Health Insurance

[Tyreabusa]

I'd be grateful to hear from any immigrants who have actually made it through the system as to who you are using for medical insurance. If you could include important points like if a medical was needed, Comapany name,age group and approximate amount paid per month please. Thanks, a lot.

Nick

[blott]

The best health insurance is that which you have to purchase in the UK, ie expat insurance. The best coverage of these is IMG. You'll find it quite difficult to get health coverage for the first one or two years in the US from a US provider.

For IMG (and other expat type insurances) you need a medical form filled in by your GP together with a few tests, ie blood, ECG, etc, depending on your previous medical history.

Check out http://www.internationalmedicalgroup.com/

[jeffc]

We moved over in dec 03 and tried to get health insurance lots of comps said yes but 3 said due to the fact that you had not been in the country for 1 year you would be turned down the first claim you made.... so we asked over emergency cover told in the us this would be $700 per month for family of 4....

we got cover from the uk with a uk company for 365 expat insurance for 350 pound per year....
this covers only emergency tratment not day to day stuff...

we have spent approx $3000 in 8 months on normal day to day and one small ear infection.... your kids need shots if they are school age and that will cost at least $100 just as a example...


hope this helps..

[Tyreabusa]

Thanks Jeff. Yes its helped a great deal. But what company did you get the insurance from ?/

Nick

[jeffc]

think we ended up using esurance...
but most of them have long term just make sure they know you are staying for 365 at least....

[chloanne]

We are also struggling through the maze of medical insurance policies available.

Is comprehensive expat insurance necessary as it's very expensive ?

What does emergency cover include ?

We would prefer cover for hospital emergencies and pay as we go for gp visits and medication required.

Could someone provide a range of recommended suppliers. Thanks for the references to IMG and esurance - but Jeff - I can only find car insurance options for esurance.

Thanks
Chloanne

[jeffc]

sorry wrong details...

try: www.insureandgo.co.uk

the policy tells you everything its basically just emergency ie break a leg or get you home just the same as the normal travel insurance apart its for 365 day trip....

[chloanne]

Thank you Jeff - 365 emergency cover and pay as u go for as and when treatments is our best bet although I'm concerned about the reference to being a UK resident in the small print. We are considering buying a smaller house in the UK in order to retain UK residency to satisfy the emergency insurance requirements, but that conflicts with tax legislation ie we would want to pay US not UK tax. Can you advise how we can overcome this please, as a second home in the UK wasn't in our original plans. I found an organisation call ed 'SOS' which provides emergency evac to UK at very low cost - did you investigate this possibility and what is your view ? Thank you

I'd also like to ask about car insurance if I may.... this seems incredibly high based on what I have read in other earlier threads. Can anyone recommend a reasonable supplier for 2 adults.

Many thanks
Chloanne

[chloanne]

Apologies - I forgot to mention that I read that medical insurance payments are now 100% tax deductible when paid via the business. If this is correct, could we pay expat or US medical insurance and reduce the cost in this way ? This would help in the 2nd year after the 365 day insurance cover expires and less expensive than retaining a home in UK.

Many thanks for any input
Chloanne

[blott]

If you're living in another country as your residence, you are no longer entitled to NHS treatment unless you are visiting here and it's an emergency which arose during your visit or you're returning to the UK to take up permanent residence again.

You need to take out health insurance for treatment in the US and, as it's difficult to get this once in the US for the first year or two, this is why I suggested ex-pat insurance but you have to take it out whilst you're still resident in the UK.

[jeffc]

we are on a l1 visa which means we still have links to the uk for the moment until we get the holy grail or green card..... so until then i will keep the emergency cover going the cheapest quote for health insurance when i can legally get it will be $350 per month but you still have to have high deductables so it might be too expensive....

on the car insurance i was with gieco for a dodge durango $1600 for 6 months then my son 15 passed his learners test so put him on it went up to $2800 so we changed comps to all state $1900 for 6 months ... just been and found nationwide is advertising for $1000 so i am in the process of checking it out....

hope this helps...

[chrizzy100]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by jeffc
we are on a l1 visa which means we still have links to the uk for the moment until we get the holy grail or green card..... so until then i will keep the emergency cover going the cheapest quote for health insurance when i can legally get it will be $350 per month but you still have to have high deductables so it might be too expensive....

on the car insurance i was with gieco for a dodge durango $1600 for 6 months then my son 15 passed his learners test so put him on it went up to $2800 so we changed comps to all state $1900 for 6 months ... just been and found nationwide is advertising for $1000 so i am in the process of checking it out....

hope this helps...
[/quote]

I can't believe the cost of Ins in FL.......my son at 16 pays $2000 a year for a v8....its an old car...but still fast......my 23 year old daughter pays $600 a year for a v8.....and we pay $1200 a year for both of us to drive both our cars per year....and that fully com on both cars.......

[chloanne]

Thank you Blott, Jeff, and Chrizzy. It's much clearer now and I understand.

Do you know if I can claim tax relief on my medical insurance through the business ? According to new legislation I can, but I have not spoken to a tax consultant as yet to confirm.

Chrizzy - your car insurance seems reasonable compared to quotes I have received - may I ask which company you are with ?

Thanks again and hope all is well with you over there - the coverage in UK of Frances is most frightening.
Chloanne

[flyrr100]

I moved here in the 80s. Now I'm a bonafide US citizen! My health insurance is through Blue Cross Blue Shield. I pay $40.00 a month for a family of 5. But it's through my company so it's way cheaper.