Moving to the US when pregnant

[Lolly2803]

Hi, I have 18 month old twins and am currently 16 weeks pregnant. There is a strong possibility we will be moving the the US (L.A) in March which would mean I'd be around 7 months pregnant.
What do I need to do?!! How easy is it to have a baby in the US? Basically am after any advice or help etc! Also any ideas how much nursery is in the US? I assume they have nurseries like here in the U.K.? xx

Hi OP,

You have had loads of good advice already I see. We moved to the States 15 months ago so I’ve recently been in a similar position. I’m also on the west coast and I know LA and Marina Del Rey, in fact we visited there very recently.

The area is lovely, right next to the beach etc. I’m not sure I’d want to live there personally with young children, unless I was super rich, which you may well be.

In terms of healthcare my advice is this. Stay in the UK to have the baby! Healthcare in the USA is an absolute nightmare to understand and organise. I had a very blasé attitutude about it before moving, I had no idea how difficult it would be to get my head around.

Firstly, our healthcare plan did not kick in for 30 days until we were resident. During the time, if we’d had an urgent health needs we would have been covered through travel insurance.

Once you get your insurance paperwork in order, you then have to find doctors surgeries that will accept you as a patient and that work with your insurance provider. This may be straight forward, or not. It totally depends on your plan and local area. You’ll need a general doctor for yourself, a paedtrician for twins and for new baby, an OB/GYN for your delivery and they’ll have to work with a hospital that is in your network etc. Then you’ll have to navigate all the financial side, every time you visit your doc you pay a copay amount, for me it’s around $35, any treatment you need and prescriptions are seperate. The amount is totally dependent on your plan. To have a baby on my plan (and we have really good insurance) would cost around $5k. And if there are any special conditions such as an extended hospital stay etc, the cost goes up.

While it’s inot impossible to navigate all that, I think the stress of doing so at that late point of pregnancy would be high. If you could move earlier or wait, I honestly would consider that.

Just my advice from recent personal experience. Good luck!

I have just seen this thread. I live in Los Angeles (not far from Marina Del Rey), but used to live in London and my dc's were born in London. I wish they had been born here, but that's a whole other discussion. Probably the closest hospital to Marina Del Rey is St. John's in Santa Monica. I'm sure it will be covered by whatever policy your dh has through work, but it's super important that you ascertain what coverage there is. Have your twins had their jabs on time? You will find it difficult to get into a nursery (which is called pre-school here, by the way) without a vaccination record. I just brought my dc's redbook and had their pediatrician here put all the jabs into their US records. Good pre-schools are booked up way in advance, so as soon as you know if you are coming, you will want to get on a list for a pre-school, though if you are not working, then will only need a part-time place and that will be easier to get.

My dc's have triple citizenship (I have dual US/Italian, and their father is english) and it's a wonderful opportunity with very little downside as far as I can see.

You are entitled to a place at your local public/state school when the dc's are school age, so don't worry too much about schools yet.
Cost of housing in Los Angeles is comparable to cost of housing in London (ie eats up a similar portion of your income), but at least we have sunshine all the time here, so if your house is a little too small or dark, you can spend all your waking hours at the park or the beach. Everything is super child friendly, so life is much much easier.

Feel free to PM me if you need specific recommendations for anything. Or help with sourcing stuff, or schools.

PS. Culver City is near Marina Del Rey and a great place to live (and cheaper than Marina Del Rey).

Thanks so much! So useful! Yes all their jabs up to date and all in the red book. We live in Berkshire and used to live in London so I guess house prices are comparable. Any ideas on where I can have a nose at properties from here other than Zillow? Will check out Culver City definitely thanks.

Watch the "business of being born "

You need insurance (not travel it won't cover you). The employer usually covers the employee and they elect to add family, pre existing conditions may or may not be covered so you need to discuss with hr. this is routine in the us when you change job so they will have the information. Once you know you have insurance you will need to check the policy for which hospitals you can use and the excess amounts/copays (may vary depending upon which hospital you choose) and you will need to register with a family doctor and either an ob or midwife covered by your plan, they will tell you which hospitals they have privileges at and you then contact the hospital for a tour.

