US health insurance for UK citizen?

This may belong under the repatriation board instead, but I wasn't sure how many people read that board.

My husband and I will be moving back to the US with our toddler and a newborn and it's looking like we'll have at least a month before the insurance coverage through his new job begins, maybe two months if we move back ahead of his start date. We're looking into purchasing an individual policy to fill in the gap but I've heard UK citizens are often denied individual policies in the US and remember seeing some posts about that a few years ago. Has anyone had any recent experience with securing insurance for your family outside of the group policy available through a job? Any specific company recommendations or how we should begin our search? It's been about 4 years since I last lived in the US and I've never had to purchase insurance outside of my job before!

It is pretty hard to find non-job health insurance. And expensive. I think part of the problem is that insurance companies want you to have had previous coverage (and NHS probably won't count)
I think I'd try to delay moving until the company insurance kicks in, especially with young kids.

NHS coverage will work as previous proof of coverage, the OP needs a letter from her GP/Health Authority stating that they have been covered, with dates. The OP needs to ensure that there is no more than a 62 day lapse in coverage before pre-existing conditions can be excluded when joining employer provided insurance.

Some users of the board www.expat.com have recommended Seven Corners Inbound Immigrant insurance for new immigrants to the US. I don't know if this would be applicable for your family but it might be worth a read.

Re: Fruitgum's information about NHS counting as credible coverage for preexisting conditions. 

This is exactly the information I was looking for. My family maintains privately purchased health insurance back in the states basically because we were afraid NHS would NOT count if we had to move back because of a health issue.

Just because I want to be really sure about this, can you point me to where you got that information?

I based my answer on information on www.britishexpats.com.Several board members were able to use proof of previous NHS coverage when applying for health insurance in the US.

Edited to add source: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=621392

and the following from the Department of Labor's "FAQs About Portability Of Health Coverage And HIPAA": http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_consumer_hipaa.html#certificates