Finding Health Insurance for Ukrainian wife w/o group plan at work

[BrentR]

My wife has been in America since the first day of March, and we have been married about 3 months.  I have been working on this task for many months.  A number of independent agents have told me that none of the companies they represent will offer her a policy/plan until she has been in America 12 months because of the fear of pre-existing conditions.  I have contacted local hospital billing departments, city, county, state, and US government agencies and I have yet to find the right answer.

At minimum, I would like to find a major medical plan to cover her in case a sudden illness or accident happens.  Our Updating of Alien Status paperwork and work permit paperwork is in the hands of the USCIS, her fingerprinting/biometrics appointment is coming up in about 2 weeks, and her social security card application is completed and just waiting for the work permit card to be sent in the mail.

Does anyone have an answer for me based on your experiences?  Any help would be appreciated.

[jb]

Brent,

I don't know what major medical/hospitilation plan you have, but I was able to add my wife to my BlueCross/Blue Shield plan immediately after she arrived in the USA.

I'd check with my benefits office at work if I were you.  Excluding your wife from medical benefits seems wrong to me and I'd be looking at other carriers during the next open season if I were you.

[Bruno]

Sorry, not from my own experience but thank to Google :
[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]

[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]While the United States offers the most comprehensive medical care available, it is often complicated as well as very expensive. For the visitor to the United States or the recent immigrant, finding a program that is easy to understand and reasonably priced is often difficult...[/font]

This program is available to non-United States citizens who come to the U.S. for business, pleasure, to study, or to immigrate. The program must become effective within 24 months of arrival in the United States.

 

Look at http://www.specialtyrisk.com/brochure/InboundIMMIGRANT2002noapp.htm , you can find all the details... coverage, price, exclusion... for the application, http://host98.ipowerweb.com/~american/inboundimmigrant.htm

This program is only possible if your wife is immigrant... the K1 is a non-immigrant visa... but since your are married, her status have or will be changed to immigrant...

Sorry, i am not a specialist... so read the brochure and if it is interesting, post a report here... it can be very interesting for other members since it is specialy for foreign people who are new in USA... 5 year maximum, but i think that after these delay, other compagny can accept your wife without problem...

I hope that i have help you

 

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[BrentR]

My job does not offer a group medical insurance plan--they do not offer any plan.  I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield for my insurance, and I did not get a very good offer from them for my own insurance.  Is BC/BS the group plan offered by your employer?  It seems to be a different story when your job has the group plan because they do not show the same resistance as they do to people trying to buy individual insurance.

BC/BS told me that my wife had to be here 12 months, and I got similar answers from independent agents associated with BC/BS.

That is my experience with Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

[jb]

That's a bummer...

I've always worked for companies which provided health insurance benefits, so I guess I'm happily naïve.  I know that insurance is expensive on an individual basis, but I had no idea that they would place such restrictions on an  otherwise healthy person.

My wife recently accepted a position with the local school district, and even as poor as they are, she is covered with a school approved HMO at zero cost to us.  Perhaps you should check into a plan like her's with Humana, it's got to be cheaper than BC/BS.

[ielocal]

BrentR,

Have you dowloaded and looked at the applications for your state? I have a Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan as I am a small business owner and was checking for my fiancee. When I looked at the application, there was no questions regarding length of stay in the state (much less the country). But, I also know that they policies are different from state to state. By telling the agents that she is a "recent arrival" (relative term), you may be giving them more information than the application requires.

I should also add, at least here in CA there are regulations for the insurance industry concerning uncovered individuals. In those cases, a pre-approval medical exam can be required to show no pre-existing conditions. So, you can check into the regulations in the state where you live.

-ielocal

[ConnerVT]

No matter where you buy your insurance (outside of a group plan) you're going to get raped.  After all, next to homeland security, it's probably the biggest problem in the US today.  Even most people working for companies with group plans have seen their insurance prices jump tremendously over the past 5 years.

Your options are limited.  You can:

[list=1]

• Find a new job with better benefits.  Health care, education, and government typically have the best (and lowest cost) policies.  Unfortunately, the salary usually sucks. [/*]
  
• Price a new policy for your new family. [/*]
  
• Keep BC/BS for you, and pick up a temporary policy for your wife.[/*]

The fear of a pre-existing condition does limit what a policy will cover.  Even my current group policy has riders that limited what they would cover, as I let my insurance lapse for a few months before starting my current job.

What I did is purchase a policy from SRI (which Bruno linked above) for my wife and son until I could get them on my policy at work,  They also will not cover pre-existing conditions, and the policy is basically a catastrophic illness type (break your leg, car wreck, stand in an ice puddle and get pneumonia, etc.).  You can purchase it month to month (don't be late with a payment!).

[Turboguy]

That seems like a pretty reasonalbe program.   If i ever do get her over her that seems like a reasonable choice to help bridge the gap while she is here and until I could get her on my insurance.  

I would think as a new immigrant and new to America and some of our mechanization she would be more apt to walk in front of a bus or microwave her head trying to dry her hair or burning down the house with her in it trying to make toast or something. 

[Jet]

Here's another similar plan to the one mentioned above. I've also used this when I'm travelling in Russia.

http://www.internationalhealthplans.com/atlas-quote.htm

[BrentR]

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the input and suggestions.  We just got done with fingerprinting and biometrics on Wednesday, so I hope my wife will have her work permit and social security number in about one month--then it should be easier to slide her into a medical insurance plan looking like a regular wife with a social security number.

 

Thanks again.