Health Insurance

Out of curiosity, how do you swing health insurance when you move back?  Has everyone moved back with jobs?  Did you pay for private health insurance until you "got on your feet" in the US?  Or did you just go without?

Here's a website from the NYS government that shows private/premium rate charges for HMOs and POS plans available in various counties.  You're pretty much looking at $1,800 to $3,000 per month for a family plan.  http://www.ins.state.ny.us/ihmoindx.htm

Seriously.  How did/do you do it?

HOW MUCH???

We'd paid for private cover for my husband when we lived in the US before.  It was about $600 just for him.  Apparently prices have gone up.  Plus, if we ever went back, we'd be looking at family cover.  I don't understand why the insurance companies won't offer individuals the same rates they offer businesses, but that's another thread entirely. 

I'm currently in the US and pay $700 for my family (me, DH, and 2 little ones). We also have very high co-pays. The premium goes up every year by about $80, too!

YIKES.

But we'd never go without insurance, because the thought of what could happen is too scary.

This is a good question and one I am worried about. If we go back next autumn, we are hoping DH will have a job. But the question does arise - how quickly will the insurance kick in? Clearly not as soon as we land at the airport. Not a good scenario with children in the picture. Not a good one period, obviously. In theory, we could go out as early as a month before his job starts.

Anyway, I don't know if it's possibly to buy travel insurance to cover that short time frame or what. It's a question I've been meaning to post over on DIA at some point.

Anyway, I don't know if it's possibly to buy travel insurance to cover that short time frame or what. It's a question I've been meaning to post over on DIA at some point.

I was going to post a similar question too, so it would be good to know the answer. I'm going over to the states in about 7 weeks and while the university I'm going to is paying my health insurance, there will be a few days between arriving and enrolling when I am not covered. When I booked my one-way flight, I could only get travel insurance for 2 days as the company would only cover either just the flight itself or the entire trip... and I will be out there for at least 4 years!

I think you have to be a resident of the UK to get UK travel insurance. I could be wrong though.

I think you have to be a resident of the UK to get UK travel insurance. I could be wrong though.

When I went out to the US for study abroad, I got 'study abroad' travel insurance for the whole year via a UK company, rather than taking out health insurance with the university. I could do a similar thing this time, but the company will only cover me for a maximum of 2 years and I will have university health insurance anyway.

I was wondering, like balmerhon, if it was possible to take out travel insurance for just a couple of weeks, to cover the time between arriving in the US and when my health insurance kicks in, and I wanted to ask what other people have done insurance-wise when moving to a different country.

But the question does arise - how quickly will the insurance kick in? starts.

That's a good point, and something I had not considered. We have no imminent plans to move back, but if we did, it would only be if one of us had a job secured. But thinking about it, at my last job in the US, you had to be working 3 months before you were eligible for benefits. That could get very expensive! I know when I was insuring myself in 2004, it was $400/month. I'm sure it's gone up since then!

Check out http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/. You can get quotes for individual and families based on age, tobacco habits and amount of people and where you live. I checked for myself, my husband and a baby (not due till January but put in just born) and in Atlanta for the 3 of us it could be as cheap as $272 - with a $5000 deductible - and it goes up from there, but nothing more than $800, and that is with a low deductible and a copay for office visits. If it is truly temporary, until you get a job, it may be best to do a higher deductible and basically have insurance for if something serious happens.

Just for fun, I went onto the website mentioned in the post above, and applied for a quote for myself and my husband, based on where I lived in the US before I moved here. The cheapest quote I got was for $613 a month.

I then went to moneysupermarket.com and applied for a quote for British health insurance.  Choosing the most comprehensive cover available, the cheapest quote I got was for £60 a month.

Check out http://www.ehealthinsurance.com/. You can get quotes for individual and families based on age, tobacco habits and amount of people and where you live. I checked for myself, my husband and a baby (not due till January but put in just born) and in Atlanta for the 3 of us it could be as cheap as $272 - with a $5000 deductible - and it goes up from there, but nothing more than $800, and that is with a low deductible and a copay for office visits. If it is truly temporary, until you get a job, it may be best to do a higher deductible and basically have insurance for if something serious happens.

Out of curiosity, were those hospital only plans?  And were they high deductible plus only 80/20 coverage?

In NY state I'm getting a hospital only plan (that is mentioned on the NY state insurance website, but no prices given) for about $900 per month (2 adults, 1 child).  That state is expensive for most things, I'm guessing insurance is no different.

Of course the cost will be different between the UK and the US, that doesn't surprise me...

As for NY I have no idea. I am just telling you what it gave me for Atlanta, and, as I said, several of them included high deductibles which you have to meet before the insurance 'kicks in', so to speak.

I wasn't vouching for the companies on the site, just trying to give another perspective that is different from the several thousand a month a poster above mentioned. As I said if you are truly looking for a temporary solution then getting catastrophic, so to speak, coverage is probably the thing to do, so if something bad happens you have coverage.

when i had health insurance through my old employer in the states, I had blue cross/blue shield, PPO just for me, as a smoker back then, I think I paid about $80 a month. I cant imagine how much it would've been if I paid private without the employer.
Unfortunately - If you don't have insurance-you're screwed- no doctor/hospital wants anything to do with you

when i had health insurance through my old employer in the states, I had blue cross/blue shield, PPO just for me, as a smoker back then, I think I paid about $80 a month. I cant imagine how much it would've been if I paid private without the employer.
Unfortunately - If you don't have insurance-you're screwed- no doctor/hospital wants anything to do with you

This is actually strictly not true. A hospital can not legally turn you away if you don't have insurance...you may end up owing ridiculous amounts of money but if you come in with an emergency they are obligated by law to treat you.