating that you were covered. I found info in the past on Dive into America and some on a site about HIPAA.

Could you put some links to this info in so we can have a look that sounds very interesting.

Indy

Could you put some links to this info in so we can have a look that sounds very interesting.

Indy

Sorry, I can't find the exact info I had before. I saved links somewhere, but can't find them and haven't been too worried to do more lengthy searches as when we move back it will likely be to a federal job as it seems most they do no exclude pre-existing conditions in their healthcare plans. I did find one thing in my saved notes (http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_hipaa.html), though it is not the specific info I had about NHS coverage counting to cover a pre-x. I would recommend those needing this info search and/or post on Dive into America, as that is where I found info before: http://forum.diveintoamerica.com/index.php?s=a95e9e6bbd84f86ba3dfa2b6aa947572

An option for those going back who have a pre-x and are concerned about coverage is to look into federal jobs (a good search site is usajobs.com). I know the federal job I had before did not exclude pre-x. Also, coverage starts from your first day on the job. I have looked at jobs on usajobs.com since then, and under the benefits section it says: "There is no pre-existing condition clause or waiting period for this coverage." Here is more about benefits for federal jobs: http://www.usajobs.gov/jobextrainfo.asp#life