NHS insurance

Not sure if I overlooked, or just didn't dig deep enuff, but, if I'm coming over to UK on spousal visa...how soon after I arrive will my son and i be eligible for insurance? He's on alot of medications, and can't be without insurance and a doc at all, so if I need to purchase insurance, I need to know so I can do so immediately.

As a spouse with a visa, you're able to get treatment on the NHS in just the same way as those of us who were born and have lived all our lives in the UK.  And I'm pretty sure that will apply to your son too. You will have to pay a fixed fee for each prescription for yourself, but that's waived for children, senior citizens, and a number of other special groups. 

One caution - not all medications are available on the NHS (and this applies across the board) so that something you might consider to be vital may not (in the view of a doctor) be vital here;  I'm thinking especially of things like Ritalin where there's a much greater tendency to prescribe in the USA than in the UK. I have not read back through your other posts to see if I can find any more details of your specific case, so I don't know if this would be an issue.

On private medical insurance - it's not standard to have it in the UK, but it is available as an extra backup and sometimes provided as a perk of a job too.  Beware - like all insurances you often have to declare pre-exisiting conditions that will effect the premium and the cover you get, and you're likely to find that any policy you're offered will be declared void if you don't pre-declare your son's condition, and will exclude any payment relating to his condition if you do declare it.

You need to check carefully and specifically how this lot relates to your specific situation and your son's specific needs.  I might not have posted the news your were hoping for exactly, but please don't shoot the messenger.

Thank you so much, that was actually helpful.
My son is on a series of medications, I will list them for you.
Lithium, Wellbutrin, Abilify. All of these are for depression, and bi-polar related symptoms.
He's also on Concerta, for ADHD.
And lastly, DDAVP for bedwetting.
I don't know if that provides you a better insight on the situation. But, he's been hospitalized for his condition in the past, and it is besically crucial that he remains on these medications.
Any more advice you might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.

I have to be so careful because I'm NOT anything medical and I'm just passing on what I've seen / read. So I can wish you all the very best in your research and give you some pointers but I can provide no authority.  Is there anyone here with their own stories they can provide??

Disclaimer over.   Now - have a look at / for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (known as NICE) which produces a list of drugs that the NHS can supply;  if it's not on the NICE list, I think you have to pay the full price and I seem to recall that some NICE listed drugs are discouraged because of their cost to the NHS and you might get involved in a "postcode lottery".

NICE are at www.nice.org.uk and their front page has a link to their advise to the NHS.

Also need to note that some medications go by different names in the UK from the ones you know them by in the US.  So I would get my hands on a Physician's Desk Reference (should be one at your local library, or ask your son's doctor to look them up for you next visit) which will give you the names of the drugs in both countries, so you can accurately discover if the drug is on the NICE list.