I was in your position and I chickened out and stayed in the U.K. to give birth as it was quite complicated to sort in advanced pregnancy with my first baby not understanding insurance etc, however dd2 was born there and the hospital was lovely, so over staffed (2 dedicated nurses and a midwife).

As everything links to your insurance plan that is the key, even insurance isn't straightforward, we got a choice of traditional or HMO, we went for the later as there were no deductibles, just a flat $10 charge per dr visit. It's doable but you must get everything in place before you board the plane

You can contact real estate agents....they will be more than happy to show you a zillion places. (I can put you in touch with one or two.) Or as luckybird07 posted, you can look at craigslist which is like gumtree.

@Stupomax Because typically, pre-existing conditions are not covered when you take out a new insurance policy. Or, they can be covered, but for a hefty fee.

Because typically, pre-existing conditions are not covered when you take out a new insurance policy. Or, they can be covered, but for a hefty fee.

@FiresideFlames

Do even the tiniest research into the Affordable Care Act and you'll realise this has not been true since 2014.

www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/pre-existing-conditions/index.html

Are you always so snarky or do you reserve it especially for the days before Christmas?

I'm snarky all the time but only with people who deserve it.

OP you've had some good and bad advice on here.

I used to work in insurance here in the US and I'd agree with everyone who says check out your waiting periods carefully as they do still exist.

Legally your insurance has to cover maternity care but it doesn't have to cover every doctor or hospital as in-network. So you should check carefully who is covered.

When we moved I had my GP surgery print out all the childrens' vaccination history which the doctors found easier to transcribe than the red book. That was a whole ago though.

Stupo

You are entirely correct

You cannot be denied coverage for being pregnant if you are enrolling in health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace, but if you are looking to enroll in a private plan outside the marketplace, you can still be denied coverage.

not entirely correct

Stupo Is entirely correct. Pre existing conditions don't really exist when it comes to pregnancy. Also, if the employer has more than 50 employees, even before Obamacare, there were no pre-existing conditions thanks to Mrs Clinton and her work during Clintons term.

There has been absolutely buckets of crap information. Please have your DH speak to HR and get the policy documents. Call the insurance company yourself and get the information directly from them.

Finally, the US is expensive. Housing is similar to London prices in Marina del Rey but you will be spending significantly more on food, children's activities, healthcare, transport (car insurance is not cheap) and travel to visit family. With 3DC I would not move to that part of the world for a household income of less than $300k a year. The US has no safety net. Our deductible on our health insurance as a family is $20k a year and in the normal range. Our family premium is $2800 a month, wholly paid by DHs employer. The other employees pay themselves.

Kikipost do you have a link for your quote?

@Stupomax Do even the tiniest Google and you will find the source

www.firstquotehealth.com/health-insurance-news/pregnancy-pre-existing-condition

And in US gov website itself

Some grandfathered individual health plans — the kind you buy yourself, not the kind you get through a job — aren’t required to cover pregnancy and childbirth. If you have a grandfathered individual plan, contact your insurance company to learn about your pregnancy and childbirth coverage.

www.healthcare.gov/what-if-im-pregnant-or-plan-to-get-pregnant/

@FiresideFlames

The Business of Being Born is a very biased documentary made by someone with their own natural birth is best bias, so be aware of this as you watch it. Sadly I know of two families who lost their babies because their home births went wrong. In America the doctor's eye will always be on getting a live birth, but I did not feel they pushed c sections here. I am the only one in my friendship who ended up with a c section.

