America and Health Insurance

[notactuallyamum1]

I'm very fortunate in that I have dual nationality to the UK and the USA. I have recently decided to take advantage of this and give living in the states a go. I'm very accepting of the fact that I'll have to pay for my health insurance unless I get a job that covers it although this is initially unlikely, my question here is will British travel insurance cover me as I technically won't be traveling (as I'm a citizen).

Does anyone have advice or tips on comprehensive US medical insurance?

I think you need to really look at the price for private medical healthcare here in the US first before you make that decision - you should be able to phone and inquire, plus costs will be different from state to state.

We aren't talking a couple hundred dollars a year, you're talking thousands and thousands.

H works for one of the largest companies in the world - our insurance premiums, even tho heavily subsidized, are something like $400 a MONTH for two adults and a child. Just for medical. Vision and dental are extra.

Also would hold off until the new bill has passed or failed - if it passes you may not be able to get any insurance (pre-existing conditions anyone?)

And, don't forget on top of premiums there are still deductibles and copays for almost everything.

I've just been doing some research and I'll hold my hands up and admit I've been completely naive to this.

I had assumed it would be similar to private health care in the U.K.

Thank you so much for this! My family have brilliant health care but I simply had no idea how much it all cost.

No, travel insurance won't cover you. If you get sick, and they do actually decide to cover you, they'll simply expect you to return to the UK for treatment as soon as you are able to travel. They'll also expect you to have a return flight booked. But as soon as they find out you're not really travelling and have actually moved there they just won't cover you.

Health insurance premiums... most employers subsidise their employees' premiums, some subsidise the employees' spouse's or children's premiums. It varies massively.

My husband's employer pays 90% of his insurance premium, but 0% of the rest of the family's premiums. We spend $1k per month on premiums, then we have a $3k deductible (you call it a excess) per person per year, and our out-of-pocket costs are limited to $6k. So effectively we set aside $16k per year to cover health costs, and if it's a good year we don't spend all of it.

For us it's worth it - DH is well paid and we can afford it. But it's definitely something to consider carefully before moving here.

DH's company has fairly good insurance, we have a max out of pocket of $5k a year for the whole family. We pay $200 a month.

Our insurance costs $360 a month for two adults, two children, plus $50 per month for dental and optical. Deductibles of $2k per person up to a limit of $6k per year, and prescription co-pay of $12 per item. This is, I understand, a very good scheme - many people have far higher ongoing costs for coverage

But, just to add, a certain amount of the money spent on health insurance coverage and deductibles can be claimed against your taxes (I don't know exactly how - our accountant takes care of that, and I suspect it varies from state to state as well), so it's not completely sunk money IYSWIM

It will covernyou for the first 90 days of your visit. It's what I did when I moved back here and I had a two week gap between finishing my job for the U.K. branch and starting at the US branch.

Check your policy - many have a "no single trip over 30 days" clause. Other types of insurance may cover you though - speak to a specialist broker.