Supermum gives good advice- the lack of a safety net is shocking when you have a British mindset and I feel this country works well for people who earn well. It is not a greta country for the poor and the struggling.
I disagree that you need a household income of 300k a year. Few of my friends make this income.I would say that on 100k you would have to live very modestly- so no 4 bedroom house, more like the least expensive 2 bed apartment you could find and rent would need to be more like 2500 a month for you to just get by. An income of 150K a year would be more comfortable but a long way from well off-you will probably spend most of this money living. I think Culver City will give you a little more bang for your buck and schools are excellent- you pay for the ocean proximity in Marina. It is a good life out here I think but yes food is more expensive, public schools expect generous donations every year and do not under estimate how much you may miss family with three young children. Car insurance is way more than in the Uk as is internet/cell phones. We are glad we moved and love LA- have only felt unsafe once here, but yes you will burn through what sounds like a generous salary. The average salary in LA is around 56K a year I believe, so people do get by on a lot less than 300k, that much I know.

Quite useful
www.scpr.org/blogs/economy/2015/01/15/17806/la-residents-need-to-make-34-an-hour-to-afford-ave/

You could of course choose to live in a more affordable area like Burbank or Glendale or Van Nuys or Sherman Oaks and then you would save money on a 150K household income. Expect 30% higher rents to be anywhere near the coast.

2014 figures so add a few grand to each of these salaries
Marketing manager: $66,538 (average in L.A., according to Payscale.com)
LAUSD teacher: $70,000 (average salary, according to LAUSD)
Software engineer: $82,669 (average according to Payscale.com)
Lawyer: $104,249 (average according to Payscale.com)

To be earning a 300K family income you would both have to be in high status jobs- and maintain those roles. A tiny % of people make a household income of 300K in this city.

Some grandfathered individual health plans — the kind you buy yourself, not the kind you get through a job — aren’t required to cover pregnancy and childbirth. If you have a grandfathered individual plan, contact your insurance company to learn about your pregnancy and childbirth coverage

These plans haven't been allowed to enroll anyone new since 2010 and are being ended at the end of 2019.

FiresideFlames that article is riddled with inaccuracies. I'd stick with reputable sources.

Insurance plans sold on the private market do have to cover pre-existing conditions, just like plans sold in the marketplace.

lucky I would add a huge dose of salt to those salaries. There is absolutely no way a software engineer is making $82k a year. I can't hire one working remotely in the US for $200k a year. They all want $250k+ and employers are willing to pay for it.

With 3DC there is absolutely no way I would be moving to the US for $100k a year. Healthcare would cost approx $1500 a month from pay. Take home income would be about $65k. Rent for a small 2bed runs about $3500 a month. That leaves you with $1900 a month for everything else. Quite frankly it's absolutely nowhere near enough with 3DC and moving your family so far away from support is irresponsible IMO. Expect to pay $5k out of pocket for a birth now under Obamacare and you might max out your full deductible in some years.

Just remember that lower income areas are not places you want to raise a family. It's very important you are in a good area that is safe. Those areas cost money and it's well worth spending it. You don't need the stress of living in a bad area when you have young DC.

Sorry, but I disagree with much of what Want2bSupermum says. There are plenty of lovely places to live in the Los Angeles area where you can pay less than $3500 a month for a 2 bedroom and frankly it's insulting to say that the "lower income areas are not places you want to raise a family." I have lots of friends who live in these areas, love them and have a much better quality of life than most people I know in the UK.

You might pay $5k out of pocket for a birth in the USA, but you'll pay $5k less in taxes than you'd pay for the same salary in the UK. The way finances are set up is very different in the USA than in the UK and the things that cost money are different. My quality of life here is Los Angeles is so much better than anything I experienced in London. And if I had to do it all over again, I would have flown back to USA to have my dc's instead of the god awful medical "care" I received in the "best" hospitals in London.

I also don't agree that food is more expensive in Los Angeles than in London. Perhaps it's what you are buying or where you are shopping.

In any case, the OP is coming to Los Angeles and looking for advice to make the transition smoother. Telling her how awful the experience will be for her without actually giving any useful advice is not very productive.